Introduction to PowerPoint

Learn PowerPoint from scratch

Are you ready to dive into PowerPoint for the first time? The process may seem intimidating, but it is quite easy to master. Follow these suggested links to help you understand the PowerPoint language, plan a successful presentation, and run it with ease.

Information in this article applies to PowerPoint 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007; PowerPoint for Office 365 and PowerPoint for Mac.

Introducing PowerPoint Lingo

There are terms specific to presentation software. The cool thing is that once you learn the terms related to PowerPoint, the same terms are used in similar programs like Google Docs and Apple Keynote.

• Top 10 PowerPoint Terms

Learn the keys to a successful presentation

Most people dive right in and write their presentations on the go. However, the best presenters don’t work like that; they start planning their presentations.

• The key to a successful presentation

• Four components for a successful presentation

Opening PowerPoint for the first time

Your first look at PowerPoint looks rather dull. There is one large page called a slide. Each presentation starts with a title, and PowerPoint presents a slide with a title. Just enter text in the provided text fields.

Go to page House and choose New slide to add a blank slide with title and text placeholders to your presentation. This is the default slide layout and one of many options. There are many options for choosing how your slide will look.

• Slide Layouts in PowerPoint

• Different ways to view PowerPoint slides

Dress up your slides

If this is your first PowerPoint presentation, you may be concerned that it won’t give the right impression. Make it easy on yourself and use one of the many PowerPoint themes or design templates to create a presentation that’s coordinated and professional. Pick a design that fits your theme and you’re good to go.

• Apply a design template in PowerPoint

Practice presentation

Your audience didn’t show up to view your PowerPoint presentation. They have come to you. You are the presentation and PowerPoint is the assistant to get your message across.

Use these tips to create an effective and successful presentation.

• 10 Tips To Be A Better Presenter

• Top 10 Mistakes in Presentations

• Make great A-worthy presentations

Insert photos into your presentation

As the old cliché goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Contribute to your presentation by adding image-only slides to express your point of view.

• Add pictures or pictures to PowerPoint slides

• 8 Ways to Have Fun With PowerPoint Images

Add a chart to express your data

If your presentation is about data, add a chart with the same data instead of text. Most people study vision, so seeing is believing.

• Add Excel Tables to PowerPoint

• All about charts in PowerPoint

Add motion with animation

Bring some movement to your PowerPoint presentation with simple animations. Animate text to magically appear on the screen. Animate pictures and other images to make them dance in full view. Various animations support your presentation.

• All about animation in PowerPoint

Transition from one slide to another

There are two ways to create movement in a PowerPoint presentation. The first is animation. The second advance slides in an interesting way; they are called transitions.

• Slide transitions for PowerPoint slides

• 5 tips for slide transitions in PowerPoint