Chapter 7 - Power Point for Office XP

Chapter 7 - Power Point for Office XP. 1

PowerPoint Notes. 1

Exercise 1 - PowerPoint Assignment 6

Supplemental Material - Presentation Advice. 7

Structuring Your Talk: 7

Preparing Your Slides: 7

Hints for Efficient Practice: 9

Delivering Your Talk: 9

 

PowerPoint Notes

Default Settings

From the Tools Menu, select Customize and find the Options tab. Turn on these options:

o        Show Standard and Formatting Toolbars on two rows.

o        Always show full menus

o       Show ScreenTips on Toolbars.

o       Show Shortcut keys in ScreenTips.

A Power Point presentation consists of slides

Slides contain formatted text in outline form. You can also add pictures, clipart, charts, sound, and video. Templates can be used for slide background designs and formatting. Slides are dynamic, using animation effects and transitions to create movement.

 

PowerPoint is a visual medium, so show ideas with graphics instead of text. Use handouts for any complex written material.

Creating a New Presentation:

If it isn’t already displayed, turn on the New Presentation Task Pane from the View Menu. The task pane has a pull down selection menu at the upper right. Select New Presentation. If you start a new presentation, you can select a preformatted design, or a blank design. The AutoContent Wizard creates generic formats students can adapt for their classroom presentations.

 

View Options:

PowerPoint has three different views, Normal, Slide Sorter, and Slide Show. The Task Pane is a separate window. It can be displayed in both the normal and slide sorter views.

            Normal combines Slide, Outline, and Notes views with the Task Pane. The windows can be resized by clicking and dragging. Use the Notes area to add details for the lecturer or for handouts. Notes only appear in the slideshow if you choose to turn them on.

            Slide Sorter – shows multiple slides. You can insert or delete slides and use click and drag to reorder slides. You can apply design schemes, add animation and transition effects and create summary slides in this view.

            Slide Show  shows the slides on the display device.

 

New Slides:

From Insert menu select New Slide, or use the new slide icon on the formatting toolbar, or press Control M. The Slide Layout Pane opens. Select a layout. Layouts can be changed in existing slides. Select the slide and open the Slide Layout Pane. Select a layout and click OK.

 

Slide Layouts:

Layouts control the format of the slide. The three layout types are “Text” for text; “Content” for graphics; and “Other” for non-text and non-graphic elements.

 

Text Slides:

One type of text slide is a Title slide. The Title slide has this structure:

-          Title   -

-          Author  -

Another type of text slide is an Information slide. It has a bullet point structure. The bullet points can be turned on and off using the toolbar icon.

 

Content Slides:

“Content” layouts hold graphics without any text.

“Text and Content” layouts contain placeholders that you will replace with text, and with pictures, clip art, charts, or graphs. To insert graphics into a ‘Content slide’ select the placeholder. Select the type of graphic from the set of insertion icons, find your graphic, and insert it. You can click and drag the formatting placeholders.

 

Other Slides:

“Other” layouts are specific to a particular type of graphic. Select a layout that matches the type of information needed on the slide. To insert Graphics into an ‘Other’ slide, click on the icon.

 

Creating and Editing a slide:

Create a slide and select (or change) its layout (see above). Type in new text, format the text, add graphics if desired. You can use any of the standard formatting options available in Word, including changing the font color. The Drawing toolbar options also work in PowerPoint.

 

To alter the level of bullet points in text slides, use the decrease indent icon and increase indent icons, or use the TAB and SHIFT + TAB keys.

 

To create a summary slide:

A Summary Slide is a computer generated slide that lists the titles of the other slides. Create it last, after the other slides have been created and have titles. From the Slide Sorter View select All (Control-A) Click the Summary Slide button on the Slide Show toolbar.  (Alt-Shift-S also works) Presto! Now click and drag the summary slide to its desired location in the presentation.

 

You can make a summary for a subset of slides. Hold down control while selecting the slides to be included in the summary slide then follow the above steps.

