Using Presentation Software
Module last modified January, 7 2002

MS PowerPoint

PLATFORM
This module is for both Macintosh and PC.

PURPOSE OF THIS MODULE
Presentation software applications are frequently called "slide show applications", because that is essentially what you make with them: you make a sequence of slides that you can step through. You can print out the screens as 35mm slides (you would send them to a service bureau to do this), you can print them out as overheads, or you can show the presentation from the computer screen.

Presentations that you show on the computer, however, do not limit you to showing static slides in the same way that you would show slides of a vacation or a lab experiment. Instead, you can "animate" the slides, choosing visual effects to go between the slides as you present them and having the information on the slides appear step by step.

The final project will have:

THIS MODULE IS DIFFERENT
In this module I am not laying out a specific set of steps for you to make a slideshow just like anyone else's. Instead, the steps here will give you a basic familiarity with the application as you use it to make a slideshow that you create from scratch.

So, before you start this module, you need an idea of a slideshow you want to make. You can make a slideshow for a presentation in another class, or you can make a slideshow of something fun and pleasant: for example, previously, someone in class used Photoshop to colorize old photographs of her relatives, and then put those photographs into a slide show with explanatory text and visual effects.

At the end, you will also be asked to write a 250 word essay answering the following questions:

  1. what is the audience you have envisioned for your presentation?
  2. what were the design/textual choices you made based on what you know of this audience?
  3. how would you alter your design/textual choices for a different audience?


When we communicate with one another, we are always [on some level] dealing with issues of audience. (i.e., most of us would speak differently to the president of a company we are working for than we would to our friends at a hockey game.) What you are doing in this portion of the assignment is making those considerations explicit.

I am hoping you will experiment with this module, and learn more about this application than is described in the steps below. See the next section to see what I expect you to make.


PART ONE
THE MINIMUM SLIDESHOW I EXPECT YOU TO MAKE
The slideshow you make should meet the following criteria:


STEPS
Outlining Your Slideshow & Introducing PowerPoint

  1. You will be making a slide show of your own in this module, so you need to write it before you do anything else. (See the previous section for a description of what you might do) To write a slideshow, make an outline, with bulleted points, of your presentation. You will be able to modify it once you start using PowerPoint.

    Each slide should have one main point, followed by several subsidiary points.

  2. Find PowerPoint.

    On the Mac use the Microsoft PowerPoin 98 version under Local Applications. On the PC use the 2000 version.

  3. On the PC, when the application is opened, a window will appear. Choose "Blank Presentation" to begin your presentation.

    On a Mac, go to File>New and then choose "Blank Presentation" to begin your presentation.


Starting Your Own Slideshow: Putting the Outline into PowerPoint

  1. PowerPoint provides you with a score of different backgrounds and ready-made presentations where you just have to fill in the names and specific data. You could use this dialog box to get one of those ready-made features. For now, though, pick the Blank Presentation option and click "OK".

    This will open up yet another dialog box that will let you pick out layout type for all of your slides. These are called AutoLayouts. Scroll up and down these options for a second to get a look at all of the AutoLayouts. Notice how, if you click on any of them, they get a thick black outline and the name for that AutoLayout appears in the box in the bottom left-hand corner.

    Choose an AutoLayout in the middle of the top row and click "OK". This layout will become the slide master for the presentation.

  2. PowerPoint now creates a slide of the AutoLayout that you picked. To get to the outline working screen, click on the little outline icon to the lower left of the window.


    The window will shift to a small image of a slide, with the cursor blinking next to it. You may begin typing your outline here, or you can return to the slideview screen.

  3. Simply type your first point, and then press return.
    The application will advance to the next line, and you can type in the next line of your outline.

  4. Keep typing and pressing return until all the lines of your outline are in place.
    If you want to edit some text you have already entered, simply click in that line of text and make the edits you want.

  5. Now you will organize the text into what goes onto what slides. Return to the Outline View screen.
    Every line of text with a little slide icon next to it will be a separate slide, with that line of text as the title of the slide, and that's probably not how you want your slide show to be organized just now.

    To make subheads and bullet points out of the text you have typed, simply hold the mouse down over the little slide icon; the cursor will change to compass arrows: hold the mouse button down, and slide the mouse to the right. You will see a vertical line appear as you move the cursor. Move it a bit further and a second vertical line will appear, replacing the first. Each of these lines represents a layer of indenting, allowing you to create subheads. When you lift the mouse button, that line of text will be indented. Also, PowerPoint automatically creates different bullets and lowers the font size at each layer of indenting into the slide.

