Intermediate Microsoft PowerPoint Tips

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Microsoft Office 2003: PowerPoint
Intermediate PowerPoint Tips, Tricks, and Savage Amusement...

Animation to Bulleted Text

When you need a quick way to add animation to bulleted text, go to slide sorter view. Then right click on the slide you want to add the animation.

Use the preset animation options to select one transition effect. Tried to animate a slide show and can't find the animation toolbar. Right click on any toolbar. Select animation effects and voila, there it is to use.

To get to the slide master from any view, hold the shift key down and select the Slide View icon in the left hand corner of the screen.

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Selecting Chart Elements

If you find it difficult to select a specific chart element with your mouse, make the selection from the keyboard. Here is how:

Double click on the chart to make it active
Press the up and down arrow keys to switch between element groups
For elements that consist of more than one item, such as series, use the left and right arrow keys to switch from one item to the next within the group

Resizing Text Contained in a Shape

If you have added text to an AutoShape (rectangle, ellipse, etc.) by typing while the shape was selected, PowerPoint treats the text as part of the shape when you move or rotate it. You have two options, however, when you resize the shape:

To keep the text size constant while you change the size of the shape, resize the shape by dragging one of its resize handles
To change the size of the text as you change the size of the shape, resize the shape using the "Scale" command ("Draw" menu.)

Keeping Pictures and Artwork in Proportion

When resizing elements in PowerPoint, you want to size them so that all the elements remain the same size in relationship with each other. You can do this by making sure that when you're resizing something, that you are resizing everything at once. For example, if you have four pictures that you have to resize, but they have to stay the same size in relation to each other,

You click the first picture
Hold down the Shift key
Click the other three pictures
Then you mouse drag the picture to the size you want

Changing the Background Color in PowerPoint

You can easily change the background color while working in Microsoft PowerPoint. To do this:

From the Format menu, click Background
Make your selections
Click Apply, or Apply to all

Automating a Movie from a Slide

If you have a movie in one of your PowerPoint slides, you can automate it, telling it what to do and when to start. To do this:

Right-click on the movie or animation's icon
Click Custom Animation
Click the Timing tab
Click on Automatically

Now, set the delay time to whatever you want. A delay time of zero will start the movie automatically upon reaching that slide.

Animating objects in PowerPoint

You can use animations in your PowerPoint slides to pep up your presentations. You quickly can create Clip Art figures and animate. To do this:

Click on Insert in the toolbar, select Picture, and click on clipart.
Pick a Clip Art and then click on Insert.
Now, right click the picture, select Grouping, and click on Ungroup.
Click on Yes in the following dialog box.
Click somewhere away from the Clip Art to deselect it.
Now, click on the yellow star in the toolbar, to open the Animations Effects toolbar.
In the Animations Effects toolbar Click on the Custom Animation button (the button with the little green arrow in it.
When the Custom Animation Dialog box opens you will see a list of objects in the 'Slide objects without animation' box. The items' names depend on the object used (ex. Square, Freeform, Circle etc..)

You can now pick which objects you want to animate.

To animate them all, simply click on the first one on the list, hold the Shift key, and then click on the last one.
Then click on the Animate radio button, and then on the Automatically radio button.

To see your animation, simply click on the Preview button.

You can change the animation around by clicking on the Effects tab, and changing some of the options.

When you are satisfied with you animation, click on OK.

To view your finished product, click on View in the toolbar, and select Slide Show.

Using transitions to enhance your slide show

One way to enhance your slide show is to use transitions. To add transitions to your slide show:

Open the View menu.
Click Slide Sorter.
To add a transition, right-click a slide and click Slide Transition.
Make your selection.
Click Apply.

Adding an Action button to a PowerPoint slide

You can add a button that performs a certain action, called an action button, to any slide in Microsoft PowerPoint. To do this:

Open the Slide Show menu.
Select Action Buttons.
Choose a button.
Use your mouse to draw the button onto the slide.
PowerPoint will detect when you release the mouse button. When it does, a dialog box will open.
Choose the action that you want.
Click OK.

How do I enable the Slide Miniature

The Slide Miniature is an invaluable tool which you want to enable when you are working in the Outline View. It gives you a good indication of how your slide is being filled and whether you need to insert a new slide.

Enable or Disable the Slide Miniature with the following steps:

Switch to the Outline View of your PowerPoint presentation.
Click on the View menu.
Select the Slide Miniature option to enable/disable it.

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