PowerPoint Master Class – Pre read

Day 4

3.13. Objects from other Software

Although you can create objects from within PowerPoint, you can also import existing objects from other
software. So rather than create a chart or a table, you may find it easier to import an existing chart from
Excel, or an existing table from Word, for example.

Copy and Paste

The most straightforward way to place existing objects into PowerPoint is to use standard Windows Copy
and Paste.

To copy a Word table, for example, you would start Word and open the file that contains the table. You
would select the table then, within Word, click the Copy button.

Next you would return to PowerPoint, open the slide where you wished to place the table, then within
PowerPoint, click the Paste button. The Word table would then be copied into PowerPoint.

Naturally this procedure works for objects that can be selected in any Windows software.

Pasting Links
The disadvantage of the above method is that objects pasted into your presentation remain fixed. If the
underlying file changes then your presentation is out of date. An alternative method is to paste a link into
your presentation. This links your presentation to the file that contains the data, and if that data file
changes then your presentation will be updated automatically.

To paste such a link, copy the object from the original file as above, then return to your PowerPoint slide.
Then go to the Clipboard group on the Home tab as usual, but instead of just clicking the

Paste button, click the down arrow below, then from the menu that appears, select Paste Special
In the dialog select the Paste link option, and select the appropriate object. Click OK and the object will
be pasted into your slide. If the underlying object changes at any point in the future, your slide will be
updated accordingly.

Loading the Software

The above methods are fine if the object can be adequately displayed on a single PowerPoint slide. There
are times however, when the best results are achieved by displaying the object in its native software. A
large table of data, for example, may be too big for the screen, and you may choose to have PowerPoint
automatically start Word, and display the table within Word, using scroll bars to move up and down.

To insert a single object, paste a link as described above. To insert an entire file, go to the Insert tab and,
in the Text group, click the Object button. In the dialog box, select Create from file, and the dialog box
will change.

Use the Browse button to locate the file on your computer.

In either case the contents of the file will be displayed on your slide. If, however, you select the Display
as icon option, the linked object will appear as an icon, and will not be displayed until you click that icon.
The next thing to do is instruct PowerPoint that when you click the linked object during the presentation,
it should load the software to display the object. To do this, click the Action button in the Links group on
the Insert tab. In the dialog that appears set the Object action to Open as below.
3.14. Re-Ordering your Slides

To change the order of your slides, or insert a new slide into the middle of a presentation, it is
worth switching to slide sorter view. Go to the View tab and in the Presentation Views group,
click the Slide Sorter button, or click the Slide Sorter View button at the bottom of the screen
to see the following layout:
From here you can delete any slide by clicking it then pressing the Delete key. You can re-order slides by
dragging any slide to a new position, and you can add a new slide anywhere by clicking between two
existing slides and clicking the New Slide button, from the Slides group on the Home tab.

3.15. Animation and Design

Now that we have covered the construction of slides, we can transform the information into an elegant
presentation. Whilst doing this it is useful to click the Slide Show tab to check how the slides would appear
in a real slide show.
• To look at the current slide, as it would appear in the show, click the From Current Slide
button in the Start Slide Show group.

• To view all slides from the beginning click the From Beginning button in the Start Slide Show
group.

When you wish to return to the normal view press the Esc key.

3.16. Design Templates

To apply a design template to your presentation, go to the Design tab. In the Themes group, click
the bottom button in the column of three to see the available designs.
Click any theme to apply it to all slides in your presentation.

3.17. Modifying the Theme

Once you have applied a theme, you can modify it using tools in the Design tab. In the
Themes group there are three buttons that let you change the Colours, Fonts and Effects
used in the chosen theme. Click
any button to reveal a menu of options.

In the Background group is a Background Styles button, which lets you modify the style of the background
used in the theme.
3.18. Transitions Between Slides
As you move from slide to slide during the presentation, you can have PowerPoint
display an animated effect. To choose an effect, go to the Animations tab.

In the Transition to This Slide group, click the bottom button in the column
of three to the right of the palette. Click any transition to see the effect played
out on your presentation slides in the background. When you have chosen an
effect it will work when you move to this current slide. You can have the effect
work on every slide in your presentation by clicking the Apply to All button.

3.19. Animated Bullet Points

To increase suspense in your presentation, and to keep your audience focused on the current issue you
can introduce points on a slide one at a time.

To do this go to the Animations tab, and in the Animations group,

click Custom Animation button. A pane will appear on the right of
yourscreen.

Your slide may have a title, some text and a graphics object, select any
object that you wish to be animated, then click the Add Effect button

In the menu structure, choose an animation effect for the entrance of each component of your slide.

In the right-hand pane ,you can then specify the speed and direction of the animation.Using the list at the
bottom of the pane you can reorder the animation to ensure that the slide components appear in the
correct order.

3.20. Animated Pictures

If you have a picture or a chart that you wish to animate, simply select it and repeat the procedure above.
However, it is worth mentioning that special effects look quite amateur on pictures, the best choice is to
make the picture simply appear, or fade in. To access these animation effects, click the Add Effect button,
and from the first menu select Entrance, then from the second menu select More Effects. You will see a
dialog box which has a wide range of animation effects.

3.21. The Presentation

To deliver your presentation to an audience from the computer, start PowerPoint and load your
presentation file. Click the Slide Show tab, click the From Beginning button in the Start Slide Show group.
Use the left mouse button, Enter key, Page Down key to advance through the slides, use the
Backspace, Page Up keys to retreat through the slides. To jump to a specific slide, right-click the
presentation, select Go to Slide then from the submenu select the required slide.

If you wish to emphasise a point you can use the Pointer Options entry from this menu to change the
cursor into a pencil and you can underline or circle any part of a slide, without changing the underlying
file.

3.22. Creating a Show

When your presentation is complete you can save it as a show. When it is opened it starts directly in a
slide show, independent of the PowerPoint environment. To save your presentation as a show, click the
Office button, then from the menu position the mouse cursor over Save As. In the submenu that appears
select the PowerPoint Show option. Provide a name, then click the Save button.
3.23. Printing Slides
PowerPoint allows you to print out several useful versions of your presentation. Click the Office button,
then from the menu select Print to get the following dialog box:

By default, you will print out the slides, one per sheet, suitable for producing OHP slides.

However, in the Print what section, expanded above, you can select audience handouts, in which case
the Handouts section of the dialog box will become active and you can specify whether to print 2,3,4,6 or
9 slides per sheet.

Three slides per sheet is particularly useful as it gives the audience an area in which to add their own
notes. If you have included speaker’s notes in your presentation you can print these out also.

When you have made your selections, click the OK button to print your presentation.