3. Resize Graphics In Proper Ratio

Resizing a graphic is not usually difficult when done manually, although you can use more precise tools. (Select Format and Picture and then click the Size tab.) You simply click the object's holders and move the borders up or down and out or in.

But if you want to keep all the sides in ratio, hold down the CTRL key while moving a border. As you do, the opposite border will move in the opposite direction exactly the same amount. Do the same to the other borders, if necessary, and you will successfully resize a picture in ratio.

4. Personalize Similar Presentations

Here's a quick way to personalize the text for similar slide shows without heavily editing the entire presentation.

Let's say you want to present a fundraising show you made for parents whose kids play in a youth soccer league in one town to parents of kids who play in a soccer league in another town. The first presentation mentions the River City Youth Soccer 12 times in text boxes. Now you want to change each mention to Red Falls Youth Soccer.

Like Word, PowerPoint has a Find & Replace tool. From the Edit menu, choose Replace. In the Find box type River City Youth Soccer. In the Replace With box type Red Falls Youth Soccer and click Replace All.

5. Hide Your Slides

Another easy way to personalize presentations is to hide slides intended for one audience but not intended for another. Click View and Slide Sorter and then highlight the slide you want to hide. Open the Slide Show menu and choose Hide Slide.

6. Insert & Customize Hyperlinks

You can turn any item on a slide into a link that will connect you to a Web page, email address, another file, or another slide within the presentation. Right-click the object and pick Hyperlink from the context menu. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, select the type of item you want to link to and, if necessary, enter the URL.

The object will link you to the item you just selected when you click it in Slide Show view. You also can activate the link just by moving the mouse over the item. To do this, right-click the item and choose Action Settings. Pick the Mouse Over tab and check Hyperlink To. Then, from the drop-down menu, either select the item to be linked to or enter the address. Click OK.

7. Link Graphics Instead Of Inserting Them

You could have many reasons for displaying the same graphic throughout your presentation—anything from clip art to a mugshot or even a corporate logo. But what if you need to swap out the graphic while keeping the rest of the presentation? If the graphic is linked to the slide show instead of inserted into it, you can make a quick change.

Click Insert, Picture, and From File. Locate and highlight the file you need. Click the down arrow next to the Insert button and choose the Link To File command. As long as you don't change the location of this file on your system, PowerPoint will display this graphic even though it's not inserted on a slide.

8. Hide Your Action Buttons

Action buttons are handy little devices that give directions to users viewing a presentation alone. They inform the viewer that they have options to jump to another part of the slide show or play an audio clip, for example.

There's no reason you can't use them in the presentations you make in person, as well. In those cases, however, you may want to hide the action buttons to keep slides uncluttered. Once you've created the button (click Insert, Picture, and AutoShapes and then select Action Buttons), right-click it and choose Format AutoShape. On the Colors And Lines tab, select No Fill For Color in the Fill section and No Line For Color in the Line section. Click OK.

9. Slide Your Action Buttons

Instead of hiding action buttons, draw attention to them by customizing their entrance onto the slide. Right-click the button and choose Custom Animation. Choose the motion for how it will enter and, optionally, exit the slide from the Add Effect menu. Then select the direction from and speed at which it should move.

10. Add Notes

Adding notes to a printed copy of your slide show is a good way to keep your oral and visual presentations in sync. To add notes, type your text into the notes pane directly below the slide in Normal view. Then, click Notes Page from the View menu to see how they will look when you print the presentation. You can edit the notes from this view, as well.

11. Link Long Narrations

With the right equipment (a sound card, speakers, and headset microphone) adding narration to your slide show is fairly simple. (Choose Slide Show and then Record Narration to get started.) But before you do, take note of these hints.

First, PowerPoint will create a separate WAV file for each slide to which you add narration, so place the presentation in its own folder so that all the sound files will stay together. Second, link to narration files instead of embedding them if the presentation is long or if you plan to edit the narration later. You'll see the option to do this before you start recording; enter the name of the folder you just created as the source.

