Forum Discussion
Favorite PowerPoint Features?
One of the reasons PowerPoint is so popular is because it's so easy to use - there isn't much you need to know to begin using it. That's probably why so many users often miss the newer features after upgrading.
So I thought it would be helpful to share our favorite and most-used features in PowerPoint 07 and 10. For those using 2003, this will be good ammo to make the case for upgrading
My top 3 features:
- Slide Masters - the ability to create my own text and image placeholders. Awesome for creating custom layouts.
- Selection Pane - there's no way to manage multiple animations and objects without it
- Change Picture - simple, but one of the most used features for me.
So, what about you? What are your top features or workflows in PowerPoint?
68 Replies
Charity Dishon-Fischer said:
Finally, Slide Masters... I wasn't such a huge fan until I started using Articulate. Now, it's nice to have templates I can call on for different projects. And... it's so easy to select a different layout to quickly choose the right one.
Same here, Charity. I'd never really thought about Slide Masters before working with Articulate. I think there's a lot we do in elearning that would help "normal" PowerPoint users sharpen their skills. There are definitely two different workflows.My only complaint with Slide Masters is the 25 limit restrictions. If you have a rather large project, slide masters are a pain in the backside. Basically what you end up doing is creating a bunch of small projects in order to keep the number of master slides down.
It's easy...Animations!
James Brown said:
My only complaint with Slide Masters is the 25 limit restrictions.
Okay I didn't even know there was a limit. Is that 25 "masters" or "slide layouts"? Just checked my largest course. I used 5 Slide Masters with anywhere between 3 and 10 Slide Layouts for each.David Anderson said:
James Brown said:
My only complaint with Slide Masters is the 25 limit restrictions.
Okay I didn't even know there was a limit. Is that 25 "masters" or "slide layouts"? Just checked my largest course. I used 5 Slide Masters with anywhere between 3 and 10 Slide Layouts for each.I actually discovered the slide master limitation by accident and it's now forcing me to go back and revamp my project. I just chalked this one up as a learning experience. Eventually when I get the training re-written I am going to build some scenario based learning tutorials in Articulate but for now I need to first get me training outlines revamped before I can do anything else.
Just so you know, I'm basically building a software tutorial and the product contains a approx 50+ windows that I need to incorporate into my training. The idea was to use master slides to hold my original images so that as the software changes, I only have to update the images on the slide masters. In flash this would be a really easy task. I would simply create symbols and if a window changes I simply update the symbol and the entire update trickles down through my entire project. I guess I'm so spoiled using flash, it's kind of difficult for me to digress back to Power Point. Granted Power Point has got some cool things but much of these effects were based on flash animation tweens and I honestly have created identical effects in flash in a lot less time with some pretty cool animations as opposed to Power Point but since others may have to update the project down the road I am forced to use Power Point. Plus I haven't sold my boss on Articulate just yet but once I am able to properly demo the product and show him the potential, I'm sure that attitude will change. At least I hope it does.
I use the 'Align' tool all the time - so easy to ensure objects are aligned / centred / distributed evenly, instantly making things look neat!
Louise Hawkins said:
I use the 'Align' tool all the time - so easy to ensure objects are aligned / centred / distributed evenly, instantly making things look neat!
Simple but essential! Great call Louise
I can't pick three things specifically, but I love the graphics/photo editing capability in 2010. I'm not great with Photoshop and am a mighty team of one (thus don't have a graphic designer to rely on), but with PowerPoint 2010, I can make it look the way I imagined it all by myself!
The slide masters are pretty great, too. I learned how to use them better at an Articulate training session and I don't know how I ever managed without them!
James Brown said:
David Anderson said:
James Brown said:
My only complaint with Slide Masters is the 25 limit restrictions.
Okay I didn't even know there was a limit. Is that 25 "masters" or "slide layouts"? Just checked my largest course. I used 5 Slide Masters with anywhere between 3 and 10 Slide Layouts for each.I actually discovered the slide master limitation by accident and it's now forcing me to go back and revamp my project. I just chalked this one up as a learning experience. Eventually when I get the training re-written I am going to build some scenario based learning tutorials in Articulate but for now I need to first get me training outlines revamped before I can do anything else.
Just so you know, I'm basically building a software tutorial and the product contains a approx 50+ windows that I need to incorporate into my training. The idea was to use master slides to hold my original images so that as the software changes, I only have to update the images on the slide masters. In flash this would be a really easy task. I would simply create symbols and if a window changes I simply update the symbol and the entire update trickles down through my entire project. I guess I'm so spoiled using flash, it's kind of difficult for me to digress back to Power Point. Granted Power Point has got some cool things but much of these effects were based on flash animation tweens and I honestly have created identical effects in flash in a lot less time with some pretty cool animations as opposed to Power Point but since others may have to update the project down the road I am forced to use Power Point. Plus I haven't sold my boss on Articulate just yet but once I am able to properly demo the product and show him the potential, I'm sure that attitude will change. At least I hope it does.
Watched a video last night and I noticed there is a limit on slide masters but not on layouts so I'm probably going to just use the slide masters to group by main program sections and then use the layouts to hold all the windows for that section. Since I have only a handful of main sections this should work.Thanks Janette.. Your Screenr helped me see something I had not noticed before.
James, can you
James Brown said:
Thanks Janette.. Your Screenr helped me see something I had not noticed before.
Hey James, do you mind sharing the screencast link so others can check it out?
