How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation? [Complete Guide!]
By: Author Shrot Katewa
Knowing how to master the PowerPoint application starts with the basics. If you are just starting out with Microsoft PowerPoint, the first thing you need to know is really how to open a PowerPoint presentation!
To open or view an existing PowerPoint file, double-click on the file from the folder. Alternatively, open the PowerPoint application. Then, click on “File>Open>Browse”, and locate the file on your computer to open it. To open a new presentation file, simply click on “File>New>Blank Presentation”.
The process of opening a PowerPoint presentation is actually quite simple and it only takes a few seconds. So, in this article, first we will take you through the process of opening a presentation step-by-step in a visual manner. Then, I will provide answers to all questions related to opening a PowerPoint presentation!
So, let’s get started!
[A Quick Note Before We Begin – for this article, I will be using one of the presentation templates from Envato Elements . With Envato Elements, you get access to thousands of presentation designs with unlimited downloads so you never run out of options again. Plus, you get free previews so you know exactly what you’re getting before buying! It is also very affordable. Check out their pricing here ]
1. How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation?
There are a couple of different methods in which you can open a PowerPoint file. Both the methods are actually quite easy.
The first method requires the least number of steps. To open or view a PowerPoint presentation simply locate the PowerPoint file on your computer, and double-click on it. You can also right-click on the file, and from the dropdown menu, click on “Open”.
The second method requires you to start the PowerPoint application first.
If you do not see the PowerPoint icon on your desktop or taskbar, just go to the search bar and type ‘PowerPoint’ using your keyboard to find it. After opening the PowerPoint application, all you have to do is select your presentation file to open it. Just follow the steps below:
1a. How to Open a New PowerPoint Presentation?
Follow the steps below to open/create a new PowerPoint Presentation:
Step-1: Click on the “File” Menu button
At the top left side of your Microsoft PowerPoint application, you will find the ‘File’ menu option. The first step is to click on it.
Step-2: Click on “New”, and select the “Blank Presentation” button
Then, from the PowerPoint Backend view, you need to click on “ New “.
Now on your screen, you will find an option that says ‘Blank Presentation’ for you to click on. A new PowerPoint presentation with a blank slide will be created once you click on it.
You can also choose to click on any of the templates below to go with a pre-made design theme.
1b. How to Open an Existing PowerPoint Presentation?
It is common to have PowerPoint presentation files saved in different folders of your computer. There are two very easy ways to open these existing PowerPoint presentation files.
You can either open an existing PowerPoint file by browsing to the folder it is stored in and double-clicking on the file. Or you can open it from the Microsoft PowerPoint application itself. I’ll discuss both of the ways below:
Opening an existing PowerPoint Presentation file from the file location
Step:-1: Go to the folder your PowerPoint Presentation file is stored in
Open the folder where you had saved your PowerPoint presentation file. It could be on any of your local drives, or if you have recently downloaded the file, it could be on the ‘Downloads’ folder.
Step-2: Double-click on the PowerPoint Presentation file.
‘ Left click’ on the file twice using your mouse to open it. You can also ‘Right click’ on the file once and from the dropdown menu click on the ‘Open’ option to open the file on your Microsoft PowerPoint application.
Opening an existing PowerPoint Presentation from the Microsoft PowerPoint Application
Step-1: Open the Microsoft PowerPoint application and go to the “File” menu
The first thing you have to do is open the Microsoft PowerPoint application and click on the “ File ” menu option on the top-left corner of the screen.
Step-2: Click on ‘Open’, and then ‘Browse’
Clicking on the File option will open the background view of PowerPoint. Then, click on “ Open “
In the ‘Open’ tab, you will find all the Presentation files you have used/viewed recently under the ‘Recent’ section. If the file you want to open is not present here, simply click on ‘Browse.’
Step-3: Go to the file location click on it to select it.
After that, a window will pop up using which you can use to choose the file you want to open. Go to the folder containing the PowerPoint presentation file and select it by ‘Left-clicking’ on its name.
Step-4: Click on ‘Open.’
After selecting the file, click on ‘Open’ to get the job done. You can also edit the slides by clicking on ‘Enable Editing.’
You can follow any of the two methods mentioned above to open an existing PowerPoint Presentation file.
1c. Shortcut Key to Open a Presentation in PowerPoint
You can open both a new PowerPoint Presentation as well as an existing PowerPoint file using shortcut keys.
Here are the shortcut keys to open a PowerPoint presentation –
- To open a new PowerPoint presentation – Press “Ctrl+N” (Cmd+N on Mac)
- To open an existing PowerPoint presentation – Press “Ctrl+O” (Cmd+O on Mac)
Remember, in order to use the above shortcut keys, you need to open the PowerPoint application first on your computer.
2. How to Open a PowerPoint Online? (Using OneDrive)
Microsoft PowerPoint can also be saved online. Microsoft actually has integration with its own cloud service called OneDrive. In fact, if you are using Microsoft Office 365 , you also get free cloud storage of up to 1 TB with your account!
When you try to open an online version of a PowerPoint file, you will need to do so using OneDrive. In the following steps, I will show you how to open a PowerPoint Presentation file online using OneDrive:
Step-1: Click on the “File” menu
The first step, as usual, is to click on the “ File ” menu option. This will open the backend view of PowerPoint.
Step-2: Click on “Open” and choose “OneDrive”
From the backend view, click on the “ Open ” option. Then, click on “ OneDrive “. You may need to login into your OneDrive account. Then, navigate to the respective folder containing the PowerPoint file.
Step-3: Select the File and Click “Open”
Navigate to the designated folder on OneDrive that contains the PowerPoint file. Select it and then click “Open”.
PowerPoint will then download the file for you. Once it opens the online file, you will notice that the “ Autosave ” feature in PowerPoint will be turned on.
This basically means, every time you make a change to the file, it will automatically reflect in the file saved online in OneDrive!
How to Open and View a PowerPoint file in OneDrive?
You can also view the same PowerPoint file using your internet browser. All you need to do open the OneDrive login page and log in to your OneDrive account using your email address and password.