12. Add Transparency

You can add transparency to graphic items in two ways. One option yields complete transparency. Select the item and then click the Set Transparent Color tool on the Picture toolbar. Using the pointer, click the color in the image you want to be completely transparent. This tool works better on some photos than others, and it won't work on animated GIF files.

The second option lets you choose the degree of transparency, a good option for computer-generated art. Right-click the item, choose Format, and select the Colors and Lines tab. Slide the transparency bar to set the amount of transparency and then click OK.

13. Brand Your Slides

On slides with more text than graphics, your corporate logo could add visual punch as a background. To brand a slide, insert the graphic, right-click it, and choose Format Picture. Select the Picture tab, and then choose Washout from the Color drop-down menu. Click OK.

Right-click the file and use Save As Picture to save the file. Then go ahead and delete the image from the slide.

Next, Choose Background from the Format menu, and in the box click the arrow under Background Fill. Choose Fill Effects from this menu, and on the Picture tab click Select Picture. Find and highlight the background image you just created and click Insert, OK, and Apply.

14. Keep The Font

When you can't present your slide show on your computer, you run the risk that another system will render your content differently than the way you created it. Sometimes this occurs if the system playing the slide show has not installed the font(s) in which you created the show. If this happens, PowerPoint will use the next-best font available, which can alter the spacing of elements on your slides.

To avoid this, send your fonts along by embedding them in the presentation. Click File and Save As and open the Tools menu in the Save As dialog box. Choose Save Options, and then check the Embed TrueType Fonts option. (Embed only the characters in use if the presentation won't be edited by those viewing it.) Click OK and then save the slide show as a PPT file.

15. Loop Your Animations

You can loop any animated element once it's added to a slide. In Normal view, pick Custom Animation from the Slide Show menu. Highlight the animated object, and then click the down arrow next to the item you want to loop in the Custom Animation pane. Choose Timing from this menu and then enter the number of times you want the slide or animated object to loop in the Repeat field.

16. Set Timings

Don't set timings for each slide until you've decided whether or not to loop animations. Once that's done, you can set timings for each slide while rehearsing the show, a good option if you plan to make an oral presentation.

Choose Rehearse Timings from the Slide Show menu. If you don't have looped elements, read your script and then click the Advance button when you're ready to move to the next slide. The clock will indicate how long you set each slide to appear.

If you have included looped elements in your presentation, remember that clicking the Advance button starts the looping of each element on a slide. Don't let too much time pass between launching each animation.

17. Open Your Presentations In Slide Show View

Because time is such a valued commodity, why not help your audience save some of it by opening your presentations directly in the slide show view? To do this, choose Save As from the File menu. In the Save As dialog box you'll need to do several things. First, pick the location on your hard drive to save the slide show. Next, enter a name for your slide show. Finally, from the Save As Type menu, select PowerPoint Show and then click Save.

18. Get It Write

Sometimes you may need to interact with the contents of your slide show. If so, use one of the writing utensils accessed via the pen logo in the lower-left corner in Slide Show view. Choose a ballpoint pen, felt tip pen, or highlighter, pick a color, and write on the slide as needed. The same menu gives you access to an eraser, but you can also discard all the markings when you close the presentation.

19. Go Blank

You may encounter the need to pause your presentation and would prefer to display a blank screen in order to keep from distracting your audience. Press the B key to display a black screen, and press the W key to display a white screen. Press the key again to restore your presentation to the screen.

20. Restrict Access

Microsoft Office 2003 comes with IRM (Information Rights Management), a tool that lets you restrict the access and use of documents and emails. Before you can use this tool, you need to download the IRM client. Then, unless you work on Windows Server 2003, you will need to run a trial IRM service from Microsoft.

The Permission button on the Standard toolbar, to the right of the New command, can start the process of setting up IRM. Once you've done that, choose Permission from the File menu to determine not only who can access your PowerPoint presentation, but also how they can use the content.

by Rachel Derowitsch