1. European Computer Driving Licence
Module 6 – Presentation
Chapter 6.1 – The Basics

2. What is Microsoft PowerPoint?
Microsoft PowerPoint is the leading graphics presentation package
You can use it to create, design and organise presentations quickly easily

3. Planning a presentation
It is important to plan presentations carefully
Consider the target audience and plan your slides to suit them
Always begin with a title screen to introduce the project
Try to keep bullet points to 4 or 5 per slide
Keep each point short and simple
Animations, graphics and sound can be added but be careful not to overload the senses all at once!

4. Getting started To load Microsoft PowerPoint either:
Click Start, then All Programs, then
Or double-click the PowerPoint icon on the desktop

5. The Task pane
On the right of the screen is the Task pane. If you can’t see this pane:
Click View then Task Pane
Different menus will be available in the Task pane
depending on the stage of your presentation
To view the different menus click the down-arrow at the
top right of the Task pane

6. Starting a blank presentation
From the Task pane click Create a new presentation
Click Blank presentation in the New Presentation pane
The Task pane will display Slide Layout options and Placeholders
Click one of the options to change the layout of a slide
PowerPoint has automatically selected the Title Slide Layout

7. Toolbars
You will learn about individual toolbars and buttons as you build a presentation
As in other Microsoft applications such as Word and Excel, some toolbars will only be available when performing particular tasks

8. Hiding and displaying toolbars
Hiding and displaying toolbars is done in the same way as in Microsoft Word, Excel and Access
To hide or display a toolbar click View then Toolbars
A checkmark against a toolbar means it is already displayed

9. Modifying basic options
You can change some basic options
to customise PowerPoint
Select Tools then Options
Select the Save tab
Select the General tab and you can change the user name listed under the file properties

10. Using the Help Functions
If you aren’t sure of how to do something in PowerPoint,
search the Help files for instructions on how to perform the
task
Select Help then Microsoft Office PowerPoint Help
Type in the information you need to look up into the Search for: box
Click the Start Searching icon

11. Using the Help Functions
Select one of the search results from the next pop-up box
A Help window appears giving information on the topic
Click the red Close icon to close the Help window
Click the black Close icon to close the Task pane

12. Adding text to the title slide
Click in Click to add title placeholder and type in the title for the slide
Click in the sub-title placeholder and type in a sub-title

13. Formatting and moving the text
You can click the text boxes and drag to move them around the screen. You can also format the text in each text box just like in Microsoft Word
The Formatting toolbar contains the tools you need
To format text, click the text box border. The border will change from a diagonal striped box to a fuzzy one. Now you can format the text
You can format the text to be Bold, Italic or Underlined

14. Editing text
Edit, add or delete text by clicking inside the box. The border changes to diagonal stripes
Edit the text, and use the formatting toolbar if necessary to make changes

15. Aligning text in a placeholder
You can align text to the top, middle or bottom of the text box
Select the text box and right-click anywhere on the text
Select Format Placeholder
Select the Text Box tab
Click the down-arrow of the Text Anchor Point box and select Top, Middle or Bottom. Click OK

16. Resizing and moving text boxes and placeholders
To resize a text box:
Move the cursor over the left-hand handle. The mouse pointer will change to a double-headed arrow
Click and drag the handle to the left to make the text box wider. Drag to the right to make it smaller
To move a text box:
Move the cursor onto the border of the text box not on a handle. The mouse pointer will change to a black cross
Click and drag to the required position

17. Changing the presentation view
You can alternate between various views of the presentation by clicking on the icons at the left-hand side of the bottom of the screen

18. Normal View This is the most useful view
You can view the structure of the presentation down the left of the screen, the current slide you are working on and the Notes page for the current page

19. The Outline pane The Outline pane has two different views
One view shows a picture of all the slides
The other view just lists the text on each slide
Click on the tabs at the top of the Outline pane to switch between the views

20. Slide Sorter
This view helps you to organise your slides in later stages. Here is a preview of what it looks like when you have more slides

21. Slide Show views
Slide Show view is the view you use when you are actually giving your presentation
Exit Slide Show view by pressing the Esc key at any time

22. Using the Zoom tool
In Normal View use the Zoom tool to make a slide appear larger or smaller on screen
Click the black down-arrow to the right of the Zoom box and click the size you want
Or click on existing size entry in the Zoom box to select it, type in the new size and press Enter key

23. Undo, Redo and Repeat commands
This will undo your last action. Each subsequent click will undo further actions
Redo
If you undo something you didn’t mean to, click the Redo button
Repeat
If you want to repeat an action, eg. adding a bullet point or inserting a slide. Select Edit then Repeat

24. Saving the presentation
Select File then Save
Use the arrow next to the Save In box to navigate to the location for saving
If necessary, create a new folder by clicking the Create New Folder icon
Type in a name for the folder.
Enter a filename for the presentation
Click the Save button
PowerPoint will automatically save the file as a Presentation (*ppt) file

25. Closing the file and application
To close the presentation either:
Select File then Close
Close PowerPoint by either:
Selecting File then Exit
Or click