Simple Slides


Okay, what is the Blank Presentation template?


This template gets you started making slides from scratch. It's the building block of a presentation. Let me show you how.


My Aunt Edna used to make pancakes from scratch. Mmm.


Uh, don't pour any maple syrup on the slides, though, Jim. Heh heh.


Creating a slide from scratch
In the next step you will create a Title Slide for your presentation using the Blank Presentation template. You will be working in Slide View.

    1. Open the PowerPoint program. Powerpoint automatically opens a new presentation. A new title slide will appear for you to work with.

PowerPoint Dialogue box

    2. Alternatively, let's say you are already working in Powerpoint and want to create a new presentation. In the Open window, click the Microsoft Office Button. From the drop-down list, select New.

    3. The New window will appear. Blank and recent is automatically highlighted in the list of options on the left. Click Create. A new Blank Presentation template will open with a new Title Slide in the Slide Layout (Normal) view.

Selecting a new presentation

    4. If you don't want the Title Slide layout, you can easily change it to one of the other available layouts. In the Slides Group in the Home tab, click the arrow in the Layout button. All the slide layouts you can choose from will appear. Click on whichever one you want to use. The slide layout is now changed.

Selecting a different layout


Note: If you are already working in PowerPoint and want to create a new blank presentation, you can create a short cut by adding a New button new button to the Quick Access Toolbar. Click the arrow in the Quick Access Toolbar. From the drop-down list, select New. The New button is now added to the Quick Access Toolbar.

Adding New to Quick Access Toolbar


Okay, now we have a Title Slide. But something's missing. Any guesses?


Hey, who's interviewing who here?


I know. The title!


Good guess Sue. Let me show you how to add text to those blank slides.


Adding text to a slide
The Title Slide layout contains text boxes for a title and a subtitle. Try typing text into these boxes.

    1. Click in the Title text box. A dashed line border with a circle in each corner and a square box at each midpoint appears around the text box indicating that it is selected.

    2. Type a title.

Typing a title text

    3. Click the Subtitle text box and type a subtitle.

Congratulations! You've just created your first slide in PowerPoint.


Okay, you've created an impressive Title Slide for us. But that's just one slide! We need to create more slides or else we're going to have a pretty darn short presentation, aren't we?


Wow, these hard-hitting investigative questions don't let up do they? You should be on 60 Minutes or start your own blog. Here, let me show you how to add another slide...


Adding another slide

    1. In the Slides Group in the Home tab, click on the top part of the New Slide button. A new slide is added which by default is the Title and Content layout slide.

Insert New slide

    2.  Alternatively, to add a new slide with a different layout than the default, click the bottom part of New Slide button with the arrow beside the text, "New Slide". A drop-down list appears with all the slide layouts you can choose from. Click on the layout you want to use. A new slide with that layout is now added.

Insert New slide with particular layout



Okay, so now we have multiple slides for our presentation. But how do we move from slide to slide?


It's as easy as the click of a button. Literally. Just click and you've moved to a new slide.


That's great! You've got enough moves to be on Dancing With The Stars!

Moving from slide to slide
Let's say you've created several slides for your presentation. You've finished working on the last slide, and now you want to take a look at your other slides. Here's how you move from slide to slide in Slide View.

To move to a previous slide:

    1. Click the upper double-arrow button Previous Slide Button on the lower right corner of the PowerPoint window. The previous slide will appear.

To move to the next slide:

    1. Click the lower double-arrow button Next Slide Button on the lower right corner of the PowerPoint window.


Floating Toolbar tip


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