 

Spicing up the presentation – Adding Content:

Using the Slide Master

From the View menu select Master, then Slide Master. Changes to the slide master’s format will apply to all slides; you can change backgrounds, font sizes and font types. If you copy a logo, graphic, or picture into the Title area of the Master it will appear on every slide. After you have made your changes, select “Close Slide Master” on the Slide Master toolbar.  

 

Adding Slide Numbers, Date, and Time: From the View menu, Header and Footer submenu.  Select Date and Time Update automatically. Choose a Date & Time format. Select “slide numbers.” Select “Apply to all.”

 

Design Templates:  From the Format menu, select Slide Design. The Slide Design Pane opens. Find a template you like; they are listed in alphabetical order. Select the slides you want the design applied to. Now click on the right side of the design you want to apply. This opens a box that gives you the option to apply to selected slides or apply to all slides. You can use several templates within a presentation. You can remove designs by applying the” default design” template.

 

You can add color and fill effects: Right-click in the slide’s background area. Select background. Use the pull down menu in the background fill section. Color Scheme  changes the color combinations used for the design you have already applied to a slide or group of slides.

 

Adding an Excel Chart or Worksheet: Insert menu, Object submenu. Select the type of object from the list. Click Create from file. Locate the required file, click OK. Click outside the chart to return to PowerPoint.

 

Adding Sounds or Movies: use the Insert Menu, Movies and Sounds submenu. Choose something from the clip organizer. Movies should be .mpg or .avi files. You can insert a button icon to play the movie or sound when the icon is clicked. You can use the Custom Animation Task Pane to set the sound to loop, or to play for one or more slides.

 

Adding a hyperlink:  Insert a textbox. Right-click and select Add Text. Type in a phrase describing the link. Right click and select Hyperlink. Enter the URL. The link will be active in Slide Show view.

 

Adding graphics:  The Drawing toolbar functions in PowerPoint the same as in Word. You can also insert pictures, Word Art, and Clip Art. Use Control + the arrow keys to fine tune placement.

 

Simultaneously Resizing multiple objects: Hold down the Control key and click on several graphics (you can include text). Click on a single graphic and use the sizing handles to resize it. The other objects will simultaneously adjust their size.

 

Spicing up the presentation – Adding Motion:

Transitions control how slides replace each other. From Normal or Slide Sorter View, select a slide (or group of slides) and right click. Select Slide Transition. The Slide Transition Pane appears. Follow the prompts from top to bottom. First, select a transition effect and observe how it looks by watching the sample area. Then alter its speed if desired, then set it to change automatically or manually. You’ll need to insert a time for the delay period if you select automatically. You can then apply the transition effect to the slide master, or to all slides, or to a selected slide or slides. If you make a mistake, there is a no-transitions option as one of the effects. This clears any transitions you have selected.

 

Animation Effects control the way bullet points and objects appear on-screen. From the Slide Sorter View open the Slide Design-Animation Schemes Pane. Highlight the slide(s) you want to add animation to. Select an animation effect and observe how it looks by watching the slide in the sample area. Note there are different categories of animation effects: subtle, moderate, and exciting. You can apply the animation effect to all slides, or apply it to the selected slide or slides. While this pane is open, you can highlight additional slides and apply different animation effects to those slides. If you make a mistake, there is a no-animation option as one of the effects. This clears animations you have added to the selected slide(s). Slides with animation or transitions show a small star underneath them in Slide Sorter View.

 

Animating Graphics:  

Open the Custom Animation Task Pane. Select a graphic element within the slide. Add an effect. Repeat with each graphic element. Press the play button when finished to review the animation sequence.

To change the order of effects:  Open the custom animation Task Pane. Click on the effect you want to move. Select the Reorder up or down arrow at the bottom of the task pane.

To change the timing of effects: On the custom animation task pane, you can set the speed of the effect.

To change the order in which overlapping graphics appear:  Select a graphic. On the drawing toolbar, select Draw then select Order.

To show effects simultaneously:  In the Custom Animation Task Pane, hold down Control while selecting the effects you want to use together. In the Start box, select With Previous.

To show effects together in sequences:  In the Custom Animation Task Pane select the effects you want to use together. In the Start box, select After Previous.