Once you are logged in into your OneDrive account, follow the below mentioned steps –
Step-1: Locate your PowerPoint file and Click on it
If you already have the file uploaded, then simply navigate to the respective folder, locate the file and click on it.
Step-2: Start Editing the File
Your file will be opened in a new tab on your browser. You can directly start editing the PowerPoint file online!
The best part is, you don’t even need to have the PowerPoint application installed to edit, open or view a PowerPoint presentation online file!
3. How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation in Google Slides?
Google Slides in one of the most popular online tools out there for creating and opening presentations. You can also use Google Slides to open you PowerPoint Presentation file with just a few clicks. Follow the steps below:
Step-1: Go to Google Slides and click on ‘Open File Picker’ option
To open a PowerPoint Presentation in Google Slides, the first step is to log in to your Google account and go to Google Slides. Then, click on the “ Open File Picker ” option – the icon that looks like a file folder (see the image above).
Step-2: Go to the ‘upload’ section for uploading the presentation file
Since Google Slides is cloud-based, the next step is to upload the Presentation file. To do that, from the pop-up window, go to the ‘Upload’ section. Now click on ‘Select a file from your device.’
Step-3: Locate your PowerPoint Presentation file and click on ‘Open.’
From the pop-up window, go to the folder containing the Presentation file and select it. Then click on ‘Open’ to upload the file from your computer. It might take a few seconds to upload and load the Presentation file on Google Slides. That’s it!
4. How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation in Keynote on Mac?
To open a Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation on Apple’s Keynote application, just follow the steps below:
Step-1: Open ‘Keynote’ and locate your PowerPoint Presentation file
On your Mac Computer open the ‘Keynote’ application. From the window, navigate to the folder containing the PowerPoint Presentation file.
Step-2: Select your Presentation file and click on ‘Open.’
After locating your PowerPoint Presentation file on Keynote, simply click on it to select it. Then click on ‘Open’ to access it. A window might appear stating that some changes were made while importing the file, which is quite normal for highly customized PowerPoint files.
Step-3: View or Edit the PowerPoint file in Keynote
Once the file is opened in Keynote, you can now view or edit the file directly in Keynote just as you would on any other presentation design application!
5. How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation Without PowerPoint?
Incase you do not have PowerPoint installed on your computer or do not have access to PowerPoint, you can still open a PowerPoint presentation file through various means. I’ll be discussing some of the ways to open a PowerPoint Presentation without PowerPoint below:
Method 1 – Using Online Tools
If you don’t have PowerPoint installed on your computer, you can still view a PPT or PPTX file. One of the best ways to view it is using online tools.
Two of the most commonly used FREE online tools are ‘Google Slides’ and ‘One-Drive’ . Both these methods have been discussed previously in this article. Thus, I would recommend going through them once again if you need some help on that.
Method 2 – Using Aspose Slides Viewer
Another method is using the “Aspose Slides Viewer”. Using this online tool, you can open your Presentation files. It supports PPT, PPTX, PPS, and ODT files that are amongst the most common PowerPoint Presentation formats.
Here’s how to use Aspose Slides Viewer tool to open PowerPoint Presentations –
Step-1: Go to Aspose Slides Viewer using an Internet Browser
The first step is to open your Internet Brower and go to: https://products.aspose.app/slides/viewer
Step-2: Click on ‘Drop or upload your file’
Once the webpage is done loading on your browser, click on ‘ Drop or upload your file.’
Step-3: Locate your file and click on ‘Open’
From the pop-up window, go to the folder containing the PowerPoint Presentation file and select it. Then click on ‘Open’ to upload the file from your computer to Aspose Slides Viewer. Once the upload is finished, you will be able to view the PowerPoint Presentation on your screen.
The good part about Aspose Slides Viewer is that it is completely FREE. When viewing the ppt file, it shows a surprisingly accurate representation of the presentation. You can also edit the PPT file. However, the options are quite limited. So, it can be used for basic text editing at the very best!
Method 3 – Using Third-Party Applications
There are a few Third-Party Applications out there, which you can use to Open PowerPoint Presentation files. Two of the most common among them are ‘LibreOffice Impress’ and ‘Kingsoft Presentation Professional.’
LibreOffice supports almost all types of PowerPoint files including PPT, PPTXS, PPTX, PPTS. It allows you to not only open PowerPoint presentations but also make necessary customizations. You can download it for free from here .
Kingsoft Presentation Professional is another standard presentation tool with lots of in-built features. It is quite similar to Microsoft PowerPoint and supports PPT and PPTX files. Download Kingsoft Presentation Professional from here .
6. How to Open PowerPoint in Presentation Mode?
You can directly open your PowerPoint Presentation file in Presentation Mode, instead of having to normally opening it first and then changing the view mode. This might be time saving for some, as you will be able to start your presentation with just a few clicks. Follow the step-by-step guide below to find out the process:
Step-1: Go to the folder which contains your PowerPoint Presentation file
Go to the folder on your computer where you have saved your PowerPoint Presentation file. ‘Right Click’ on the file to open a dropdown menu.
Step-2: Click on ‘Show’
From the dropdown menu, click on the fourth option that says ‘Show.’ This will directly open the PowerPoint file in Presentation Mode.
If you have a “.pps” or “.ppsx” file, you don’t need to right-click on it. These files are designed to be directly open as slideshow!
7. How to Open PowerPoint in Safe Mode?
Opening Microsoft PowerPoint in Safe Mode means opening the application without any add-ons, extensions, or other forms of customizations you might’ve made.
AutoCorrect and a few other features will also not work while in Safe Mode. You can both open the Microsoft PowerPoint application in safe mode or a particular PowerPoint Presentation file.
I’ll be discussing both of them below:
Opening the Microsoft PowerPoint Application in Safe Mode
Step-1: Press ‘Ctrl’ while opening the Microsoft PowerPoint Application
To open the Microsoft PowerPoint application in Safe Mode, hold the ‘Ctrl’ button of your keyboard and ‘Left Click’ on the Microsoft PowerPoint Icon on your taskbar, start-menu, or desktop.
