MICROSOFT POWERPOINT 2011

By Mrs. Bushman

THE RIBBONS

The ribbons are toolbars to use as a visual shortcut to what you use most. These take the place of the Formatting Palette.

HOME

Set up your slides.

Select the font.

Alignment Options.

Insert Options.

Format Objects.

Play Slide Show.

FORMAT

The format ribbon appears when an object has been selected, and is defined by that object. The top example is for a text box, the bottom is for a picture.

THEMES

Themes allows the user to change the aesthetics of the presentation. Page Setup is for changing from standard to widescreen, the Themes section gives the user a selection of styles to choose from, with more hidden behind the small triangle on the right of the slider window. Save Theme stores changes made to themes. Theme Options allows changes to be made to themes, and Master Views allows for checking how everything will look in print.

TABLES

Tables can be created on PowerPoint slides starting with the New button on the left side. This can be handy if the user is wanting to create a quick table of information, however if the data for the table is stored on Excel, a table can be made there and inserted into PowerPoint using the Insert drop down menu in the very top toolbar of PowerPoint.

CHARTS

Charts, like Tables are products of Excel. If you need a quick chart made, start by selecting the type of chart needed. If the data is on Excel, however, it is more easily made on Excel and Inserted into PowerPoint using the Insert drop down menu in the very top toolbar.

SMARTART

SmartArt is basically the Microsoft word for Thinking Maps. It’s a way to graphically present information. Once the Insert SmartArt Graphic has been selected (each type has additional formats based on the type of information being displayed and the best means of conveying the message), then the SmartArt Graphic Styles will populate with 2D and 3D versions of the selected map. The shapes can be changed and re-ordered in the Edit SmartArt area.

TRANSITIONS

Transitions are one of the few original features of PowerPoint from the beginning, however the number, type and complexity of those transitions have also changed with each additional version of MS Office. Now, it’s not only the actual transition, but the timing, the speed and even automation.

One thing to keep in mind, though, if the user is planning on exporting the presentation into a Quicktime movie, they cannot have transitions.

ANIMATIONS

Animations allow for objects to appear…

change…

or disappear!

SLIDE SHOW

Slide Show provides controls to control and even enhance the presentation. The user can customize the show, rehearse, change to Presenter View (which gives the next slide in a small preview pane in advance) and even record the show.

REVIEW

Review is used mostly for collaborative projects where updates are made and returned back to the user.

There are, however, a few other useful areas for this ribbon: Protection and Share. Protection locks the saved presentation so it cannot be altered by outside parties while Share uses the Apple Mail app to attach the presentation to an email.

A FEW EXTRAS…

ADDING SPELL CHECK

WHY SPELL CHECK?

Spell check is the little program within Microsoft

Office that will run through the entire presentation,

looking for spelling and grammatical errors and

giving the user options to leave it or suggestions of

what to change it to. There is no understanding as

to why it was left off of PowerPoint, but given the

amount of text used in presentations, it might be

worth restoring it to the toolbar on top.

Right click on the gray

area at the top where

the toolbar is located.

With the menu that

pops up, click on

Customize Toolbars and

Menus.

GETTING STARTED.

COMMANDEER.

Click on the right tab

labelled Commands.

In the window labeled

Categories, click on

Tools.

On the right window

listing the commands,

the commands change

according to the

category chosen. Click

on Spelling.

Click OK.

WHERE IS IT?

WHERE IS IT AT?

A lot of times the hardest part of a new version of

software is finding where things are at.

Some of these are commonly used, some of these

are based on previous lessons.

Action buttons are

buttons used to move to

designated slides in a

presentation, or to

perform some sort of

other action.

These are still located

in the Slide Show drop

down menu.

ACTION BUTTONS

ADDING SLIDES

Adding slides from the

Home ribbon has been

made easier with the

drop down menu also

asking for the layout of

the new slide.

If the user decides to

change how the slide

looks, where text is

located at, adding

images or videos,

clicking the Layout on

the Home ribbon will do

this.

LAYOUT

TEXTING ALLOWED HERE

The Insert section also

contains a number of

helpful items.

These are all related as

a form of text or a way of

adding text to the

presentation.

Pictures allow images

and clip art to be added

to the presentation.

If you remember the

clip art from the

previous version, that is

now the Clip Art Gallery.

LOOK AT ME NOW

THE SHAPE OF THINGS

The Shape section

gives a list of different

shapes, a browser at the

bottom and another way

of reaching the Action

Buttons dialogue box.

Media allows for more

than just videos, it also

allows for audio and the

recording of audio to

attach to a specific slide,

or to run through the

entire presentation. It’s

all in the settings.

LIGHTS! CAMERA!

VIEWING PLEASURE

Using the Normal View

on the bottom left

corner, a pane opens on

the left displaying the

slides as images of the

slides or as the outline.

Each has a purpose, but

most usually want to see

the appearance.