 

Animated clip art can be added to content slides. After creating a content slide, you’ll see a set of icons in the frame. Click on the Insert Media Clip icon. Type a word into the search box. Animated objects have a small gold star in the corner. Click on the clipart to insert it. The animation effect will only appear in the slide show view. For a preview of this slide, change to the custom animation task pane. Click on the slide. Click on the slide show button.

 

To create an endless loop: From the Slide Show Menu, choose Set Up Show. In the Dialog box, check Loop continuously until Esc. In the Transitions pane set the timer. Apply to all slides.

 

To add movement buttons to a presentation use the Slide Show menu, Action Buttons submenu.

 

Showing the Presentation:

Press F5 to begin the show.

To move to next slide:  Page Down, N, left click with Mouse, or use the down arrow key.

To move to previous slide:  Page Up, or P, or use the up-arrow key.

To jump directly to a slide: Type in the slide number and press enter, or right click and choose a slide from the pull down menu.

To move to the first or last slide: press the Home or End key.

To  set a timer to display the slides: See Transition Effects and Animation Effects.

To use the mouse as a pen: Rick-click during the show and select Pointer Options.

To temporarily show a blank screen: press Shift-B or period for a black background, Shift-W or comma for a white one. Repeating returns to the slide show.

To end a slide show: press Escape.

 

Printing slides and lecture notes:

To show speaker notes on your PC, without projecting them:  You can view speaker notes at any time during a broadcast by right-clicking any slide, and then clicking Screen and then Speaker Notes. Extra hardware must be installed to show notes on the PC and not on the display.

 

To print handouts: From the file menu -> Print -> Print what -> handouts -> 6 per page (or select a different number of slides) The Print Range can be set to “All”, or you can print a selection of slides.  Frame Slides should be checked. Click OK      

 

Printing PowerPoint to Word for student to use in note taking.     

Choose File, then Send to, then select Microsoft Word. This lets you create a copy of the presentation with spaces for note-taking.

 

Saving the PowerPoint Presentation:

PowerPoint files can get quite large. Simply renaming the file when you save it helps to shrink the file, sometimes significantly.

 


Exercise 1 - PowerPoint Assignment

 

Follow the instructions below to create 4 slides (or more, if you feel creative) about a topic that interests you.  After you create your presentation, use the summary slide feature to generate a summary slide. The slides must be created for this class; do not submit slides you created for a presentation to another class.

 

For more information and for examples of student work, go to www.cob.sjsu.edu/splane_m/Index3.htm

 

  1. Create a title slide that will contain your name, your presentation topic, and your section number. 
  2. Use a different text size and font for each of the three lines.
  3. The second slide should contain a brief outline of your presentation. You should have at least one example of a two level indentation.  (Hint: Use the tab key or the indent icon.)
  4. The third slide should contain an image obtained from the Clip Art library, with a text description.
  5. The fourth slide should contain additional text information and a graphic. Either create something from the Drawing toolbar or import a picture.
  6. Each slide must have a title as well as the contents listed above. Add titles if you haven’t already done so. 
  7. Create a summary slide - use the summary slide feature.

Create this slide last, after you have completed the other slides. The icon for creating summary slides is on the toolbar in the Slide Sorter View. You must select some slides before this icon becomes active. You must use text, not Word Art, in the title areas of the slides.

  1. Move the summary slide to the end of the presentation.
  2. Add the date, the time, and slide numbers to the slides.

This is a Footer, so look on the View menu. You can select a combination date and time setting from a pull-down list in the dialog box.

  1. Add a background color, or apply a design template, to the slides.
  2. Add transition effects to the slides.
  3. Add animation effects to the slides.
  4. Add automatic slide transitions, so each slide is displayed automatically without requiring any mouse clicks. The presentation should not exceed two minutes.
  5. Add a continuous loop setting. 

Supplemental Material - Presentation Advice

Structuring Your Talk:

Preparing a talk always takes far longer than you anticipate.  Start early!

