This handout is designed to teach you how to create a Power Point presentation.  As an example, we will create a five-slide presentation.  The goal is to learn how to create  the following type of slides.

• Title slide
• Bulleted text slide
• Text slide
• Text and picture slide
• Text and table/chart slide

Creating a five-slide presentation

1.  Title page

An easy way to create a new presentation is to use an existing template.  To use a template, select Template from the Power Point menu (New from the File menu on the Mac) and click OK.  Then click on Designs. A list of templates with preview images will be presented.  Select the one that you like and click on OK (Apply on the Mac).  A selection of slide layouts will be presented, choose the first one for the title slide then click on OK.  After doing this, your screen will look like the one on the right.  Click on the appropriate areas to type in a title, and/or subtitle.

2.  Bulleted text slide

To create a new slide with bulleted text, select New slide from the Insert menu.  A selection of slide layouts will be presented, select the 2nd or the 4th layout (two options for adding bulleted text).  Then, click the OK button.  The layout you have selected will appear on the screen.  It should look like the one on the right.  Click on the appropriate areas to type in bulleted text.

3.  Text slide

Let us now create a third slide. We would make the text slide next.  To create a new slide, select New slide from either the Insert menu or from the lower right hand corner of your PP screen.  A selection of slide layouts will be presented, choose the one that is the best for the kind of text you would have in your presentation.  After clicking on your preference, click the OK button.  Your screen would look somewhat like the one on the right.  After doing this, click on the appropriate areas to add text.

4.  Text and picture slide

Now, we are ready to create yet another slide.  Select New slide from the Insert menu.  A selection of slide layouts will be presented, choose the one that would allow you to add text and a picture to your slide.  After clicking on your preference, click the OK button.  Your screen would look somewhat like the one on the right.  After doing this, click on the appropriate areas to type in text and add a picture.  To insert clip art, click on Clip Art from the Insert menu.  A list of Clip Art with preview images will be presented.  Select a preview and click on the Insert button (you may need to scroll down to see all of the pictures in a category).

5.  Text and table/chart slide

We will now create the last slide.  To create a slide with text and a table, select New slide from the Insert menu.  A selection of slide layouts will be presented, choose the one that would represent your table/chart nicely. After clicking on your preference, click the OK button.  Your screen would look somewhat like the one on the right.  You can then click on the appropriate areas to type in text and add a table/chart.  To add a table, click on Microsoft Word table from the Insert menu.  Insert Word table will be presented, scroll up or down the number of columns that you want.  Do the same thing for the number of rows, then click on the OK button.  You can now enter the text/data in the table cells.  Use the TAB key to move to the next cell.  When you have finished entering text/data, close the table window to insert the table in the slide.

6.  Adding a chart

To add a chart, click on Microsoft Graph from the Insert menu.  A window titled Presentation - Datasheet will be presented.  Enter the data/text in the datasheet provided.  Use the TAB key to move to the next cell when you have finished entering your data/text.  Close the Presentation - Datasheet window to insert the graph in the slide.

Note 1:  The Slide Layout.. at the lower right hand corner of the PP screen would allow you to change your  layout(s) should you decide to.
Note 2:  Another quick way to create a presentation is to use AutoContent Wizard.

Adding effects

Now you are ready for the second phase.  There are two basic things you need to learn.  The first is about the Transition effects and the second is about the Build effects.

1.  Transition effects

Slide Transition lets you select the transition to use when the selected slide appears during an electronic slide show.  To add a transition effect, select Transition from the Tool menu.  Choose what you want from the options presented then click OK.  Your slide will reappear.

2.  Build effects

A build slide helps reveal bullet points one at a time.  You choose options to set up the way you want each point to appear (to fly in from the bottom, for instance).  To add build effects, select Build slide from the Tool menu.  Choose what you want from the options presented then click on the OK button.  You can select different build slide effects for each slide used in your presentation.

Note 3:  To view your presentation, select Slide Show from the View menu then click on Show to view the presentation.  Then click on the Mouse button to view them one at a time.

Written by Clara Nosegbe (1997)