Office 97 - PowerPoint Tips

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PowerPoint on the Net
Turn Presentations into Web Pages	You can turn any PowerPoint 97 presentation into a series of Web pages by using the File menu's Save As HTML option. This brings up the Save As HTML Wizard to lead you step-by-step through the process. The Wizard is full of useful Web-oriented tools. You can, for example, select a normal layout or use browser frames, choose a graphics type, pick your resolution, add navigation buttons, and even add a link that lets users download the latest version of Internet Explorer.
Make Presentations Available on the Web	Although PowerPoint 97's Save As HTML Wizard can convert your presentation to a Web document, you can also use PowerPoint's Animation Player to let Web users view your presentation in its full glory, complete with animations, sounds, and whatever navigation tools you originally added. Animation Player is an Internet Explorer extension that's available from Microsoft's PowerPoint 97 Web page. It lets anyone with Internet Explorer (and Windows 95 or Windows NT) play a PowerPoint 97 presentation, even if they don't have the main PowerPoint 97 program. You don't have to save your PowerPoint 97 presentation in HTML for it to work with Animation Player. Just save it as a normal presentation and make it available on your Web site or send it via email.
Import Documents	Want to create a presentation from data in an HTML document? Or how about documents such as Word outlines or slides from other presentation programs? Select File/Open from the menu bar, and pick your file type from the Files of Type box. (If you don't see the right type listed, select All Files.)
Present on the Net	Want to save travel time? Give your presentation live over the Internet or on a local area network. Open your presentation, and choose Presentation Conferencing from the Tools menu, then follow the instructions in the Wizard. Anyone with PowerPoint 97 or the PowerPoint Viewer can see your presentation online. (The PowerPoint Viewer is located in the ValuPack folder of the Office 97 CD-ROM.) PowerPoint 95 users can see the show if you save your presentation in PowerPoint 95 format.
Add Animations to Your Web Pages	Want to add an animated banner to your HTML pages without having to figure out how to use Java, Director, or animated GIFs? Use PowerPoint 97 to create PowerPoint Animations, or PPZ files, through the Save As HTML Wizard: To get a head start on designing your animation, choose File/New and click the Web Pages tab for the two templates included with PowerPoint 97 (you can also design your own template from scratch). Fill in a template with your graphics and text. To see what the finished animation will look like on a Web page, choose Slide Show from the View menu. Go back and change the animation if you wish; when it's exactly to your liking, use the Save As HTML Wizard to create the PowerPoint Animation. The animation is saved as a PPZ file and embedded in HTML. The embedding information is neatly grouped in the HTML source, so you can easily copy and paste it onto any HTML page. People accessing your page don't need to have the complete version of PowerPoint 97 to view the animation, but they will need the PowerPoint Viewer 97, available free from Microsoft. It's a good idea to add a link to Microsoft's download page whenever you use PowerPoint animations.
Save Layouts for Web Pages	If you intend to create multiple Web presentations that use similar styles, be sure to save your HTML layout in the Save As HTML Wizard. A layout includes all the information chosen in the Wizard: graphic type, graphic size, information page elements, colors, buttons, and other options.
Share Presentation Files on the Web	When inserting data for your Web presentation's information page, check out the Download Original Presentation option from the Save As HTML Wizard. This option makes it easy for people to download the PowerPoint file for their own use.
Convert Voice to RealAudio	If you've recorded narration for your presentation and want to publish your presentation on the Web, you'll need to install RealAudio so users can hear you. You'll find RealAudio in the ValuPack folder of your Office 97 CD-ROM.
General Tips
Create More Than Presentations	Don't think of PowerPoint 97 strictly as a presentation program; it has more tricks up its sleeve. PowerPoint 97 can also create Web pages, announcements, flyers, and other goodies. When you start the program, choose AutoContent Wizard from the opening screen, click OK, then the Next button. Then select a presentation type or scroll down to peruse the whole list of choices. You'll even find the Carnegie Coach, which features a series of slides for honing your presentation skills.
