Skip to main content
Business LibreTexts

8.3: Using Microsoft PowerPoint

  • Page ID
    4143
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    What you’ll learn to do: Create a presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint

    PowerPoint is one of several applications in Microsoft’s Office product line, including enterprise staples Outlook (email and calendar), Excel (spreadsheet) and Word (word processing).

    With a market share of approximately 95 percent, PowerPoint is considered the industry standard for both business and education. PowerPoint supports over 100 languages and can be used on both Android and Mac devices. There are over 1 billion installations of PowerPoint worldwide, with 30 million presentations created daily. Similar to Kleenex for tissue, the PowerPoint brand name has become a generic reference for all presentation software and the generally poor use of this technology has given rise to the phrase “death by PowerPoint,” a scenario you will learn to avoid in subsequent sections. In this section, we will focus on the basics of creating a presentation, including how to create and save a presentation, how to change layouts and templates, how to add text, images and video and how to manage slides and objects within a slide.

    A visual of the statistics relayed in the text. PowerPoint has a 95 percent market saturation. PowerPoint is available in over one hundred languages. PowerPoint has been installed one billion times. 30 million presentations are created every day in PowerPoint.

    Figure 1. PowerPoint usage statistics

    As would be expected, the functional layout and logic of PowerPoint is similar to other Microsoft Office programs—in particular, Word and Excel. How you access PowerPoint varies somewhat depending on the version, both the edition (year) and whether you’re using an installed package or a web-based app. The screen shots and instructions in this section are from the web-based version of PowerPoint (currently PowerPoint 2016), an app contained within Microsoft Office 365. Microsoft Office 365 is free for students and teachers. Benefits of using the web-based version include free access to the most current, fully-featured versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint (and other apps) and automated file saving. The only requirement for a free education access is a valid school (that is, .edu) email address. Here’s the link to the Get Started web page.

    Screenshot of the launch screen for Office 365. The screen reads "Get Office 365 for free. It's not a trial! Students and teachers are eligible for Office 365 for Education which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and now Microsoft Teams, plus additional classroom tools. All you need to get started to enter a valid school email address below." There is a search bar below. There is a picture of a group of students working on their laptops at a table outside.

    Learning Outcomess

    • Create and save a new presentation
    • Add, delete, and move slides
    • Insert text boxes
    • Change theme on a presentation
    • Add images and clip art
    • Add videos
    • Arrange objects

    New Presentations

    At the Microsoft Office 365 home page, you will see a selection of apps as well as any recently-viewed documents. To open PowerPoint, click on the PowerPoint icon. The PowerPoint icon style varies depending on your operating system (PC or Mac) and the version of your software, but it’s always a red-orange P, sometimes accompanied by a chart graphic, as you can see circled in Figure 1.

    A screenshot of the landing page for Office 365. The PowerPoint icon is circled.

    Figure 1. Accessing PowerPoint in Office 365.

    When you open PowerPoint, the application will take you to a presentation gallery (see Figure 2), where you can choose to either open a new blank presentation or start a presentation using a template. To start with the proverbial blank page—no pre-set graphics, backgrounds or text—click (or double-click, depending on your version) New blank presentation. You’ll be presented with a new blank presentation title slide containing two text boxes for a title and subtitle. These are placeholders that can be used, deleted, or simply ignored.

    A screenshot of PowerPoint Online's template gallery. A sidebar shows recently used templates, while the main screen shows a 3 wide grid of different templates.

    Figure 2. Template gallery.

    If you want to use the default layout, click where it says Click to add title and type in your text. Note that when you click in the text box, the prompt text disappears and is replaced with a flashing cursor. To finish your entry, simply click outside the box. Pressing the enter or return key after typing your text will act as a return and advance the cursor to the next line. If you pressed return and don’t want a two-line title, simply press the Undo arrow under the File tab at the top left of your screen (or if you’re using Windows, press Ctrl + Z on your keyboard; if you’re using a Mac, press Cmnd + Z). To continue adding or editing text, click the text or within another text box and continue.

    A screenshot of a template slide in PowerPoint online. The slide has two text boxes. One reads "Click to add title" the other reads "Click to add subtitle".

    Figure 3. Your new presentation.

    Placeholder boxes and prompts don’t show up in Slide Show or presentation mode, so you don’t necessarily need to delete those you don’t use. If, however, you find them distracting, click on the border of the placeholder and press either the delete or backspace keys on your keyboard.

    As mentioned above, the web-based version of PowerPoint will save your file automatically, assigning a default title of Presentation. If you have multiple presentations in progress, it will save subsequent files as Presentation1, Presentation2, etc. To (re)name your presentation, click the default title, type your desired title and press enter.

    A screenshot of the PowerPoint home screen with an introduction slide. In the center of the top bar there is a place to rename the presentation.

    Figure 4.

    Saving Documents When Working Offline

    If you’re not working with PowerPoint Online, you will need to save your presentation manually: click on the File tab.

