10 Tips for Creating Effective Presentations in PowerPoint By Katherine Murray, from Microsoft.com

Getting Ready PowerPoint helps you prepare presentations that are easy, smooth, and professional, whether you're a seasoned show person or a novice quaking in your boots. This presentation will give you 10 fast and practical tips you can use as you create presentations in PowerPoint.

Start with the end in mind What do you want to accomplish with your presentation? Do you need a short, simple presentation that leaves the viewer wanting to know more or an involved longer presentation that teaches audience members how to do a specific task? Know the room in which you'll be presenting, how big your audience might be, handouts you'll need, and so on

Use the AutoContent Wizard to help you figure out what to say On the File menu, click New. On the New Presentation task pane, click From AutoContent Wizard. Follow the steps to choose the type of presentation you want to create. (You can see some of the available choices in the next slide.) Then replace the wizard text with ideas and content specific to your presentation.

Screen shot of the AutoContent Wizard

Stick with what works. Use a template If you're not sure of your design abilities, choose a look from the design templates in PowerPoint to base your presentation on a tried-and-true, professional design. In the New Presentation task pane, click From Design Templates. There are a variety of designs available in PowerPoint, you're likely to find a look that fits.

Use the Outline view to write content quickly Sometimes tackling both the look and the content at once is a bit overwhelming. In the left panel of the PowerPoint window, click the Outline tab. Begin typing a thought and press ENTER; that's a new slide title. You can continue creating slides and entering slide titles by typing information and pressing ENTER. If you want to add content to a slide, press TAB (instead of ENTER) and PowerPoint records the text as a bullet point. To add a bullet within a bullet point, press TAB again. You can create several levels of bullets, but usually one or two levels do the trick.

Use images to liven things up Not all presentations need loads of images. In fact, some of the most effective presentations use images and other special effects (music, video, and more) sparingly. A picture is worth more than one thousand words when it really drives your message home. PowerPoint includes the Microsoft Clip Organizer (On the Insert menu, point to Picture and click Clip Art. On the Insert Clip Art task pane, click Clip Organizer.) to help you find the art you want to use. Additionally, you can download new images, scan and store the images you already have, and even collect your video and sound files all in one place

To add an image to your presentation Display the slide in Slide view. On the Insert menu point to Picture and click the type of picture you want to insert. If you want to add clip art from the Clip Organizer, click Clip Art. The Insert Clip Art task pane appears so that you can tell PowerPoint what kind of art you're looking for. If you have your own file you want to use, click From File and then find and click the image file. Click Open.

Present your data in a chart If you're a chart person you'll really enjoy the wide range of easy-to-apply choices you have with PowerPoint charts. Not only can you apply literally dozens of different chart types (in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional views), but you can also create flowcharts and more using the diagramming features in PowerPoint. To find the commands you need for both charts and diagrams, on the Insert menu, click either Diagram or Chart. (And check out the Tables feature while you're there. Very simple, professional, and cool.)

Diagrams & Charts

Create your own template for repeated presentations If you're creating the same presentation over and over again, you can turn your presentation into a template that you or others can use quickly. A template saves all the settings you've selected, background images, color scheme, font selections, and so on, and ensures that the presentations you create based on that template all have the same elements in common. This is great if you have a look that you want all your presentations to adhere to. To turn a presentation into a template: On the File menu click Save As. In the Save as type list, click Design Template. Name the file and click Save.

Make your presentation available on the Web This is easier to do than it sounds. PowerPoint enables you to turn your presentation into a ready-made Web page. On the File menu, click Save As. In the Save as type list, click Web Page. Click Save. Or, if you simply want to run the presentation from your Web page that is already online, add a button to your page and have it link directly to your PowerPoint presentation file. Users can view the presentation online right from your Web page

Practice, practice, practice. Use Rehearse Timings to set the timing for your presentation. On the Slide Show menu, click Rehearse Timings. Go through it a dozen times until you're happy with the timing and have your words down to a science. The more you practice, the better you'll feel about what you're saying and how you're saying it