Step-2: Click on ‘Yes’ to enable Safe Mode.
A dialogue box will appear where you will be asked if you want to start Microsoft PowerPoint in Safe Mode or not. Click on ‘Yes’ to open the PowerPoint in Safe Mode.
Opening a specific PowerPoint Presentation on Safe Mode:
To open a specific PowerPoint Presentation file on Safe Mode, follow the steps below:
Step-1: Hold the ‘Ctrl’ Key and click on the PowerPoint file
Browse to the folder on your computer where you have you have saved your presentation file. Now, while holding the ‘Ctrl’ button on your keyboard, ‘Left-click’ on the file to open it on Safe Mode. A dialogue box will appear on your screen.
Step-2: Click on ‘Yes’ in the Prompt that opens up
You will now be asked if you want to open this PowerPoint file in Safe Mode. Click on ‘Yes’ to get the job done!
8. How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation on Zoom?
Zoom meetings has now become an integral part of our lives, both in terms of work and education. The global pandemic has forcefully replaced on-stage presentations with virtual ones and Zoom is one of the most popular choices for it.
Related Article – How to Give a Presentation on Zoom? [A Complete Step-by-Step Guide!]
If you want to open a PowerPoint presentation on Zoom, follow the steps mentioned below –
Step-1: Open the PowerPoint presentation on your device
The first step is to open the PowerPoint Presentation file on your computer using Microsoft PowerPoint. You can do that by either ‘ Left-Clicking’ on the file from its location or going to the ‘Open’ tab on Microsoft PowerPoint and selecting the file from the ‘Browse’ option.
I have discussed this in detail on the points above.
Step-2: Open Zoom meeting and click on ‘Share Screen’.
Join or launch a Zoom meeting where you will be sharing your PowerPoint presentation. Click on the option that says ‘Share Screen’ at the bottom.
Step-3: Click on ‘Share’ option
A new window will pop-up where you will find all the applications opened on your computer. Hover your cursor over the ‘ PowerPoint Slide Show’ window and click on it. Now click on the option that says ‘Share’ at the bottom right corner of your screen.
Step-4: Open the PowerPoint presentation in Zoom
Once you click on ‘Share’ , the PowerPoint presentation file will be opened in Zoom and all the participants in the meeting will be able to view your screen. You can stop sharing your screen by clicking on the option that says ‘Stop Share.’
More PowerPoint Related Topics
- How to Crop a Picture in PowerPoint? [Complete Step-by-Step Tutorial!]
- What is a Presentation Clicker? [And How to Use it!]
- How to Convert a PowerPoint to PDF? [A Simple Guide!]
- PowerPoint vs Google Slides: Which is Better? [ULTIMATE Test!]
- How to Change Bullet Style in PowerPoint? A Complete Guide
Credit to drobotdean (via Freepik) for the featured image of this article
Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts – Claim Your FREE Training Module and Get Your Time Back!
How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation (Step-by-Step)
- PowerPoint Tutorials
- Presentation Design
- January 22, 2024
In this beginner’s guide, you will learn step-by-step how to make a PowerPoint presentation from scratch.
While PowerPoint is designed to be intuitive and accessible, it can be overwhelming if you’ve never gotten any training on it before. As you progress through this guide, you’ll will learn how to move from blank slides to PowerPoint slides that look like these.
Table of Contents
Additionally, as you create your presentation, you’ll also learn tricks for working more efficiently in PowerPoint, including how to:
- Change the slide order
- Reset your layout
- Change the slide dimensions
- Use PowerPoint Designer
- Format text
- Format objects
- Play a presentation (slide show)
With this knowledge under your belt, you’ll be ready to start creating PowerPoint presentations. Moreover, you’ll have taken your skills from beginner to proficient in no time at all. I will also include links to more advanced PowerPoint topics.
Ready to start learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation?
Take your PPT skills to the next level
Start with a blank presentation.
Note: Before you open PowerPoint and start creating your presentation, make sure you’ve collected your thoughts. If you’re going to make your slides compelling, you need to spend some time brainstorming.
For help with this, see our article with tips for nailing your business presentation here .
The first thing you’ll need to do is to open PowerPoint. When you do, you are shown the Start Menu , with the Home tab open.
This is where you can choose either a blank theme (1) or a pre-built theme (2). You can also choose to open an existing presentation (3).
For now, go ahead and click on the Blank Presentation (1) thumbnail.
Doing so launches a brand new and blank presentation for you to work with. Before you start adding content to your presentation, let’s first familiarize ourselves with the PowerPoint interface.
The PowerPoint interface
Here is how the program is laid out:
- The Application Header
- The Ribbon (including the Ribbon tabs)
- The Quick Access Toolbar (either above or below the Ribbon)
- The Slides Pane (slide thumbnails)
The Slide Area
The notes pane.
- The Status Bar (including the View Buttons)
Each one of these areas has options for viewing certain parts of the PowerPoint environment and formatting your presentation.
Below are the important things to know about certain elements of the PowerPoint interface.
The PowerPoint Ribbon
The Ribbon is contextual. That means that it will adapt to what you’re doing in the program.
For example, the Font, Paragraph and Drawing options are greyed out until you select something that has text in it, as in the example below (A).
Furthermore, if you start manipulating certain objects, the Ribbon will display additional tabs, as seen above (B), with more commands and features to help you work with those objects. The following objects have their own additional tabs in the Ribbon which are hidden until you select them:
- Online Pictures
- Screenshots
- Screen Recording
The Slides Pane
This is where you can preview and rearrange all the slides in your presentation.
Right-clicking on a slide in the pane gives you additional options on the slide level that you won’t find on the Ribbon, such as Duplicate Slide , Delete Slide , and Hide Slide .
In addition, you can add sections to your presentation by right-clicking anywhere in this Pane and selecting Add Section . Sections are extremely helpful in large presentations, as they allow you to organize your slides into chunks that you can then rearrange, print or display differently from other slides.
