Share Your Favorite PowerPoint Tips for E-Learning Designers #1

PowerPoint Tips for E-Learning #1: Challenge | Recap

PowerPoint is one of those tools that’s so intuitive and easy to use, most people never take the time to formally learn all that’s possible.

That’s okay for the average user who wants to build simple presentations. But for e-learning designers, there are many hidden features, tricks, and workflows that aren’t covered in user manuals.

Forget that PowerPoint may not be the best choice for interactive e-learning. The slide-based authoring concepts and multimedia techniques will help users get up and running with more powerful authoring tools like Articulate Storyline. And that’s what this first screencast challenge is all about!

Screencast Challenge of the Week

This week, your challenge is to screencast a PowerPoint tip for e-learning designers.

You can record a how-to tutorial to demonstrate a technical process or screencast a more general tip using an existing project you’ve built. The goal is for you to help e-learning designers get more from PowerPoint.

NOTE: Don’t worry if someone already recorded a similar tutorial. The weekly screencast challenges are for you to show what you know using your own personal voice and style.

PowerPoint for E-Learning Topics

Whether or not you build PowerPoint-based e-learning, the general concepts for inserting and customizing slide content will help you build better e-learning in tools like Storyline and Articulate Studio.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Production tips
Favorite keyboard shortcuts
Customizing PowerPoint for e-learning
Creating custom templates for fonts, colors, and layouts
Personal workflow tips
Video and animation tips

You’ll find even more tutorial ideas and resources from Tom’s PowerPoint for E-Learning archives.

Record Your Screencast

You can record your screencast using any tool you like. Storyline’s built-in screen recorder is one option. Replay works well for including webcam video with your screen recording. Another popular option is Camtasia.

Share Your Screencast

Please use YouTube, Vimeo, or Wistia to host your screencast. That will make it easy for me to embed the tutorials in the weekly recap post for each challenge.

You’re also free to bundle your videos into a Storyline project (here’s an example). You’ll just need a place to host your published project. If you need help, I can host your files on our servers.

Ready? Set? Record!

About the Screencast Challenges

The weekly screencasting challenges are ongoing opportunities to teach, learn, and demonstrate your e-learning expertise. You can jump into any or all of the previous challenges anytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos.

If you have a blog, please consider writing about your challenges. We’ll link back to your posts so the great work you’re sharing gets even more exposure. If you share your demos on Twitter, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can track your e-learning coolness.

68 Comments

Jeff Kortenbosch
Hero

8 years ago01/27/16 at 10:41 pm (UTC)

#1 http://youtu.be/8sT0FxDOmkE Creating a lightbox window in PowerPoint.

Jeff Kortenbosch
Hero

8 years ago01/27/16 at 10:44 pm (UTC)

#2 Become a PowerPoint illustrator (in 20 days): https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhJPGag0gBHLOaDJXyEmo0hyZvIjfrv9N Blog post: http://www.seriouslearning.nl/create-your-own-powerpoint-illustrations-everybodydrawnow-pptx-edition/

Nina Gerke
Jeff Kortenbosch

8 years ago02/04/16 at 7:25 am (UTC)

Thanks a million, Jeff! Some things are so easy but I never used them because I didn't know they exist. I've got a new Tab in PP now, already filled with my favorite graphic commands :-)

Jeff Kortenbosch
Hero

8 years ago01/27/16 at 10:46 pm (UTC)

#3 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zwaK56J-ZFU How to create a software simulation in PowerPoint

8 years ago01/29/16 at 6:21 am (UTC)

Good stuff Jeff!

David Anderson
Author

8 years ago01/27/16 at 11:22 pm (UTC)

Those are great, Jeff! Somehow I knew you'd have some goodies to share in this one:-) Thanks for kicking off the new series.

David Lindenberg

8 years ago01/28/16 at 1:47 pm (UTC)

Okay, so this is an oldie (created for Studio '09), but the same techniques could be used in the latest version. It was also recorded in Screenr (sorry David). Create a Lightbox effect http://www.screenr.com/OYws

8 years ago01/29/16 at 6:24 am (UTC)

That's neat David *thumbs up*

Montse
Hero

8 years ago01/28/16 at 2:00 pm (UTC)

Great idea for a series! You've been talking about doing this challenge for a while. Here's a simple idea for creating blurred background images in PowerPoint: https://youtu.be/ZhxPdjVyi-E

8 years ago01/29/16 at 6:24 am (UTC)

Cool Montse, very professional!