Recycle PowerPoint Slides	Many people reuse slides created for other presentations. New in PowerPoint 97 is the Slide Finder, an easy way to pull slides from existing presentations and even make a List of Favorites for later reuse: With a presentation on the screen at the point where you want to insert one or more existing slides, choose "Select slides from files" from the Insert menu. Click Browse, select the presentation you want to pull slides from, and click Open. Click Display to view the slides in the file. To add an individual slide to your existing presentation, select the one you want and click the Insert button. To add all the slides to the existing presentation, click the Insert All button. If you'll be reusing all the slides often, click the large Add to Favorites button, then click the List of Favorites tab. Once you've created a List of Favorites, just click the presentation that you want to pull slides from and choose the slides. Click Close when you're done. You can, of course, use any of PowerPoint 97's tools to change the slides you insert.
Share Your Favorite Presentations	If you're the generous type, it's a breeze to share your favorite premade slides and presentations with others in your company. PowerPoint 97 keeps your List Of Favorites in a file named sflib.dat, which is located in the \office directory. Other PowerPoint 97 users can use your slides by copying sflib.dat to their personal \office directory. If you have a network, just send coworkers the sflib.dat file. Of course, if you still want to share your library when you update your favorites, you'll need to send a new sflib.dat. Alternatively, keep your latest sflib.dat on a shared network drive so people can access the most current version whenever they wish.
Make Multiple Shows	Many presenters end up creating different versions of the same presentation for different audiences: the boss, the staff, and potential customers. It's always been easy to customize a PowerPoint presentation and to save the new one in a separate file, but PowerPoint 97's Custom Shows lets you put all the versions in a single file, saving disk space and hassle: Open the presentation you want to use as the base, and choose Custom Shows from the Slide Show menu. Click the New button, and type a new name for the custom show. Select the slides you want to use in that presentation, then click the Add button. If you want, use the up and down arrows at the far right side of the screen to change the order of slides in the new presentation.
Place Text Anywhere	You can now use standard drag-and-drop techniques to move text anywhere on a PowerPoint 97 slide. Just highlight the text, click and hold the left mouse button, drag the text to the desired position, and release the mouse button. If you've used previous versions of PowerPoint and like the old way of doing things, you can turn off drag-and-drop editing in PowerPoint 97. Choose Options from the Tools menu, click the Edit tab, and clear the check mark from the Use Drag and Drop box.
Take Your Presentations with You	PowerPoint 97 presentations are usually much too large to fit on a single floppy disk, but you can take them with you. Just use PowerPoint 97's Pack and Go feature to compress and store your presentation on multiple floppies. To pack up your presentation, open it, choose Pack and Go from the File menu, and follow the instructions in the Wizard. When you get to your destination, insert the first floppy disk into a computer and run pngsetup.exe (located on the first disk). The computer you're loading it to doesn't need to have PowerPoint installed. Hint: you can also use Pack and Go to compress a presentation to send it over a network or via email.
Make Custom Design Template	PowerPoint 97 is chock-full of premade design templates for almost any presentation situation, but it's also a snap to make your own template. You can start from scratch or customize one of the existing templates: In the main menu, choose View/Master/Slide Master. You'll be in PowerPoint 97's Master layout, where you can put art elements on the background and change bullets, fonts, colors, and the like. (Remember that everything you put on the Master layout will appear on every slide of your presentation.) From the Common Tasks toolbar (right-click any toolbar to access it), select New Title Master. The Title Master has all the elements that you'll put in the Slide Master. Add, delete, or change the elements. When you have the template the way you want it, click the Close button on the Master toolbar. Delete the one slide that you've created in your presentation. (Yes, the process of making a Master automatically creates a presentation with one slide in it, but you don't need to save that.) In the main menu, select File/Save, then choose Presentation Templates in the Save As Type list. Give your template a name, and you're done. To use your new template, select Format/Apply Design from the main menu.
Save Your Presentation as a Show	If you share presentations with other PowerPoint 97 users, the presentations will automatically open in Slide View instead of in Slide Show View. Since the Slide View has all the PowerPoint 97 menus and tools onscreen, it detracts from your presentation and also allows other users to modify your slides or see how you did cool tricks. To maintain your presentation's full impact, save it as a PowerPoint Show (PPS) file. From the File menu, choose Save As, then choose PowerPoint Show from the File Type list. Now when other PowerPoint users open the presentation, it will automatically appear as an unmodifiable slide show, with all menus and tools hidden.