    Screenshot of PowerPoint homepage. Top right corner is a circle to show where to change the title of the presentation.

    Figure 5.

    You’ll then click Save or Save As in the menu along the left side of the screen. Note: you can also use the common keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + S (Windows) or Cmnd + S (Mac).

    Screen shot of the Save As option in PowerPoint.

    Figure 6.

    To save your presentation on your desktop, choose This PC, select my Desktop and tile your presentation—for example, “To-the-Bank Retail Trends.” At this point, you will also choose the format you want to save your presentation in Save as type. If you will be sharing your presentation with other students or colleagues who are using an older version of PowerPoint, select PowerPoint 97-2003 as the type from the drop-down list. Otherwise, go with the default option.

    Practice Question

    To save a new Microsoft PowerPoint presentation online:

    • Click to edit Presentation and rename
    • Select File > Save and title your presentation
    • Select Ctrl+S (PC) or Command+S (Mac)
    Answer

    Click to edit Presentation and rename

    Now that you’ve created a presentation, let’s start adding to it! If you closed your presentation after saving, you can reopen it by starting PowerPoint and selecting your presentation (i.e., To-the-Bank Retail Trends) listed under Recents.

    Adding Slides

    You can add a slide from either the Home tab, Insert tab or Thumbnail pane.

    From the Home Tab

    Screenshot of Home Tab in PowerPoint. Red circles indicate icons used to add new slides or duplicate a slide.

    Figure 1. Home Tab.

    1. Click on New Slide (or Duplicate Slide, to copy the current slide layout)
    2. If you clicked New Slide, select a layout that best fits your content
    3. Press enter

    Screenshot of choosing a new slide layout. The "title and content" option is selected.

    From the Insert Tab

    Screenshot of main PowerPoint screen. There is a column on the left showing the slides that have been created. Square in the center shows slide template.

    1. Click on New Slide
    2. Select a layout
    3. Press enter

    From the Thumbnail Pane

    Screenshot of main PowerPoint screen. There is a column on the left showing the slides that have been created. Square in the center shows slide template.

    You can also add slides from the thumbnail pane, the lefthand column of your screen when you’re in the default or Slide view.

    1. Select (highlight) the slide you want the new slide to follow
    2. Right-click on the slide
    3. Select New Slide for the default content slide layout or Duplicate Slide to copy the slide layout and content

    OR, to use a shortcut to duplicate the slide layout (not content)

    1. Select (highlight) the slide you want the new slide to follow
    2. Press Ctrl + M (PC) or Cmnd + M (Mac)

    Note that your layout choice isn’t final, so don’t overthink the decision. If you’re just trying to get your thoughts down on slides, select Duplicate Slide and fine-tune later.

    Deleting a Slide

    As with most operations, there are multiple ways to delete a slide:

    • Highlight the slide in the thumbnail pane and press delete
    • Highlight the slide in the thumbnail pane and press the delete icon (Home tab)
    • Highlight the slide in the thumbnail pane, right click and select Delete Slide

    Organizing Slides

    To move a slide, simply drag and drop in the thumbnail frame.

    Practice Question

    Your meeting organizer sends you an email asking you to edit your presentation down to 15 minutes to accommodate a “drop in” visit from your President. To delete one or more slides:

    • From the Review tab, click on a slide thumbnail and select Delete
    • From the Home tab, click on a slide thumbnail and select Delete
    • Click on a slide thumbnail and select Ctrl+D (PC) or Command+D (Mac)
    Answer

    From the Home tab, click on a slide thumbnail and select Delete

    Inserting Text Boxes

    There are multiple ways to insert text into your slides. One of the ways to enter text, as discussed earlier, is to click inside a placeholder box and enter your text. However, you may want to add text to a blank slide or in a place where there is no placeholder. To do so, select the Insert tab on the ribbon, and choose Text Box.

    Screenshot of Home Tab in PowerPoint. Red circles indicate icons used to add a new textbox on a slide.

    A text box will be inserted in your slide with a Click to insert text message similar to the placeholder Title and Subtitle boxes discussed earlier. The text box will expand to fit your text. If you decide you want to reposition the text box, you can click and move the text box/text around the slide. If you want to modify the width of the text box, click on a corner and drag it out as desired. The circular icon at the top of the text box activates the drawing and formatting options and allows you to rotate the text box.

    Changing the Theme on a Presentation

    Themes are one of the formatting options within PowerPoint. A theme is a slide design that contains pre-set colors, fonts, formatting and/or images. To view formatting options, click on the design tab and scroll through the available themes.

    Screenshot of main PowerPoint screen. The top home bar shows different slide design themes. A column on the left showing the slides that have been created. A square in the center shows slide template.