    Notice how moving a subheading in or out by a layer changes the layers of any items under that subheading.

  6. Indent the text that needs to be indented on each slide. (You can always reverse the process, and pull a line of text to the left to turn it into the title of a slide again.)

  7. Save your slideshow to your Home Directory if you haven't already (and remember to save your slideshow as you go along).

  8. To see the basic (no color) slide show you have created, click the little slide icon to the lower left of the window:

    This takes you to the slide show working screen, where you can step through your slides by moving the scroll bar on the right-hand side of the window.

    (At any time you are working on your slide show you can click the outline icon in this set of buttons at the lower left of the window, and you will come back to this outline mode, where you can adjust your outline; Persuasion will automatically apply the changes you make in the outline to your slides.)



Adding Color to Your Slideshow

  1. To add an interesting background to your presentation, choose "Apply Design" from the Format menu. Choose a design you like.
  2. You can also choose "Background" or "Slide Color Scheme" from the Format menu to change the look of your slides.

    Notice how the changes apply to all of your slides.


Adjusting the Slide Masters to go with Your Information

  1. If you do not like how a master slide works with your information,here's what you do:
  2. To change the look of text:
  3. To change the placement of something on screen:
  4. To add graphic objects or more text:


Adjusting Individual Slides

  1. Once you have the master looking the way you like, then use the Slide option under the View menu to look at your individual slides.
  2. If you want to change the look of one word on a slide, use the Text tool (shaped like the letter A) to select the word and then to choose new attributes for it from the Form Menu or the Ribbon bar at the top of the screen.
  3. If you want to add graphics to a slide, use the tools in the Ribbon Menu or get the appropriate pallets from View>Toolbars, or use the Picture option under the Insert menu to bring in graphics you have made elsewhere (Powerpoint can only import PICT graphics, and once they are in PowerPoint you will not be able to edit them.)
  4. If you wish, you can play around with the options under "Slide Color Scheme" in the Format menu to change the colors in your slide background.
  5. If you don't like the AutoLayout for a particular slide, you can change it for that slide by choosing the " Slide Layout" from the Format menu.


Viewing Your Slideshow, Plain and Fancy

  1. Choose "Slide Show..." from the View menu.
    How does it look so far? Like the original plan?

  2. Choose "Slide Transition" from the Slide Show Menu. A dialog box will appear. Experiment with these settings. They control the transitions between this slide and the next.

  3. View your slideshow using several different settings from this dialog box. Have your slide show use at least four different transitions.
    1. You can create other special effects on your slides by selecting objects or sections of text and experimenting with the choices in the Slide Show menu.
    2. Go to one of the slides with a bulleted list. Highlight the text.
    3. Go to the "Slide Show" menu and choose one of the "Preset Animations" for the text.
    4. Do this for each slide with a bulleted list, using a different Animation on each one.


PART TWO
Now you will write a 250 word essay answering the following questions:

  1. What is the audience you have envisioned for your presentation?
  2. What is the racial/economic/cultural background of the people in your audience? What is the age range? What is the size of the group you have envisioned? Will they be at all resistant to what you are presenting to them? What might this group definitely want you to address? What would be safe leaving out? How much previous information does the group have on this subject? etc.
  3. What were the design/textual choices you made based on what you know of this audience? How did you choose a color scheme? How did you make language choices (i.e., if you are writing to a group of children you will choose different language then if you are writing for a group of international business associates.) What font style did you choose? etc.
  4. Now, create an imaginary audience that would be very different from the one for which you have created your presentation. Relying on the above questions or using your own, how would you alter your design/textual choices for this different audience?


TURNING IN YOUR WORK
The final project will have:

Put a copy of your completed slideshow and your essay into your turn-in folder in our class folder on the G: drive before the due date. Name them "Slideshow," and "S.S. Essay" followed by your last name.

POINTS
Turned in on time 10
Basic Slideshow 35 (This means meeting the minimum requirements described above.)
Audience Analysis 20
Creative touches you have added 10 (This means that I expect that you, as you explore this application, will have figured out & made use of some neat things not described in the steps above.)
Instructor's Discretion 10
Basic points 85

BONUS POINTS
Create a presentation for the different audience that you envisioned in the written portion of this assignment.
Bonus points 15
Total Points 100