The Slide Area (A) is where you will build out your slides. Anything within the bounds of this area will be visible when you present or print your presentation.
Anything outside of this area (B) will be hidden from view. This means that you can place things here, such as instructions for each slide, without worrying about them being shown to your audience.
The Notes Pane is the space beneath the Slide Area where you can type in the speaker notes for each slide. It’s designed as a fast way to add and edit your slides’ talking points.
To expand your knowledge and learn more about adding, printing, and exporting your PowerPoint speaker notes, read our guide here .
Your speaker notes are visible when you print your slides using the Notes Pages option and when you use the Presenter View . To expand your knowledge and learn the ins and outs of using the Presenter View , read our guide here .
You can resize the Notes Pane by clicking on its edge and dragging it up or down (A). You can also minimize or reopen it by clicking on the Notes button in the Status Bar (B).
Note: Not all text formatting displays in the Notes Pane, even though it will show up when printing your speaker notes. To learn more about printing PowerPoint with notes, read our guide here .
Now that you have a basic grasp of the PowerPoint interface at your disposal, it’s time to make your presentation.
Adding Content to Your PowerPoint Presentation
Notice that in the Slide Area , there are two rectangles with dotted outlines. These are called Placeholders and they’re set on the template in the Slide Master View .
To expand your knowledge and learn how to create a PowerPoint template of your own (which is no small task), read our guide here .
As the prompt text suggests, you can click into each placeholder and start typing text. These types of placeholder prompts are customizable too. That means that if you are using a company template, it might say something different, but the functionality is the same.
Note: For the purposes of this example, I will create a presentation based on the content in the Starbucks 2018 Global Social Impact Report, which is available to the public on their website.
If you type in more text than there is room for, PowerPoint will automatically reduce its font size. You can stop this behavior by clicking on the Autofit Options icon to the left of the placeholder and selecting Stop Fitting Text to this Placeholder .
Next, you can make formatting adjustments to your text by selecting the commands in the Font area and the Paragraph area of the Home tab of the Ribbon.
The Reset Command: If you make any changes to your title and decide you want to go back to how it was originally, you can use the Reset button up in the Home tab .
Insert More Slides into Your Presentation
Now that you have your title slide filled in, it’s time to add more slides. To do that, simply go up to the Home tab and click on New Slide . This inserts a new slide in your presentation right after the one you were on.
You can alternatively hit Ctrl+M on your keyboard to insert a new blank slide in PowerPoint. To learn more about this shortcut, see my guide on using Ctrl+M in PowerPoint .
Instead of clicking the New Slide command, you can also open the New Slide dropdown to see all the slide layouts in your PowerPoint template. Depending on who created your template, your layouts in this dropdown can be radically different.
If you insert a layout and later want to change it to a different layout, you can use the Layout dropdown instead of the New Slide dropdown.
After inserting a few different slide layouts, your presentation might look like the following picture. Don’t worry that it looks blank, next we will start adding content to your presentation.
If you want to follow along exactly with me, your five slides should be as follows:
- Title Slide
- Title and Content
- Section Header
- Two Content
- Picture with Caption
Adding Content to Your Slides
Now let’s go into each slide and start adding our content. You’ll notice some new types of placeholders.
On slide 2 we have a Content Placeholder , which allows you to add any kind of content. That includes:
- A SmartArt graphic,
- A 3D object,
- A picture from the web,
- Or an icon.
To insert text, simply type it in or hit Ctrl+C to Copy and Ctrl+V to Paste from elsewhere. To insert any of the other objects, click on the appropriate icon and follow the steps to insert it.
For my example, I’ll simply type in some text as you can see in the picture below.
Slides 3 and 4 only have text placeholders, so I’ll go ahead and add in my text into each one.
On slide 5 we have a Picture Placeholder . That means that the only elements that can go into it are:
- A picture from the web
To insert a picture into the picture placeholder, simply:
- Click on the Picture icon
- Find a picture on your computer and select it
- Click on Insert
Alternatively, if you already have a picture open somewhere else, you can select the placeholder and paste in (shortcut: Ctrl+V ) the picture. You can also drag the picture in from a file explorer window.
If you do not like the background of the picture you inserted onto your slide, you can remove the background here in PowerPoint. To see how to do this, read my guide here .
Placeholders aren’t the only way to add content to your slides. At any point, you can use the Insert tab to add elements to your slides.
You can use either the Title Only or the Blank slide layout to create slides for content that’s different. For example, a three-layout content slide, or a single picture divider slide, as shown below.
In the first example above, I’ve inserted 6 text boxes, 3 icons, and 3 circles to create this layout. In the second example, I’ve inserted a full-sized picture and then 2 shapes and 2 text boxes.
The Reset Command: Because these slides are built with shapes and text boxes (and not placeholders), hitting the Reset button up in the Home tab won’t do anything.
That is a good thing if you don’t want your layouts to adjust. However, it does mean that it falls on you to make sure everything is aligned and positioned correctly.
For more on how to add and manipulate the different objects in PowerPoint, check out our step-by-step articles here:
- Using graphics in PowerPoint
- Inserting icons onto slides
- Adding pictures to your PowerPoint
- How to embed a video in PowerPoint
- How to add music to your presentation
Using Designer to generate more layouts ideas
If you have Office 365, your version of PowerPoint comes with a new feature called Designer (or Design Ideas). This is a feature that generates slide layout ideas for you. The coolest thing about this feature is that it uses the content you already have.
To use Designer , simply navigate to the Design tab in your Ribbon, and click on Design Ideas .
NOTE: If the PowerPoint Designer is not working for you (it is grey out), see my troubleshooting guide for Designer .
Change the Overall Design (optional)
When you make a PowerPoint presentation, you’ll want to think about the overall design. Now that you have some content in your presentation, you can use the Design tab to change the look and feel of your slides.
For additional help thinking through the design of your presentation, read my guide here .
