COMP1900 Lab Worksheet - PowerPoint

A. Creating a PowerPoint presentation from scratch

1. Click on the PowerPoint icon along the bottom of the screen to start up Microsoft PowerPoint. A window called Project Gallery should appear on your screen, offering you a choice - if this window doesn't appear, use File / Project Gallery... to display it.
   Choose the AutoContent Wizard - A window called AutoContent Wizard should now appear.
2. To create a new PowerPoint presentation, just follow the Wizard's instructions. Take your time because each step offers you a range of options worth exploring.
   If you don't like what you see, you can always go back and repeat a step.
3. When you click on Finish, PowerPoint should select View / Normal to display your presentation - If it doesn't, select View / Normal yourself.
   Under View, explore in turn the other viewing options.
   Note carefully what each option has to offer.
4. Under View / Master, select Slide Master. When the "style" appears - it applies to all slides except the Title Slide - try clicking on the various objects (indicated by boxes).
   Try changing the shape and size of an object. Use View / Slide Sorter to see the effect of this change on your slides.
   Try moving some objects around. View the effect this has on your slides.
   When you have done this, re-select Slide Master.
   Try changing the style, colour and size of some text inside an object, then view the effect this has on your slides.
   Under Format, experiment with various formatting options. View the effect of each option on your slides.
   Under View / Master, select Title Master. When the "style" for your Title Slide appears, repeat the steps listed above.
5. Try adding some special effects to your presentation by modifying individual slides.

   Some suggestions

   • Try making some words Bold, Italic, and Underline.
   • Try various font colours sizes and  types.
   • Alter the alignment of some paragraphs.
   • Change the bullet symbol on one or two slides.
6. Use View / Slide Sorter and your mouse to change the order of your slides.
7. Under View / Toolbars, spend some time exploring what the toolbars have to offer. Locate the Promote and Demote icons and find out what they do.
8. When you are satisfied with your presentation, save it under a suitable file-name.
9. Choose a slide, then use Insert / Picture (or the Insert Clip Art icon) to insert a picture (say a photo) into your slide. The picture (placed at the centre of your slide) and the Picture Toolbar should appear on your screen. (If the toolbar fails to appear, use View / Toolbars to display it.)
   Use the mouse to change the position and size of your picture.
   Find out what the toolbar icons do to your picture. Use them to alter your picture until you are satisfied with its appearance.
10. Save your presentation under a different file-name (so that it doesn't overwrite the previous file). Compare the size of the two files to see what impact the picture has on file-size.
11. Check your presentation for spelling errors.

B. Some PowerPoint presentations on the Web

1. Open Netscape (or Internet Explorer), and go to the web site at
   http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/pp/index.html
2. To obtain an example PowerPoint presentation (on basic writing skills), scroll down the web page until you see the hyperlink Understanding Writing: The Rhetorical Situation then click on it. The Download Manager will save the presentation, on your Desk Top, in a folder called rhetsit.PPT. To open the presentation in PowerPoint, double-click on this folder.
3. Use View / Slide Show to run the slide show.
   Use the space bar to step through the show.
   • What do you think of the show?
   • Can you think of any improvements?

C. Building a PowerPoint presentation from a Word document

1. Use Word to open a document - any document with a few headings at various levels will do.
2. Use Copy and Paste to create a PowerPoint presentation based on the text in your document.
   Edit the presentation until you are satisfied with it, then try it out on another student (or your tutor) to see what they think of it.

D. If there is spare time . . .

1. Go to View / Slide Sorter then try out the various "Slide Transition Effects" and "Body Text Animations" available from the menus on the "Slide Sorter" toolbar.
2. Check out the "Preset Animations" and "Custom Animation" controls from the Slide Show menu.