Veronica Budnikas
Hero

8 years ago01/28/16 at 11:11 pm (UTC)

Yay, I love PowerPoint! My first tip is on merging shapes in PowerPoint. I learned about this a long time ago from Tom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg_Oyzlq1fM

8 years ago01/28/16 at 11:31 pm (UTC)

That's one of those tips every course designer should review quarterly:-) Did you include this tutorial in a blog post? If you did, please include the link so I can include it in the recap along with your video.

8 years ago01/28/16 at 11:49 pm (UTC)

No, not yet, but I will try to do that in the next day or two. Are you doing weekly recaps for this series too? It was a nice surprise seeing this this morning, I actually thought it was a really, really old challenge :)

8 years ago01/28/16 at 11:59 pm (UTC)

Great! It's really a good idea to create a blog for each demo. Helps provide context and of course SEO value. Weekly recaps? You bet:-) I'll post a page every Tuesday with everyone's tutorials just like we do for the other challenges. Screenr may be gone, but there's no reason we have to stop sharing helpful tutorials!

8 years ago01/29/16 at 12:01 am (UTC)

Sounds awesome! Bye bye Screenr, hello Replay!

8 years ago01/29/16 at 12:04 am (UTC)

Exactly!

8 years ago02/01/16 at 1:01 am (UTC)

Hey Dave, Here is a blog post: http://veronicab.com.au/powerpoint-tips-merging-shapes/ Thanks!

8 years ago01/29/16 at 6:22 am (UTC)

Good one Veronica!

8 years ago01/29/16 at 1:10 pm (UTC)

One of the best features for designing graphics in PowerPoint! I noticed the audio was really low . Was it me? I had to go full out to hear you properly.

8 years ago01/29/16 at 1:16 pm (UTC)

Oh no! I use a fairly average headset, and replay... I'll have a look. Did anyone else find it hard to hear?

Matthew Guyan
Partner

8 years ago01/29/16 at 6:13 am (UTC)

Some useful tips shared so far! I think one of best things is finding out what people sound like :-) I tried Replay for the first time and I made a clip about how to crop an image to a shape (other than a rectangle or square): https://youtu.be/PaQaidLrrrk (my first upload to YouTube too) Cool idea for starting this David!

8 years ago01/29/16 at 1:07 pm (UTC)

Great! There is a first time(s) for everything. Excellent tip too! The audio was really soft for me. Not sure what happened there. There is a feature in Replay to boost the audio 200%. Did you use a separate microphone or did you record via your laptop mike?

8 years ago01/31/16 at 8:12 am (UTC)

Thanks Jeff! For this one I just used my headset mike but will try my USB one next time. Thanks for the info about increasing the volume in Replay, I'll give that a go too.

8 years ago02/01/16 at 11:40 pm (UTC)

That's a super handy tip Matt. The audio was fine for me, there was minimal ambient sound, but the volume was loud and clear :)

Linda Lorenzetti
Hero

8 years ago01/31/16 at 3:55 pm (UTC)

I just found this article. Here's a couple of my oldies: http://www.screenr.com/Of4 & http://www.screenr.com/4L0

8 years ago02/01/16 at 1:28 am (UTC)

Thanks for posting Linda. I actually remember seeing the hand one a few years back and thinking it was such a great tip, i never would have thought to do that, so thanks for sharing it again!

Adrian Shepard

8 years ago02/01/16 at 10:52 am (UTC)

Sorry, no time to create a screen recording but some of you might like this plugin for Powerpoint called Powerpoint labs ( http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~pptlabs/ ). It's still free to download and has a bunch of great features I find useful such as the color picker in 'Color Labs' and the magnify effect in 'Effects Lab'

Montse
Hero

8 years ago02/02/16 at 10:22 am (UTC)

Here's one of my favorites: How to Create a Notebook Paper Effect in PowerPoint: http://elearningdesigner.com/how-to-create-notebook-paper-in-powerpoint/

David Anderson
Author

8 years ago02/02/16 at 10:54 am (UTC)

Hey folks, the recap post is up: https://community.articulate.com/articles/powerpoint-tips-tutorials-elearning I grouped the tutorials by category to provide better context around the lessons. The outline may list some videos in a different order from how they were submitted. But the embedded videos represent the order in which the tutorials were submitted. The tutorial index is just an idea I'm playing with in this series. I'd love to know what you think about the new format!

8 years ago02/02/16 at 11:03 am (UTC)

Given that the challenge is so broad and open, I think that grouping them by category is a really good idea. I wonder whether down the line, once you've got quite a few tips, you could create like a 'master' recap or index page, with all the categories and links?