A. Picking your PowerPoint slide size
If you have PowerPoint 2013 or later, when you create a blank document in PowerPoint, you automatically start with a widescreen layout with a 16:9 ratio. These dimensions are suitable for most presentations as they match the screens of most computers and projectors.
However, you do have the option to change the dimensions.
For example, your presentation might not be presented, but instead converted into a PDF or printed and distributed. In that case, you can easily switch to the standard dimensions with a 4:3 ratio by selecting from the dropdown (A).
You can also choose a custom slide size or change the slide orientation from landscape to portrait in the Custom Slide Size dialog box (B).
To learn all about the different PowerPoint slide sizes, and some of the issues you will face when changing the slide size of a non-blank presentation, read my guide here .
B. Selecting a PowerPoint theme
The next thing you can do is change the theme of your presentation to a pre-built one. For a detailed explanation of what a PowerPoint theme is, and how to best use it, read my article here .
In the beginning of this tutorial, we started with a blank presentation, which uses the default Office theme as you can see in the picture below.
That gives you the most flexibility because it has a blank background and quite simple layouts that work for most presentations. However, it also means that it’s your responsibility to enhance the design.
If you’re comfortable with this, you can stay with the default theme or create your own custom theme ( read my guide here ). But if you would rather not have to think about design, then you can choose a pre-designed theme.
Microsoft provides 46 other pre-built themes, which include slide layouts, color variants and palettes, and fonts. Each one varies quite significantly, so make sure you look through them carefully.
To select a different theme, go to the Design tab in the Ribbon, and click on the dropdown arrow in the Themes section .
For this tutorial, let’s select the Frame theme and then choose the third Variant in the theme. Doing so changes the layout, colors, and fonts of your presentation.
Note: The theme dropdown area is also where you can import or save custom themes. To see my favorite places to find professional PowerPoint templates and themes (and recommendations for why I like them), read my guide here .
C. How to change a slide background in PowerPoint
The next thing to decide is how you want your background to look for the entire presentation. In the Variants area, you can see four background options.
For this example, we want our presentation to have a dark background, so let’s select Style 3. When you do so, you’ll notice that:
- The background color automatically changes across all slides
- The color of the text on most of the slides automatically changes to white so that it’s visible on the dark background
- The colors of the objects on slides #6 and #7 also adjust, in a way we may not want (we’ll likely have to make some manual adjustments to these slides)
Note: If you want to change the slide background for just that one slide, don’t left-click the style. Instead, right-click it and select Apply to Selected Slides .
After you change the background for your entire presentation, you can easily adjust the background for an individual slide.
Inside the Format Background pane, you can see you have the following options:
- Gradient fill
- Picture or texture fill
- Pattern fill
- Hide background
You can explore these options to find the PowerPoint background that best fits your presentation.
D. How to change your color palette in PowerPoint
Another thing you may want to adjust in your presentation, is the color scheme. In the picture below you can see the Theme Colors we are currently using for this presentation.
Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own color palette. By default, the Office theme includes the Office color palette. This affects the colors you are presented with when you format any element within your presentation (text, shapes, SmartArt, etc.).
The good news is that the colors here are easy to change. To switch color palettes, simply:
- Go to the Design tab in the Ribbon
- In the Variants area, click on the dropdown arrow and select Colors
- Select the color palette (or theme colors) you want
You can choose among the pre-built color palettes from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.
As you build your presentation, make sure you use the colors from your theme to format objects. That way, changing the color palette adjusts all the colors in your presentation automatically.
E. How to change your fonts in PowerPoint
Just as we changed the color palette, you can do the same for the fonts.
Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own font combination. By default, the Office theme includes the Office font pairing. This affects the fonts that are automatically assigned to all text in your presentation.
The good news is that the font pairings are easy to change. To switch your Theme Fonts, simply:
- Go to the Design tab in the Ribbon
- Click on the dropdown arrow in the Variants area
- Select Fonts
- Select the font pairing you want
You can choose among the pre-built fonts from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.
If you are working with PowerPoint presentations on both Mac and PC computers, make sure you choose a safe PowerPoint font. To see a list of the safest PowerPoint fonts, read our guide here .
If you receive a PowerPoint presentation and the wrong fonts were used, you can use the Replace Fonts dialog box to change the fonts across your entire presentation. For details, read our guide here .
Adding Animations & Transitions (optional)
The final step to make a PowerPoint presentation compelling, is to consider using animations and transitions. These are by no means necessary to a good presentation, but they may be helpful in your situation.
A. Adding PowerPoint animations
PowerPoint has an incredibly robust animations engine designed to power your creativity. That being said, it’s also easy to get started with basic animations.
Animations are movements that you can apply to individual objects on your slide.
To add a PowerPoint animation to an element of your slide, simply:
- Select the element
- Go to the Animations tab in the Ribbon
- Click on the dropdown arrow to view your options
- Select the animation you want
You can add animations to multiple objects at one time by selecting them all first and then applying the animation.
B. How to preview a PowerPoint animation
There are three ways to preview a PowerPoint animation:
- Click on the Preview button in the Animations tab
- Click on the little star next to the slide
- Play the slide in Slide Show Mode
To learn other ways to run your slide show, see our guide on presenting a PowerPoint slide show with shortcuts .
To adjust the settings of your animations, explore the options in the Effect Options , Advanced Animation and the Timing areas of the Animation tab .
Note: To see how to make objects appear and disappear in your slides by clicking a button, read our guide here .
C. How to manage your animations in PowerPoint
The best way to manage lots of animations on your slide is with the Animation Pane . To open it, simply:
- Navigate to the Animations tab
- Select the Animation Pane
Inside the Animation Pane, you’ll see all of the different animations that have been applied to objects on your slide, with their numbers marked as pictured above.
Note: To see examples of PowerPoint animations that can use in PowerPoint, see our list of PowerPoint animation tutorials here .
D. How to add transitions to your PowerPoint presentation
PowerPoint has an incredibly robust transition engine so that you can dictate how your slides change from one to the other. It is also extremely easy to add transitions to your slides.