Watch the Outline View	When you're using PowerPoint 97's Outline View to get your thoughts together, it's easy to lose track of how your prose will fit in the finished slide. PowerPoint 97 includes a new feature that displays a miniature of the slide you're working on in the upper right corner of the screen. Make sure to keep an eye on it as you outline your presentation.
Expand to Multiple Slides	When you have lots to say, it's easy to create a slide with so much text it runs off the bottom of the viewable area. In prior versions of PowerPoint, you had to create a new slide and paste in the extra text. If you have a slide with too much text in PowerPoint 97, just pull down the Tools menu and choose Expand Slide. You can tweak the new slide with any of PowerPoint's tools if you're not happy with the automatic formatting.
Create Speaker Notes	PowerPoint 97 lets you create speaker notes while you design the content of a slide. With a slide onscreen, select View/Speaker Notes from the main menu. Type your notes next to the appropriate slide number, then drag the Notes box off to the side of the screen so you can work on your main slide.
Save in Older Formats	If you need to share your presentations with people who have older versions of PowerPoint, just use the expanded PowerPoint 97 translators. With your PowerPoint 97 presentation onscreen, choose Save As from the File menu. In the Save As Type box, choose your format. Choices include PowerPoint 95, PowerPoint 4, and PowerPoint 3, among others.
Get the Details from Charts	Charts and graphs can be visually stunning in your presentations, but they can also be confusing. If you're tweaking a cluttered chart slide, it's often difficult to click the right elements. Don't panic. Just hold the cursor over a chart element, and a Chart Tip will pop up to show the name and value of the element you're pointing to.
View on Two Screens	PowerPoint 97 lets you use two computers for your presentation. One screen can show your presentation, speaker notes, and other tools; meanwhile, the second machine displays the main presentation to your audience. All you need is a null-modem cable to connect the machines and a copy of PowerPoint 97 for each system. Then choose Slide Show/View On Two Screens from the main menu, and follow the step-by-step directions.
Get Feedback on Shared Presentations	If you're using a network to work cooperatively on a presentation, anyone can add comments to individual slides. Or you can add your own comments (which won't be shown in the final version): From the Insert menu, choose Comment. A yellow "sticky note" appears, displaying the name of the person making the comment. Just type your comments. You can toggle the Comment display on and off by clicking Comment in the View menu.
Learn More about PowerPoint	Learn about PowerPoint 97 with the Microsoft PowerPoint virtual newsletter. From the Tools menu, launch PowerPoint Central, a presentation built with PowerPoint 97 that discusses relevant PowerPoint topics and provides links to places with related content and information. If you're connected to the Internet, just click Yes when prompted, and the Office Assistant will download Microsoft's latest version of the presentation.
Add FreeForm Drawings	While it's not the same as having a pencil, PowerPoint's AutoShapes drawing tools allow you to create drawings for your slides and presentations. The AutoShapes menu is attached to the Drawing toolbar on the bottom of your screen; if you don't see it, select View/Toolbar/Drawing. You can also open a floating version of the toolbar by selecting Insert/Picture/AutoShapes. The AutoShapes menu lets you create several kinds of shapes with a single click: Basic Shapes, Block Arrows, Captions, and Stars and Banners, among others. Select the shape you want, click in the slide where you want it to go, and the shape appears automatically. You can drag the borders of the image to reshape it, and change the line and fill colors using the options on the Drawing toolbar. For those times when you need greater flexibility, the Lines palette includes handy free-form drawing tools: a Curves tool, a Freeform tool, a Scribble tool, and more.
