A PowerPoint Tutorial

Start a presentation in PowerPoint from scratch or use one of the many templates that come with the program. When you first open PowerPoint, you are presented with a blank document. If you want to work from scratch, follow the instructions in the document to add text, images and sound files. Adding text to your presentation is as easy as clicking a text box and typing. You can use the text formatting features to choose font style, size and color. To add an image, movie or sound to your presentation, go to the "Insert" menu and select the appropriate element.

To add a new slide to your presentation in PowerPoint, go to the "Insert" menu and choose "New Slide." A new blank slide will be added for you to begin working on. If you want to add a duplicate layout of the first slide, select the "Duplicate Slide" command from the Insert menu. PowerPoint creates an exact duplicate of the previous slide. Make alterations as needed.

Use the "Slide Show" menu to format your presentation. From this menu, you are able to rehearse the timing of your presentation and add a variety of animated transitions between slides. Choose color and background schemes to enhance your presentation. Select "Record Narration" on this menu to record a voiceover for your presentation.

When you have finished creating your presentation, you have several options for saving it. You can save it as a PowerPoint file that others can view with the free PowerPoint viewer, save your presentation as a web page, which will embed your presentation for use on a website, or package your presentation so it can be burned onto a CD. These options are all available on the "File" menu.