In PowerPoint, transitions are the movements (or effects) you see as you move between two slides.
To add a transition to a PowerPoint slide, simply:
- Select the slide
- Go to the Transitions tab in the Ribbon
- In the Transitions to This Slide area, click on the dropdown arrow to view your options
- Select the transition you want
To adjust the settings of the transition, explore the options in the Timing area of the Transitions tab.
You can also add the same transition to multiple slides. To do that, select them in the Slides Pane and apply the transition.
E. How to preview a transition in PowerPoint
There are three ways to preview your PowerPoint transitions (just like your animations):
- Click on the Preview button in the Transitions tab
- Click on the little star beneath the slide number in the thumbnail view
Note: In 2016, PowerPoint added a cool new transition, called Morph. It operates a bit differently from other transitions. For a detailed tutorial on how to use the cool Morph transition, see our step-by-step article here .
Save Your PowerPoint Presentation
After you’ve built your presentation and made all the adjustments to your slides, you’ll want to save your presentation. YOu can do this several different ways.
To save a PowerPoint presentation using your Ribbon, simply:
- Navigate to the File tab
- Select Save As on the left
- Choose where you want to save your presentation
- Name your presentation and/or adjust your file type settings
- Click Save
You can alternatively use the Ctrl+S keyboard shortcut to save your presentation. I recommend using this shortcut frequently as you build your presentation to make sure you don’t lose any of your work.
This is the standard way to save a presentation. However, there may be a situation where you want to save your presentation as a different file type.
To learn how to save your presentation as a PDF, see our guide on converting PowerPoint to a PDF .
How to save your PowerPoint presentation as a template
Once you’ve created a presentation that you like, you may want to turn it into a template. The easiest – but not technically correct – way, is to simply create a copy of your current presentation and then change the content.
But be careful! A PowerPoint template is a special type of document and it has its own parameters and behaviors.
If you’re interested in learning about how to create your own PowerPoint template from scratch, see our guide on how to create a PowerPoint template .
Printing Your PowerPoint Presentation
After finishing your PowerPoint presentation, you may want to print it out on paper. Printing your slides is relatively easy.
To open the Print dialog box, you can either:
- Hit Ctrl+P on your keyboard
- Or go to the Ribbon and click on File and then Print
Inside the Print dialog box, you can choose from the various printing settings:
- Printer: Select a printer to use (or print to PDF or OneNote)
- Slides: Choose which slides you want to print
- Layout: Determine how many slides you want per page (this is where you can print the notes, outline, and handouts)
- Collated or uncollated (learn what collated printing means here )
- Color: Choose to print in color, grayscale or black & white
There are many more options for printing your PowerPoint presentations. Here are links to more in-depth articles:
- How to print multiple slides per page
- How to print your speaker notes in PowerPoint
- How to save PowerPoint as a picture presentation
So that’s how to create a PowerPoint presentation if you are brand new to it. We’ve also included a ton of links to helpful resources to boost your PowerPoint skills further.
When you are creating your presentation, it is critical to first focus on the content (what you are trying to say) before getting lost inserting and playing with elements. The clearer you are on what you want to present, the easier it will be to build it out in PowerPoint.
If you enjoyed this article, you can learn more about our PowerPoint training courses and other presentation resources by visiting us here .
🔒 Unlock the PowerPoint Shortcuts Trusted by Industry Leaders KKR, American Express, HSBC, and More!
Join over 114,880 professionals from diverse fields including consulting, investment banking, advertising, marketing, sales, and business development who have supercharged their PowerPoint game with our proven methods.
✅ Customize compelling presentations effortlessly.
✅ Master time-saving techniques for faster deck creation.
✅ Boost your career prospects with top-notch PowerPoint skills.
Get FREE access to the Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts module of our premium training course by entering your name and email below.
DISCLAIMER: PC Users Only!
We respect your privacy and will keep your info safe and confidential.
About The Author
Popular Tutorials
- How to Strikethrough Text (l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶) in Word, Excel & PowerPoint
- How to Make Animated Fireworks in PowerPoint (Step-by-Step)
- Strikethrough Shortcut (l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶) for Word, Excel & PowerPoint
- How to Create a Flash Card Memory Game in PowerPoint (Like Jeopardy)
- Keyboard Shortcuts Not Working: Solved
PowerPoint Tutorial Categories
- Strategies & Opinions
- Shortcuts & Hacks
- Pictures, Icons, Videos, Etc.
- New Features
- Miscellaneous
- Charts & Data Viz
We help busy professionals save hours and gain peace of mind, with corporate workshops, self-paced courses and tutorials for PowerPoint and Word.
Work With Us
- Corporate Training
- Presentation & Template Design
- Courses & Downloads
- PowerPoint Articles
- Word Articles
- Productivity Resources
Find a Tutorial
- Free Training
- For Businesses
We help busy office workers save hours and gain peace of mind, with tips, training and tutorials for Microsoft PowerPoint and Word.
Master Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts – Secure Your FREE Training Module and Save Valuable Time!
⌛ Master time-saving expert techniques.
🔥 Create powerful presentations.
🚀 Propel your career to new heights.
We value your privacy – we keep your info safe.
Discover PowerPoint Hacks Loved by Industry Giants - KKR, AmEx, HSBC!
Over 114,880 professionals in finance, marketing and sales have revolutionized their PPT skills with our proven methods.
Gain FREE access to a full module of our premium PowerPoint training program – Get started today!
We hate spam too and promise to keep your information safe.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Facebook . To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
- Skill Assessments
- AI Course Builder
- Free Courses
- PowerPoint 2019 Basic
How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation
Start Free Trial
Or log in with:
How to Open a Presentation in PowerPoint
Before you can work on a presentation that you or someone else has previously created and saved, you need to open it. You can locate a presentation on your computer and simply double-click to open it, or you can open a presentation from within PowerPoint.
Open an Existing Presentation
Press Ctrl + O .
The Open screen appears and gives you a few ways to find a presentation to open.