8 years ago02/02/16 at 11:42 am (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback, Veronica. By master recap page, do you mean create one page for the index of lessons and another page for just the video tutorials? If that's what you're thinking, I could easily do that. I'll continue to update the index as new tips come in but I see your point regarding the possible need to set up additional pages to help with organization. That's totally possible. I have the next 12 screencast challenge posts mapped out. Some topics are broader (like this one) while others will be more specific. Tomorrow's challenge, for example, is on Storyline's variables. I guess we'll have to see how active this series gets. Whatever happens, I have some options for changing up the recaps.

8 years ago02/02/16 at 10:15 pm (UTC)

Oh, I see, silly me. For some reason I thought that the series was all about PowerPoint tips :) which is why I thought it would be good to have one big index page. So, the topic will vary every week, and the task each week is to do a screencast, right? I like this very much :) Then, perhaps just having something like https://community.articulate.com/series/e-learning-challenges is sufficient, but may be worth for the broader topics to have sub-bullets of the tutorials or even just the category... maybe

Veronica Budnikas
Hero

8 years ago02/02/16 at 11:06 pm (UTC)

Here's another one: how to create a cool effect on a video in PPT. Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoWF3ab_qGo Blog: http://veronicab.com.au/powerpoint-tips-subtract-shape/

8 years ago02/03/16 at 6:23 pm (UTC)

Lots of possibilities with that video effect, Veronica! Recap updated: https://community.articulate.com/articles/powerpoint-tips-tutorials-elearning#VideoMaskingEffect

Tracy Parish
Hero

8 years ago02/03/16 at 2:33 pm (UTC)

Here are 3 of my favourite "tricks" for manipulating photos so that you can create new scenes and images for the stories that you need to tell. Cropping, Softening Edges, and Removing Background. http://www.tracyparish.ca/portfolio/powerpoint-photo-editing

8 years ago02/03/16 at 6:20 pm (UTC)

The trifecta of image editing in PowerPoint! Thanks, Tracy! I just added your screencast and blog post to the recap: https://community.articulate.com/articles/powerpoint-tips-tutorials-elearning#PhotoEditingTips

Dianne Hope

8 years ago02/04/16 at 1:05 am (UTC)

Some great tips here everyone. Here's my blog post and video of tips on using animations and exporting to video from PowerPoint. https://hopedianne.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/powerpoint-tips-for-e-learning/

8 years ago02/04/16 at 4:23 am (UTC)

It's so great to hear your voice, Dianne! Thanks for sharing your animation tips in this week's screencast! I just updated the recap to include your tutorial and article: https://community.articulate.com/articles/powerpoint-tips-tutorials-elearning/#AnimatingTextObjects

8 years ago02/04/16 at 5:58 am (UTC)

Hahaha - thanks David. I've just paid a voice over artist to narrate a course I'm putting together because I don't think my voice is very good - but I've done quite a bit of voice over behind the scenes in-house, and everyone sounds so confident in their entries here, so thought I'd give it a go for this challenge - after all, what's a screencast without a voiceover! So, David - the only remaining connection is to meet in person!! When are you coming down under next?!!

8 years ago02/04/16 at 6:07 am (UTC)

Yes! Any chance of an Articulate delegation sometime this year? I highly recommend Melbourne ;) Your recording sounds really good Dianne, great job :)

8 years ago02/04/16 at 6:08 am (UTC)

Well your voice sounds quite professional to me so I say keep the screencasts (w/ audio) coming! Tom and I will be in Australia in May. We're working out the details with BOnline and will likely host workshops in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Dates aren't firm but we're targeting the May 20-30. Will you be around in May?

8 years ago02/04/16 at 6:13 am (UTC)

Wowie! I sure will be, really looking forward to that!

8 years ago02/04/16 at 6:14 am (UTC)

Dianne, will you be around? Would be great to catch up again :)

Dianne Hope
Veronica Budnikas

8 years ago02/04/16 at 6:56 am (UTC)

OMG - yes, I'll be around in May! We're planning another outback trek, but not until 1st July. May is now officially marked on my calendar for Articulate workshops. Hey Veronica - we don't need to wait until David and Tom visit to catch up...

8 years ago02/04/16 at 7:00 am (UTC)

Of course, you're right! I'll let you know the next time I'm in Melbourne

8 years ago02/04/16 at 7:07 am (UTC)

That's so great to hear, Dianne! We should have the dates set by the end of this week. Looking forward to meeting you in person!

Chuck Jones

8 years ago02/04/16 at 4:53 am (UTC)

Here's my contribution this week. A while back, I was at a conference and saw someone demonstrate this cool effect for making your pictures pop in Powerpoint. Here's the video I put together which demonstrates that technique. http://learningonions.net/portfolio/software_demo.html Enjoy!