  • Write a clear statement of the problem and its importance.
  • Research. Collect material which may relate to the topic.
  • Tell a story in a logical sequence.
  • Stick to the key concepts. Avoid description of specifics and unnecessary details. 
  • If you are making a series of points, organize them from the most to the least important. The less important points can be skipped if you run short of time.
  • Keep your sentences short, about 10-20 words each is ideal. This is the way people usually talk.
  • Strive for clarity. Are these the best words for making your point? Are they unambiguous? Are you using unfamiliar jargon or acronyms?

Preparing Your Slides:

  • Presentation Design
    • Don’t overload your slides with too much text or data.
    • FOCUS. In general, using a few powerful slides is the aim.
    • Let the picture or graphic tell the story. Avoid text.
    • Type key words in the PowerPoint Notes area listing what to say when displaying the slide. The notes are printable.
    • Number your slides and give them a title.
    • Use the “summary slide” feature in Slide Sorter View to prepare an Agenda or Table of Contents slide.
    • Prepare a company logo slide for your presentation.
    • You can add a logo and other graphics to every slide using the slide master feature.
    • Proof read everything, including visuals and numbers.
    • Keep “like” topics together
    • Strive for similar line lengths for text.
  • Visual elements
    • A font size of 28 to 34 with a bold font is recommended for subtitles. The title default size is 44. Use a san serif font for titles.
    • Use clear, simple visuals. Don’t confuse the audience.
    • Use contrast: light on dark or dark on light.
    • Graphics should make a key concept clearer.
    • Place your graphics in a similar location within each screen.
    • The Drawing toolbar is extremely useful You can:
      • Insert clip art
      • Insert pictures
      • Use Word Art
      • Use text boxes
      • Insert charts and diagrams
      • Insert arrows, banners, and thought balloons.
    • To temporarily clear the screen, press W or B during the presentation. Press Enter to resume the presentation.
  • Text
    • Font size must be large enough to be easily read. Size 28 to 34 with a bold font is recommended.
    • It is distracting if you use too wide a variety of fonts.
    • Unusual fonts may not display as you intended.
    • Overuse of text is a common mistake.
      • Too much text makes the slide unreadable. You may just as well show a blank slide. Stick to a few key words. 
      • If your audience is reading the slides they are not paying attention to you. If possible, make your point with graphics instead of text.
      • You can use Word Art, or a clip art image of a sign, to convey text in a more interesting way.
  • Numbers
    • Numbers are usually confusing to the audience. Use as few as possible and allow extra time for the audience to do the math.
    • Numbers should never be ultra precise: 
      • “Anticipated Revenues of $660,101.83” looks silly. Are your numbers that accurate? Just say $660 thousand.
      • “The Break Even Point is 1048.17 Units’. Are you selling fractions of a unit?
      • Don’t show pennies. Cost per unit is about the only time you would need to show pennies.
    • If you have more than 12-15 numbers on a slide, that’s probably too many.
    • Using only one number per sentence helps the audience absorb the data.
  • Statistics
    • Use the same scale for numbers on a slide. Don’t compare thousands to millions.
    • When using sales data, stick to a single market in the presentation. Worldwide sales, domestic sales, industry sales, company sales, divisional sales, or sales to a specific market segment are all different scales. They should not be mixed.
    • Cite your source on the same slide as the statistic, using a smaller size font.
  • Charts
    • Charts need to be clearly labeled. You can make more interesting charts by adding elements from the Drawing toolbar.
    • Numbers in tables are both hard to see and to understand. There is usually a better way to present your numerical data than with columns and rows of numbers. Get creative!
    • PowerPoint deletes portions of charts and worksheets that are imported from Excel, keeping only the leftmost 5.5 inches. Plan ahead.
  • Backgrounds
    • Backgrounds should never distract from the presentation.
    • Using the default white background is hard on the viewer’s eyes. You can easily add a design style or a color to the background.
    • Backgrounds that are light colored with dark text, or vice versa, look good. A dark background with white font reduces glare. It is difficult to see text on multi-colored backgrounds.
    • Colors appear lighter when projected. Pale colors often appear as white.
    • Consistent backgrounds add to a professional appearance.
    • For a long presentation, you may want to change background designs when shifting to a new topic.
  • Excitement
    • Slides for business presentations should be dull! You don’t want to distract the audience.
    • Sounds and transition effects can be annoying. Use sparingly.
    • Animation effects can be interesting when used in moderation.
      • Too much animation is distracting.
      • Consider using animated clip art
      • Consider using custom animation
    • You can insert video and audio clips into PowerPoint.
    • You can also insert hyperlinks.

