MicrosoftPowerPoint offers many featuresfor creating slideshows. Some of those features go a bit unnoticed but can be useful when building your presentation.
Before you create your next PowerPoint, take a look at these tricks. They can save you time, let you customize the show, and stay organized from start to finish.
Save time by reusing slides
You may not realize it, but you can reuse slides from other presentations to save time. You might reuse a slide with your company mission, contact information, or details of all your locations.
Step 1: Navigate to the slide inyour current presentationwhere you want to insert slides from another presentation. The slides you add will display after the slide you have selected.
Step 2: On either theHomeorInserttab, select theNew slidedrop-down arrow and pickReuse slides.
Step 3: When the Reuse Slides sidebar displays on the right, use either the drop-down box to pick a recent presentation or theBrowsebutton to locate the slideshow. Then, select thearrowon the right to load the slides.
Step 4: Before you choose the slide(s) you want to reuse, you can check the box at the bottom forKeep source formattingif you like. This retains any formatting from that presentation and ignores the formatting in the current presentation.
Step 5: Then, select the slide(s) you want to insert from that slideshow into your current one. You’ll see each slide, if you pick more than one, display in the thumbnail area on the left.
Step 6: When you finish, use theXon the top right of the Reuse Slides sidebar to close it.
You can then use the slides you inserted as-is or make edits as needed. Either way, you can save a lot of time by reusing slides instead of recreating them with each presentation.
Cater to different audiences with custom shows
If you have a lengthy slideshow but only want to present particular slides to specific audiences, you can create custom shows.
For example, you might want to present certain slides to your investors, a different set to your executives, but the entire slideshow to your project team. A custom show allows you to create a subset of slides from your presentation, without needing to delete slides or make an entire new slideshow from scratch.
Step 1: Go to theSlide Showtab, select theCustom slide showdrop-down arrow, and pickCustom shows.
Step 2: In the Custom Shows pop-up window, chooseNew. Keep in mind this is the same spot you’ll visit to see and manage your custom shows later.
Step 3: Give your custom show a name. Next, select the slides in the box on the left side that you want and use theAddbutton to add them to the custom show box on the right.
Step 4: Once you have the slides in the custom show box, you’re able to rearrange them if you like. Select one and then use theUporDownbutton to move it. Do the same for any others you want to rearrange.
Step 5: When you finish, pickOKat the bottom of the window to save the custom show. You’ll return to the Custom Shows window where you may create another show,Showthe custom presentation immediately, orClosethe box.
To present a custom show later, you’re able to return toSlide Show>Custom slide showand select the name of the show in the drop-down box. You can also place a link on a certain slide, such as a table of contents slide, to access the custom show.
Organize your slideshow with sections
When you create a PowerPoint presentation, especially a lengthy one, it can become difficult to keep it organized as you add more slides. PowerPoint offers a useful section feature for structuring presentations.
By setting up sections, you can collapse sections you’re not working on to focus on those you are and move an entire section to a different spot in the slideshow instead of moving individual slides.
Step 1: To add a section, select the first slide that you want inside that section. Then either right-click and pickAdd sectionor chooseSection>Add sectionon theHometab.
Step 2: If you create a section using any slide other than the first slide, that first slide will become part of a default section. This ensures that all slides in your presentation belong to a section.
Step 3: Continue to add sections to group your slides and stay organized.
You can then take advantage of these features for working with sections:
For additional help with your next slideshow, check outways to add music to your presentationor how toinclude notes with your slides.