- Recent displays a list of presentations that you’ve recently opened.
- Shared with Me displays files others have shared with you on OneDrive or SharePoint Online.
- OneDrive and/or SharePoint let you browse through your files stored on these cloud services, if you have them.
- This PC lets you browse through your Documents folder for files to open.
- Browse opens a dialog box, where you can browse through your computer’s folders, drives, and network shares.
The presentation opens in PowerPoint and you can begin making edits.
FREE Quick Reference
Free to distribute with our compliments; we hope you will consider our paid training.
- LinkedIn-ready certificate
- Skill assessments
- Bite-sized, interactive lessons
- Saved progress
- PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
- EDIT Edit this Article
- EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
- Browse Articles
- Learn Something New
- Quizzes Hot
- This Or That Game
- Train Your Brain
- Explore More
- Support wikiHow
- About wikiHow
- Log in / Sign up
- Computers and Electronics
- Presentation Software
- PowerPoint Presentations
How to Open a PPT File on PC or Mac
Last Updated: September 1, 2022 Tested
Using PowerPoint
Using google slides, using powerpoint online.
This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff . Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 85,953 times. Learn more...
This wikiHow teaches you how to open and view the contents of a PPT (PowerPoint presentation) file in Windows and macOS. PPT is the native presentation format in Microsoft PowerPoint's earlier versions and is supported by all versions of the software. If you don't have PowerPoint, you can open the file in Google Slides or PowerPoint Online (a free version of PowerPoint accessible on the web).
- If you don't have PowerPoint installed on your computer, make sure to check out this article for detailed instructions on how to download it.
- Alternatively, you can download and use Apache OpenOffice ( https://www.openoffice.org/download ), or Apple Numbers ( https://itunes.apple.com/tr/app/numbers/id409203825 ).
- To open the PPT with a different program, just select the program you want to use on the "Open with" menu.
- If you're prompted, sign in with your Google account.
- Alternatively, you can drag and drop your PPT file here.
- If you're prompted, sign in with your Microsoft account.
Expert Q&A
You might also like.
About This Article
1. Right-click the PPT file. 2. Hover over Open with . 3. Select Microsoft PowerPoint . Did this summary help you? Yes No
- Send fan mail to authors
Is this article up to date?
Featured Articles
Trending Articles
Watch Articles
- Terms of Use
- Privacy Policy
- Do Not Sell or Share My Info
- Not Selling Info
wikiHow Tech Help Pro:
Level up your tech skills and stay ahead of the curve
How to Start PowerPoint: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
Starting PowerPoint is as easy as opening the program and selecting a template or a blank presentation. Once you’ve got the program open, you’ll be greeted with various options to create your perfect presentation, whether it’s for a business meeting, a school project, or just for fun. Just be sure you have PowerPoint installed on your computer or you have access to it online through Microsoft 365.
After you’ve opened PowerPoint and selected your template, you’ll be able to add text, images, videos, and other elements to your slides to make your presentation unique and engaging.
Introduction
PowerPoint is a versatile tool used by millions to create engaging and dynamic presentations. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or someone who just wants to make a fun slideshow for friends and family, knowing how to start PowerPoint is a must-have skill in today’s digital world. This program has been around for decades, evolving with technology to offer a wide range of features that can make any presentation go from bland to brilliant.
But why is it so important to know how to start PowerPoint? Well, think about it. Presentations are a key part of communication in various settings. They can make or break a business pitch, help or hinder a teacher’s lesson, and add a lot of fun to personal projects. PowerPoint is relevant to just about anyone who needs to convey information in a visual and organized way. So let’s dive in and get started on mastering the basics of opening and using PowerPoint.
Step by Step Tutorial: Starting PowerPoint
Before we begin, make sure you have PowerPoint installed on your computer. If you do, fantastic! If not, you can download it from the Microsoft website or access it online through Microsoft 365. Ready? Let’s go!
Step 1: Open PowerPoint
Launch PowerPoint by clicking on the program icon on your computer.
Once you’ve found the PowerPoint icon, either on your desktop, start menu, or taskbar, give it a click, and the program will open. You may see a loading screen briefly before the main window appears.
Step 2: Choose a Template
Select a template or a blank presentation to start creating your slides.
PowerPoint offers a variety of templates to fit every need and occasion. Whether you want something simple and professional or colorful and creative, there’s a template for you. If you prefer to start from scratch, you can choose a blank presentation.
Step 3: Customize Your Slides
Add text, images, videos, and other elements to your slides.
Once you’ve picked your template or opened a blank slide, it’s time to make it your own. You can add title text, bullet points, images, and even videos. PowerPoint has a range of tools for customizing each slide to fit your content perfectly.
Additional Information
When starting PowerPoint, it’s essential to keep your audience in mind. Who will be viewing your presentation? What is the main message you want to convey? Answering these questions can help you choose the right template and design elements. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different fonts, colors, and layouts to find what works best for your content.
Remember, a well-organized and visually appealing presentation can significantly impact your audience’s engagement and retention of information. Also, consider using PowerPoint’s various features like transitions and animations sparingly – while they can add a dynamic touch, overuse can be distracting. And always save your work regularly!
- Open PowerPoint by clicking on the program icon.
- Select a template or a blank presentation.
- Customize your slides by adding text, images, videos, and other elements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do i need a microsoft account to use powerpoint.
Yes, to download and use PowerPoint, you’ll need a Microsoft account.
Can I access PowerPoint online?
Absolutely, PowerPoint is available online through Microsoft 365, which allows you to work on presentations from any browser.
Is PowerPoint free?
PowerPoint is not free, but it is included in the Microsoft Office Suite, which is available for purchase. However, you can use the online version with a Microsoft 365 subscription.
Can I collaborate with others on a PowerPoint presentation?
Yes, PowerPoint supports collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same presentation simultaneously.
Can I convert a PowerPoint presentation to a video?
Indeed, PowerPoint has a feature that lets you save your presentation as a video file.
