by Jasmine Paul

Created on: May 26, 2007

Powerpoint has become a staple in offices to create quick and easy professional presentations for meetings and events. It was created so that you didn't have to outsource your presentations to design firms, but you could still have a presentation that was effective and presented your organization professionally.

The best way to start is by using one of the background templates they have. This way, you can focus on other elements to your presentation. You can create your own, and if you have time to do so, is a bit more professional as the templates are easily recognizable. To do that, you only need to go to file - new, and it will provide you the options for templates from which to choose. However, I recommend only doing this once you have become accustomed to the other aspects of the program.

After choosing a template, focus on the fonts and colors that are best associated with the background, and stick with a standard font and color. You choose fonts and colors the way you would with Microsoft Word. There are icons on the top, and I suggest experimenting with them until you are happy.

You insert slides, pictures and other objects by going to Insert - (and then your choice). You also have the option to write notes particular to each slide for your use at the bottom of the screen. To the left of the screen, you can see all your slides, and by clicking on one, you are able to transition quickly among the different slides.

My final tip is about the animation and transition options for the slide show. This is one of the interesting features of the program, but it can be overused. On the slide show menu, click slide transition and then choose your desired effect. You can preview it before choosing, so you can see what works with your text. For animation (which should be used sparingly) go to the slide show menu and choose custom animation. You can then click certain animation options for each particular piece of the slide (titles, text, objects).

Once you have the basics down, there are several other options you can use in Powerpoint, but you only need these to create professional presentations. When you finish your presentation, be sure to go through the slide show. You have probably seen many presentations, so you can be a relatively good judget of what will work for your audience.

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