Hints for Efficient Practice:

  • Timing - Practicing Your Presentation,
    • Talk through your presentation to see how much time you use for each slide.
    • Set the automatic slide transition to the amount of time you want to spend discussing each slide.
    • Are you using the right amount of time per slide? Decide which slides or comments need alteration to make your presentation smoother.
    • Change the automatic slide transition settings for individual slides to fit the amount of time needed for that slide and practice again. Are you still within the time limit?
    • Decide if you want to remove the automatic slide transition feature before giving the presentation.
  • Content
    • Make a list of key words/concepts for each slide
    • Read through the list before you begin.
    • Don't attempt to memorize your text;
    • Your words will probably be different each time you practice.
    • Think about the ideas, and your words will follow naturally.

Delivering Your Talk:

  • Pre-Talk Preparation
    • Plan to get there a few minutes early to set up and test the equipment.
    • Dress appropriately for your audience.
    • Turn off your cell phone.
    • Handouts: 
      • Edward Tufte, the leading expert on visual presentation techniques, advises speakers to always prepare a handout when giving a PowerPoint presentation.
      • Make about 10% more handouts than you expect to use.
      • Distribute handouts at the beginning of your talk.
  • Opening:
    • Jump right in and get to the point.
    • Give your rehearsed opening statement; don't improvise at the last moment.
    • Use the opening to catch the interest and attention of the audience.
    • Briefly state the problem or topic you will be discussing.
    • Briefly summarize your main theme for an idea or solution.
  • Speaking
    • Talk at a natural, moderate rate of speech
    • Project your voice.
    • Speak clearly and distinctly.
    • Repeat critical information.
    • Pause briefly to give your audience time to digest the information on each new slide.
    • Don’t read the slides aloud. Your audience can read them far faster than you can talk.
  • Body Language
    • Keep your eyes on the audience
    • Use natural gestures.
    • Don’t turn your back to the audience.
    • Don’t hide behind the lectern.
    • Avoid looking at your notes. Only use them as reference points to keep you on track. Talk, don’t read.
  • Questions
    • Always leave time for a few questions at the end of the talk.
    • If you allow questions during the talk, the presentation time will be about 25% more than the practice time.
    • You can jump directly to a slide by typing its number or by right-clicking during the presentation and choosing from the slide titles.
    • Relax. If you’ve done the research you can easily answer most questions.
    • Some questions are too specific or personal. Politely refuse to answer.
    • If you can’t answer a question, say so. Don’t apologize.  “I don’t have that information. I’ll try to find out for you.”
  • Length:
    • To end on time, you must PRACTICE!
    • When practicing, try to end early. You need to allow time for audience interruptions and questions.
  • Demeanor:
    • Show some enthusiasm. Nobody wants to listen to a dull presentation. On the other hand, don’t overdo it. Nobody talks and gestures like a maniac in real life. How would you explain your ideas to a friend?
    • Involve your audience. Ask questions, make eye contact, use humor.
    • Don’t get distracted by audience noises or movements.
    • You’ll forget a minor point or two. Everybody does.
    • If you temporarily lose your train of thought you can gain time to recover by asking if the audience has any questions.
  • Conclusion:
    • Close the sale.
    • Concisely summarize your key concepts and the main ideas of your presentation.
    • Resist the temptation to add a few last impromptu words.
    • End your talk with the summary statement or question you have prepared. What do you want them to do? What do you want them to remember?
    • Consider alternatives to “Questions?” for your closing slide. A summary of your key points, a cartoon, a team logo, or a company logo may be stronger.

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