Let’s be honest. With PowerPoint, next to Word, being the easiest Office Suite programs to use, you’re probably thinking that there’s not much more you need to learn.
Contrary to popular belief, there are a few things you can implement that will make all the difference when building efficient presentations.
Here are four time-saving PowerPoint presentation tools you should use:
1. Templates
Constantly readjusting the size of your presentation when you go to print?
- Click the Slide Size button on the far right-hand side under the Design tab.
- You can choose either a Custom size to enter your own width and height or choose from some of the other options in the drop-down box.
- Go to File > Save As and mark the file type as a PowerPoint template.
- The template will be saved under a new folder in your Documents titled, “Custom Office Templates.”
2. Format Painter
If you’ve formatted text in earlier slides and want to continue to use the same formatting throughout the presentation, use this simple tool.
- Highlight the formatted text
- Under the Home tab, double-click on the Format Painter button under the Copy button on the left-hand side.
- Highlight the new text that you would like formatted and the text will format accordingly.
This saves you time by not having to reapply a font, size, and style manually.
Tech support for your Microsoft Office suite starts here.
3. Eyedropper
Ever tried to match your font color to the colors in a piece of clip art or a picture? Eyedropper will find the exact color for you.
- Insert clip art or a picture on the slide.
- Type text on the slide, then highlight the text that you want colored.
- Under the Format tab, select the Text Fill button and then select Eyedropper.
- Hover the Eyedropper tool over the image until you find the color you want the highlighted text to be.
- Click the part of the image that has the color you want to use on the text and the highlighted text will now turn that color.
4. Reuse Slides
Avoid reinventing the wheel by duplicating previous slides you’ve made.
- Under the Home tab, click the New Slide button.
- Select Reuse Slides.
- A menu will appear on the right-hand side and will show a list of frequently used documents or gives you the option to browse other documents.
- Selecting a document will open up the entire slideshow. Select from the slideshow which slide(s) you would like duplicated and be sure to check the Keep Formatting button.
- A duplicate slide will be created that you can edit and will not change the original slide.
What other PowerPoint tips save you time? Let us know in the comments below.