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What is a Presentation ?

A presentation is the name given to a PowerPoint file and has the file extension (".ppt") and is made up of one or more slides.

PowerPoint is a presentation graphics program which can be used to produce on-screen presentations, slides, handouts, speaker notes and outlines

Slides are the individual pages of a presentation and can contain text, graphics, tables, charts, clip art, drawings, animation, video clips, shapes etc.

You can also use templates to help design consistent looking slides easily.

Every time PowerPoint is started a new blank title slide in a new presentation will be created.

The default naming convention for presentations is Presentation1, Presentation2, etc.

Using the Control Buttons

When you open PowerPoint there are actually two separate windows.

Both of these windows have what are called control menus.

The icon in the top left corner is known as the control menu and the three buttons in the top right hand corner provide shortcuts for commands on this menu.

You can also display the control menu by pressing the left mouse button on the icon in the top left corner.

The outside window is the Title Bar or Application Window.

This window displays the name of the application and the name of the active presentation.

The workbook name will only have a file extension once it has been saved.

Minimise - PowerPoint is reduced to a button on the taskbar.

Restore - Restores the application window to its original size before it was maximised or minimised.

or Maximise - Increases the size of the PowerPoint window to fill the whole screen.

Close - Closes PowerPoint completely.

The inside window is the Menu Bar or Presentation Window.

Minimise - Presentation is reduced to a small icon within PowerPoint.

Restore - Restores the presentation window to its original size before it was maximised or minimised.

or Maximise - Presentation is increased to fill the whole application window. When the window is maximised this button changes to restore.

Close - Closes the active presentation.

The Minimise and Restore buttons are only displayed when your (Tools > Options)(View tab, Windows in Taskbar) option is not checked.

How can I create a Presentation ?

When you start PowerPoint a new blank presentation and blank title slide is automatically created for you.

You can easily create a new blank presentation by selecting (File > New) and clicking on the Blank Presentation hyperlink in the New Presentation task pane. You can also use the shortcut key (Ctrl + N).

Alternatively you can use the button on the Standard toolbar.

 New - Creates a new presentation with the just a title slide.

When a presentation is open the name of the presentation is displayed in the title bar (top left hand corner).

If the name of the presentation does not have an extension associated with it, then the presentation has never been saved.

By default every new presentation consists of just a title slide. This cannot be changed.

How can I open a Presentation ?

You can open a presentation by selecting (File > Open) or by using the shortcut key (Ctrl + O).

Alternatively you can use the button on the Standard toolbar.

 Open - Displays the (File > Open) dialog box.

When you display the (File > Open) dialog box, a default folder location is used. This can be changed from (Tools > Options)(Save tab, Default File Location).

If you save all your presentations in the same folder it is definitely worth changing your default folder.

You can also double click a PowerPoint file from within Windows Explorer. PowerPoint files have the file extension (".ppt"). If PowerPoint is not currently open then it will open automatically.

You can also open a file using the Recently Used Menu. This is located at the bottom of your File menu (see below).

 Recently used Menu

By default your last 4 PowerPoint presentations that have been opened using the (File > Open) dialog box will be listed here. You can select one of these to quickly re-open the presentation.

You can change the number of files listed here by selecting (Tools > Options)(General tab, Recently used file list). This can be a number between 1 and 9.

This list of recently used files is also displayed at the top of the New Presentation task pane.

If you attempt to open a PowerPoint presentation that is already open the file will not be opened again. You will not receive a prompt.

How can I save a Presentation ?

It is good practice to save your work frequently especially when you have just made substantial changes.

You can save the active presentation by selecting (File > Save) or by using the shortcut key (Ctrl + S).

Alternatively you can use the button on the Standard toolbar.

 Save - Saves the active presentation.

When you save a presentation for the first time the (File > Save As) dialog box will be displayed.

You can save your files with a different name or in a different location by selecting (File > Save As) or by using the shortcut key (F12).

There is also an AutoRecovery feature that can automatically save a presentation recovery file on a periodic basis.

AutoSave should not be used as an alternative to saving your presentation using (File > Save) but just as an extra safe guard.

How can I close a Presentation ?

Closing presentations when you have finished with them can be done in several ways.

The easiest way is to select (File > Close) or by using the shortcut key (Ctrl + W).

You can also close the active presentation by clicking on the icon on the left of the Menu Bar.

 Presentation control menu

An alternative way to close the active presentation is to press the black cross on the control menu in the top right hand corner of the Title Bar.

You will be prompted to save the changes when you close a presentation that has been changed since it was last saved.

If you close PowerPoint when there are presentations open, a dialog box will be displayed for each presentation that has had changes made to it.

How can I close PowerPoint ?

A quick way to close PowerPoint is to double click the icon in the top left hand corner of the title bar.

You can also close PowerPoint by selecting (File > Exit) or by using the shortcut key (Alt + F4).

Another alternative is to press the black cross on the control menu in the top right hand corner of the Title Bar.

Things to Remember

You can also use the shortcut key (Shift + F12) to save a presentation.

You can also use the shortcut key (Ctrl + F12) to display the (File > Open) dialog box.

Hidden slides are only ignored during a slide show

Every presentation has a built-in colour scheme that helps create attractive slides.

There are lots of features including some extra add-in applications for dealing with graphs, tables and organisation charts.