Everyday UseSoftware and Files

To create a new PowerPoint presentation, start by choosing File > New (or pressing Ctrl+N). The New Presentation task pane appears on the right side of the window. The next step is to choose a look for the slides in the presentation, and PowerPoint offers no fewer than four ways to do that:

• Start with a blank presentation
• Start from a design template or color scheme
• Use the AutoContent Wizard
• Commandeer an existing presentation

No matter which look you choose for your presentation, you can change your mind and choose a different look later on. To do so, click the Design button or choose Format > Slide Design and select a new look in the Slide Design task pane. You can choose a new look no matter how far along you are in constructing a presentation.

Starting with a blank presentation

Click the Blank Presentation link in the Slide Design task pane to create a bare-bones presentation. You're on your own. With this technique, you have to fashion a design yourself with the tools on the Drawing toolbar. This isn't the best technique unless you know PowerPoint well and have an artistic flair. Why make your own design when you can rely on a design template, one created by a genuine artist?

Starting from a slide design or color scheme

Click the Design button on the Formatting toolbar or the From Design Template link in the task pane to make use of a slide design or color scheme. As shown in Figure 1, the Slide Design task pane opens. Scroll through the templates or color schemes, select one, glance at the slide on-screen, and decide which design or color scheme tickles your fancy:

• Slide design: Click the Design button or the From Design Template link, if necessary, to see the designs and choose one.
• Color scheme: Click the Color Schemes link to choose a color scheme. If the Slide Design task pane isn't showing, click the Design button on the Formatting toolbar.

Figure 1: Selecting a design template or color scheme.

Starting from the AutoContent Wizard

Click the From AutoContent Wizard link in the New Presentation task pane to create a presentation with the help of the AutoContent Wizard. With this technique, PowerPoint asks questions about the kind of presentation you want. When you're done answering, the program chooses a presentation design for you, complete with generic headings and text, and you enter your own headings and text where the generic stuff is.

Unless you're in a big hurry, this method of creating a presentation with the AutoContent Wizard isn't the best, either. Presentations created this way are invariably cold and impersonal. A presentation has to be an expression of who you are and what you stand for if it is to be successful. Generic presentations made with the AutoContent Wizard are, by definition, dull and characterless. They are the primary reason that PowerPoint has a bad reputation in some boardrooms and conference halls.

Starting from an Existing Presentation

If a PowerPoint presentation on your computer or computer network can be used as the starting point for your new presentation, click the From Existing Presentation link in the New Presentation task pane. You see the New from Existing Presentation dialog box. Select the presentation and click the Create New button. The presentation you selected appears in the window. Now you can start tweaking it to your liking!

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