8 years ago02/04/16 at 5:15 am (UTC)

That's such a rad effect! We should do a challenge around that specific effect. Adding to topics board. Thanks for sharing, Chuck. Just updated the recap: https://community.articulate.com/articles/powerpoint-tips-tutorials-elearning/#PhotoPopEffect

8 years ago02/04/16 at 12:56 pm (UTC)

David, I agree. This would make an awesome challenge. I bet we'd see some amazing examples. CHUCK

8 years ago02/04/16 at 6:06 am (UTC)

Chuck - this is amazing - I'm going to have a go at this myself. I really like how your screencast is very clear and set at a good pace. Thanks for sharing!

8 years ago02/04/16 at 12:56 pm (UTC)

Dianne, Glad you like it. It's an amazing technique and really draws attention to photographs. CHUCK

Veronica Budnikas
Hero

8 years ago02/04/16 at 5:59 am (UTC)

That is totally awesome Chuck! Thanks so much for sharing!

Chuck Jones
Veronica Budnikas

8 years ago02/04/16 at 12:57 pm (UTC)

Veronica, Your're most welcome! It sounds like you're on your way to creating some amazing images. CHUCK

Veronica Budnikas
Hero

8 years ago02/11/16 at 2:38 am (UTC)

I just found another one I did for the Pantone challenge. It's about colouring in an image (if you have an image with a transparent background) with the freeform tool and a little bit about editing points. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6-OM9RN9bY

Dianne Hope

8 years ago02/11/16 at 3:41 am (UTC)

Finally finished recording the audio for this screencast on Working with Vector Graphics in PowerPoint. Here's a link to the post with the YouTube video embedded: https://hopedianne.wordpress.com/2016/02/11/working-with-vector-graphics-in-powerpoint/

8 years ago02/11/16 at 12:34 pm (UTC)

I love that you can use PowerPoint for this, and thanks for the Cloud Convert tip! I use it sometimes to convert video files, but never thought to convert an ai or svg file into an emf, really handy!

8 years ago02/11/16 at 1:50 pm (UTC)

Thanks for this Dianne, I didnt know about using emf in PowerPoint like that - great tip

Veronica Budnikas
Hero

8 years ago02/12/16 at 5:50 am (UTC)

I did another one on how to create cheese in PowerPoint (I love cheese) https://youtu.be/mvQgmQAfVoI

8 years ago02/14/16 at 4:36 pm (UTC)

Thanks, Veronica! This is such a great effect. We'll do a lot more around drawing and creating graphics in the future! I know you've seen me share your example already, but I wanted to quickly comment to let you know that I did update the recap with this one: https://community.articulate.com/articles/powerpoint-tips-tutorials-elearning#Colouring

David Anderson
Author

8 years ago02/13/16 at 6:00 am (UTC)

Just wanted to thank you all for sharing so many awesome tutorials! Please feel free to send me ideas or topics for future challenges. I have the next 8 weeks mapped out, but can certainly move things around to make these challenges more meaningful. So let me know, okay? Again, thank you so much!

8 years ago02/13/16 at 8:03 pm (UTC)

So you want to make tutorial challenges and run them concurrently with the regular weekly challenges? I'd like to continue contributing, but I just need to find the time.

8 years ago02/14/16 at 2:28 pm (UTC)

Hey Linda! That's right. So the screencast challenges are another way for community members to help others and build their personal brand. We're already on our 3rd screencast challenge: #1 https://community.articulate.com/articles/powerpoint-tips-for-elearning-designers #2 https://community.articulate.com/articles/using-variables-in-storyline #3 https://community.articulate.com/articles/common-elearning-interactions The elearning challenges focus more on course building examples while this new series is designed to help folks demonstrate their technical expertise. Those are two different ares of expertise so I imagine we'll start to see different people (with some crossover) preferring one challenge over the other.

David Lindenberg

8 years ago03/06/16 at 3:10 am (UTC)

Here's one I created on building pictogram people in PPT with only 3 shapes. https://youtu.be/feKCnErnerc

8 years ago03/06/16 at 1:28 pm (UTC)

Here's the PPT source file for the pictogram people. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/35891322/sandbox/pictogram-people/three-quarter-people-source.pptx

8 years ago03/11/16 at 8:00 pm (UTC)

Cool tutorial, David! Sorry I'm so slow to update the recap. Finally getting back into the world of not being sick:-/ Here's your cool tutorial and download on our recap page: https://community.articulate.com/articles/powerpoint-tips-tutorials-elearning/#pictogram