Multimedia Tips
Adding Clips	Extensive clip art for punching up your presentations has always been part of PowerPoint, but PowerPoint 97's all-new Clip Gallery adds sound and movies. Besides helping you turn your text-based presentations into multimedia extravaganzas, the Clip Gallery is a great place to organize all your image and sound files (not just those for PowerPoint presentations). To use it: Make sure that the slide into which you want to insert a clip is onscreen. To access the Clip Gallery, click its icon, which is on the top icon bar of PowerPoint 97 (toward the right, next to the Insert Chart icon). Choose a category (Clip Art, Pictures, Sounds, or Videos), find the clip you want, and click the Insert button to place the clip in your slide. If you're not sure which clip to use, click the Find button to narrow the possibilities. Note the Microsoft Internet Explorer icon at the bottom right corner of the Clip Gallery. Clicking it launches your browser and connects you with Microsoft's online Clip Gallery Live, where you can access more than 1,000 additional clips.
Add Interactivity	PowerPoint 97's Action Buttons help you create presentations that your audience can work through at its own pace. These buttons are perfect for canned presentations, especially those designed for online viewing. Unlike a standard slide show--in which the presentation plays in a linear fashion, changing slides whenever a key is pressed--Action Buttons let users go wherever they want in the presentation, get help, play an audio or video clip, start an application, or even jump to a Web page. To add Action Buttons: Open your presentation, and go to the slide where you want to put an Action Button. From the Slide Show menu, choose Action Buttons, then choose the button you want to use. (Hint: if you're not sure which button to use, hold the cursor over each for a second to bring up an explanation box. The blank button is customizable.) A crosshair cursor will appear on your slide. Move the cursor to the point where you want to place the button; click the mouse. Fill out the information in the Action Settings box (the choices vary depending on which button you've chosen), then click OK. If you want to customize the look and feel of an Action Button, just right-click it. Be aware that Action Buttons can respond to two types of input. A standard mouse-click initiates an action, but you can also use the mouseover option, which initiates an action as soon as the cursor passes over the Action Button. Just use the Mouse Over tab in the Action Settings dialog box. Using both mouse-click and mouseover options adds versatility to your slides. You can, for example, have an Action Button describe a Web site when the cursor passes over it and connect to the site when the button is clicked.
Animate Your Presentation	Nothing makes your audience sit up and take notice like slides that move. In PowerPoint 97, every object on a slide can be animated: With the slide onscreen, choose Custom Animation from the Slide Show menu. Highlight the object you want to animate, and step through the tabs to choose your effects and play settings. Use the Preview button to see how each effect looks before you save it. Hint: don't overdo the effects. Too much animation can confuse and distract the audience.
Add Naration	With PowerPoint 97, you can easily add voice narration to your presentation. (You'll need a sound card and microphone, of course.) A recorded narration integrated with your presentation makes it easy for you to distribute your presentation and is a perfect way to get info to people who can't make it to a live version. You can even record your presentation as you deliver it. Here's how: Open your presentation. From the Slide Show menu, choose Record Narration. When you're ready to proceed, click OK, and start your narration. PowerPoint 97 will attach your recorded comments to the presentation and will automatically change slides at the correct points when you run the presentation later. You can choose several sound-quality levels; the default Radio Quality is sufficient for voice-overs and uses about 10K for each second of narration. A five-minute speech consumes some 300K.
Add Music Background	PowerPoint 97's Clip Gallery Live has some basic musical backgrounds, but funkier selections are available in the Custom Soundtracks Editor (found in the ValuPack folder of the Office 97 CD-ROM). Once you've installed the Editor, choose Custom Soundtrack from the Slide Show menu. You can select from a wide variety of styles and motifs to help set the mood and reinforce your message. Don't forget that you can also add standard WAV files to your presentation or even play a track from an audio CD by choosing Movies and Sounds from the Insert menu. For even more musical abilities, install the MusicTrk add-in (also in the ValuPack folder of the Office 97 CD-ROM). MusicTrk lets you integrate MIDI tracks in your presentation.
Add Sounds and Movies	Although PowerPoint 97 has basic movie and sound features for jazzing up your presentations, you can extend those abilities by installing ActiveMovie (in the ValuPack folder of the Office 97 CD-ROM). ActiveMovie supports MPEG audio and video; AVI and QuickTime video files; and WAV, AU (RealAudio), MIDI, and AIFF sound files.