Getting a Feel for PowerPoint

PowerPoint is the "should learn" program in Microsoft Office. You might have had to learn Word to write letters, or master Excel to plan your finances, or Outlook to plan your calendar activities and send email. But you're probably coming to PowerPoint because someone else in your line of work, very likely a competitor, is already using it effectively. Now it's time you got into the act.

In this first hour, we're going to learn

The different types of presentations

How to quickly create a presentation with a design and text

How to show a presentation

A bit about PowerPoint's look and interface
Presentation Types
Here are just a few of the possible types of PowerPoint presentations discussed in the next 24 hours:

A speaker-supporting slideshow. This can be controlled with a mouse to augment a presentation. This is perhaps the most common PowerPoint application, with the usual titles, charts, and other visual elements, and it will probably be projected on a screen to an audience.

You learn to make and show a presentation in a snap, and then add exciting components such as pictures, video, audio, and even Web content.

A self-running slideshow. This type of slideshow includes music or narration, and can be shown during a break to keep your audience interested (to raise funding or get some other response). This could also be used in a trade show kiosk to provide eye candy or information. If you have the right equipment, you can also record this slideshow to videotape for distribution.

An interactive slideshow. An interactive slideshow can be navigated by a user as a learning or promotional tool. With the new PowerPoint viewer in PowerPoint 2003, an interactive slideshow can be distributed on CD-ROM or even DVD to tell your story.

A full-color brochure. Instead of a desktop publishing program, you can easily print your PowerPoint slides in any standard or custom page size as a handout or flyer.

An interactive training presentation. Your show doesn't have to be linear—it can branch off to areas of interest expressed by your audience or even provide questions that other software tools can instantly tabulate in a database to educate an audience and provide instant feedback.

Conventional slides or overheads. As a backup, you can output your PowerPoint presentation to other media that might not be as exciting, but that make you more comfortable presenting in front of an audience.

An interactive Web site. PowerPoint 2003 makes it easier than ever to post your presentation online, or even broadcast it with active collaboration and participation over the Internet.

So, how do you actually create these different kinds of presentations? PowerPoint provides many different ways to proceed, but the key is to start the program and get comfortable with how it looks, works, and feels.
Getting Started with the AutoContent Wizard
Right off the bat, we're going to take an active tour of the program using one of its most useful components: the AutoContent Wizard.

When you launch PowerPoint, you'll see a set of menus and toolbars that should look familiar. As you see in Figure 1.1, they're very similar to those you find in the other Office programs.

PowerPoint shares many Standard and Formatting toolbar and menu items for text and other objects with its Microsoft Office cousins.


If you've upgraded from a previous version of Microsoft PowerPoint or Office, you might see a dialog box that prompts you to update your blank.pot (template) file. Click Yes to go on working in PowerPoint 2003.





You'll also see your first task pane. When you launch PowerPoint 2003, this will be the Getting Started task pane.

The Getting Started task pane will enable you to

Open previous presentations

Open previous presentations

Access online help and content

Create a new presentation

Access other task panes

Access the New Presentation task pane by clicking the Change Task Pane drop-down arrow in the upper corner of the Getting Started task pane (see Figures 1.2 and 1.3) and selecting it from the list.
Use the drop-down arrow at the top of the task pane window to change task panes.


The New Presentation task pane gives you access to the AutoContent Wizard and other templates to begin a new project.


In the New area at the top of the New Presentation task pane, you can see that you can start a new presentation in various ways:

From a blank presentation

From a design template

With the AutoContent Wizard

From an existing presentation

With the Photo Album Wizard

You can also download templates from the Microsoft Office and other presentation Web sites. We'll cover templates in more detail later in this book.

From any task pane, you can go back or forward to a previously viewed task pane by clicking the arrows at the top of the task pane.





Click the AutoContent Wizard to begin your exploration of PowerPoint 2003. When the wizard starts (see Figure 1.4), click Next to get a choice of presentation type or the categories of content you can use to begin your slideshow. They're broken down into general areas: General, Corporate, Projects, and Sales and Marketing. To see all the options, click All.

The AutoContent Wizard gives you quick access to design templates as well as generic content that you'll soon learn to revise for your own purposes.


You'll see complete presentations, including

Generic

Business Plan

Communicating Bad News

Human Resources Report

Brainstorming

Training

Financial Overview

Company Handbook

Group Home Page

Project Status Report(s)

Marketing Plan

Select a type of presentation you would like to explore (such as the Business Plan) and click Next.

If the template you choose isn't installed, try to install it by reinserting your Office setup disc, or simply choose another template.





In the next panel, you can see the presentation styles you can select. They reflect some of the types of presentations outlined earlier:

On Screen

Web

Black-and-white or color overheads

35mm slides

Select the default, On Screen, and click Next.

Fill in a title and a footer, as shown in Figure 1.5. Notice that the date and slide number in the footer have been added for you.