    Clicking on a theme’s thumbnail applies the formatting to your slides, so you can evaluate potential fit. A second group of options in the ribbon provides color variations on that design. A third option, exclusive to the online version of PowerPoint, is Design Ideas, providing additional variations; this feature is still being built out. To revert to your original format, click Undo.

    One caveat: given the limited number of templates and the number of people using PowerPoint, using a standard template doesn’t do anything to distinguish you or your message. Instead of selecting a standard template, use thoughtful images and complementary fonts to add design impact.

    Practice Question

    You have vowed to create a custom presentation, using none of the default slide layouts. To add text in an area where there is no preformatted text box:

    • From the Design tab, select insert > Text
    • From the Insert tab, select Text box
    • Double click and type your text
    Answer

    From the Insert tab, select Text box

    Practice Question

    You want to experiment with different color, layout, font options, but the number of possible combinations are overwhelming. You decide to scroll through the theme options to see how they work with your material. To do that:

    • Select Format > Theme and select a theme
    • From the Design tab, select a theme and click it apply
    • Select File > Open and select a theme
    Answer

    From the Design tab, select a theme and click it apply

    Adding Images and Clip Art

    Adding art, images and photographs is a way to both personalize your slides and reinforce your message.

    Adding visual elements to your slides is done from the Insert tab. Images can also be inserted directly from a new slide using the Add Pictures, Online Pictures or Online Video icons embedded in new slide layouts.

    Screenshot of the home tab. A red circle indicates two icons for inserting pictures and clip art.

    To add pictures from your computer

    1. Select the Insert tab
    2. Click on Picture
    3. Select your desired image
    4. Press Open to insert

    The Add Pictures From the Internet option allows for two possibilitiesb: searching via Bing and uploading images from OneDrive (Microsoft’s cloud storage product). Of course, you can also do an image search using Google Images or your preferred search engine, download images to your desktop and upload them to your presentation using the steps above. Don’t be put off by the initial Bing images served up. Bing’s filters allow you to search by size (small, medium, large, extra large), type (all, photograph, clip art, line drawing and transparent), color (all, color, B&W and by 12 basic colors) and license (all or Creative Commons only).

    To add pictures from the Internet

    1. Select the Insert tab
    2. Click on Online Pictures
    3. Type in your search term(s)
    4. Refine your image search using Bing’s size, type, color and license filters
    5. Select an image
    6. Press Insert to insert into slide
    7. Use the corner image “handles” (small boxes) to size

    Screenshot of images found through bing search. "Brain art" is the phrase in the search engine.

    Practice Question

    You want to incorporate a powerful image to balance the text and data in your presentation. You recently took a photo that would be perfect. To insert your photo:

    • Select View > Photos > Click to select and click Insert
    • Search for the image on your computer and drag it into your slide
    • Select Insert > Picture > Click to select and click Open to insert
    Answer

    Select Insert > Picture > Click to select and click Open to insert

    Adding Videos

    Adding video allows you to incorporate both motion and sound into your presentation and this can translate into audience energy! As with other visual elements, video is an Insert tab command.

    Screenshot of the PowerPoint home bar. The bar shows twelve icons representing tables, images, or videos to insert into a slide.

    The add video command launches a YouTube video search. To see video details, hover over the video. To view the video once embedded, click on the View tab, select Current Slide and press Play.

    To add video

    1. Select the Insert tab
    2. Click on Online Video
    3. Enter your search terms
    4. Select your desired video
    5. Press Open to insert

    Screenshot showing the option to insert a video from the internet into a slide.

    Practice Question

    You’re creating a class presentation on note-taking strategies and want to include the YouTube video that taught you how—and why—to use Cornell notes. To add it to your presentation:

    • From YouTube, select Share and select the Microsoft PowerPoint icon
    • Select Insert, Online Video > Search Youtube > Select a video > Insert
    • From Youtube, select Share, copy and paste the URL into your slide
    Answer

    Select Insert, Online Video > Search Youtube > Select a video > Insert

    Arrange Objects

    There may be times when default line spacing doesn’t work or you’re trying to build a slide that involves multiple blocks of text and/or imagery. That’s where PowerPoint’s Arrange function comes into play. Arrange allows you to order (layer) objects, bringing individual elements forward or sending them backwards. It also allows you to flip objects. Refer to Figure 4 for a screen shot.

    Screenshot of PowerPoint slide. The arrange icon is highlighted in orange and a drop down menu shows different order options to choose from. The options include Bring to Front, Send to Back, Bring Forward, Send Backward, Flip Vertical, and Flip Horizontal.

    Practice Question

    You’re building a layered slide, with a full-size image and a text box. Your created the text first and it’s now obscured by the image. To bring your text forward, you would use the following commands:

    • From the Transitions tab, select Arrange > Send backward
    • From the Design tab, select Format background > Set background
    • From the Home tab, select Arrange > Send to back
    Answer

    From the Home tab, select Arrange > Send to back


    8.3: Using Microsoft PowerPoint is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

    • Was this article helpful?