Starting PowerPoint is just the beginning of creating compelling and memorable presentations. Whether you use a template or start from a blank canvas, the key to a great PowerPoint presentation is creativity, clarity, and audience engagement. Remember, practice makes perfect!
So go ahead and play around with all the tools and features PowerPoint offers. The more you use it, the more proficient you’ll become. And if you ever get stuck, there’s a vast community of PowerPoint users and an array of online resources to help you out. Now that you know how to start PowerPoint, where will your presentations take you?
Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.
His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.
Read his full bio here.
Share this:
Join our free newsletter.
Featured guides and deals
You may opt out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Related posts:
- Can I Convert My Powerpoint to Google Slides?
- How to Save Powerpoint as PDF with Notes
- How to Make a Powerpoint Slide Vertical in Powerpoint 2013
- How to Set Time for Slides in Powerpoint
- How to Insert Slides from Another Presentation in Powerpoint 2010
- How to Check Word Count on Powerpoint 2010
- How to Unhide a Slide in Powerpoint 2013
- How to Loop a Slideshow on Powerpoint 2013
- How to Change Hyperlink Color in Powerpoint 2010 (An Easy 5 Step Guide)
- How to Change the Font on All Slides in Google Slides
- How to Convert a PowerPoint to Word and Edit with Ease
- How to Insert Check Mark in Powerpoint for Office 365
- How to Change Line Spacing in Powerpoint for Every Slide at Once
- How to Download a Google Slides Presentation as a Powerpoint File
- Can I Create a Timeline in Powerpoint?
- How to Delete Multiple Slides in Google Slides
- How to Add Page Numbers in Powerpoint 2010
- How to Show Speaker Notes in Google Slides
- How to End Powerpoint on Last Slide in Powerpoint 2010
- How to Hide a Slide in Powerpoint 2010
Home Blog Presentation Ideas How to Start a Presentation: 5 Strong Opening Slides and 12 Tricks To Test
How to Start a Presentation: 5 Strong Opening Slides and 12 Tricks To Test
Knowing how to start a presentation is crucial: if you fail to capture the audience’s attention right off the bat, your entire presentation will flop. Few listeners will stick with you to the end and retain what you have told.
That is mildly unpleasant when you are doing an in-house presentation in front of your colleagues. But it can become utterly embarrassing when you present in front of larger audiences (e.g., at a conference) or worse – delivering a sales presentation to prospective customers.
Here is how most of us begin a presentation: give an awkward greeting, thank everyone for coming, clear our throats, tap the mic, and humbly start to mumble about our subject. The problem with such an opening performance? It effectively kills and buries even the best messages.
Table of Contents
- The Classic Trick: Open a Presentation with an Introduction
- Open a Presentation with a Hook
- Begin with a Captivating Visual
- Ask a “What if…” Question
- Use the Word “Imagine”
- Leverage The Curiosity Gap
- The Power of Silence
- Facts as Weapons of Communication
- Fact vs. Myths
- The Power of Music
- Physical Activity
- Acknowledging a Person
How to Start a PowerPoint Presentation The Right Way
Let’s say you have all of your presentation slides polished up (in case you don’t, check our quick & effective PowerPoint presentation design tips first). Your presentation has a clear storyline and agenda. Main ideas are broken into bite-sized statements for your slides and complemented with visuals. All you have left is to figure out how you begin presenting.
The best way is to appeal to and invoke certain emotions in your audience – curiosity, surprise, fear, or good old amusements. Also, it is recommended to present your main idea in the first 30 seconds of the presentation. And here’s how it’s done.
1. The Classic Trick: Open a Presentation with an Introduction
When you don’t feel like reinventing the wheel, use a classic trick from the book – start with a quick personal introduction. Don’t want to sound as boring as everyone else with your humble “Hi, I’m John, the head of the Customer Support Department”? Great, because we are all about promoting effective presentation techniques (hint: using a dull welcome slide isn’t one of them).
Here’s how to introduce yourself in a presentation the right way.
a. Use a link-back memory formula
To ace a presentation, you need to connect with your audience. The best way to do so is by throwing in a simple story showing who you are, where you came from, and why your words matter.
The human brain loves a good story, and we are more inclined to listen and retain the information told this way. Besides, when we can relate to the narrator (or story hero), we create an emotional bond with them, and, again – become more receptive, and less skeptical of the information that is about to be delivered.
So here are your presentation introduction lines:
My name is Joanne, and I’m the Head of Marketing at company XYZ. Five years ago I was working as a waitress, earning $10/hour and collecting rejection letters from editors. About ten letters every week landed to my mailbox. You see, I love words, but decent publisher thought mine were good enough. Except for the restaurant owner. I was very good at up-selling and recommending dishes to the customers. My boss even bumped my salary to $15/hour as a token of appreciation for my skill. And this made me realize: I should ditch creative writing and focus on copywriting instead. After loads of trial and error back in the day, I learned how to write persuasive copy. I was no longer getting rejection letters. I was receiving thousands of emails saying that someone just bought another product from our company. My sales copy pages generated over $1,500,000 in revenue over last year. And I want to teach you how to do the same”
b. Test the Stereotype Formula
This one’s simple and effective as well. Introduce yourself by sharing an obvious stereotype about your profession. This cue will help you connect with your audience better, make them chuckle a bit, and set a lighter mood for the speech to follow.
Here’s how you can frame your intro:
“My name is ___, and I am a lead software engineer at our platform [Your Job Title]. And yes, I’m that nerdy type who never liked presenting in front of large groups of people. I would rather stay in my den and write code all day long. [Stereotype]. But hey, since I have mustered enough courage…let’s talk today about the new product features my team is about to release….”
After sharing a quick, self-deprecating line, you transition back to your topic, reinforcing the audience’s attention . Both of these formulas help you set the “mood” for your further presentation, so try using them interchangeably on different occasions.
2. Open a Presentation with a Hook
Wow your audience straight off the bat by sharing something they would not expect to hear. This may be one of the popular first-time presentation tips but don’t rush to discard it.
Because here’s the thing: psychologically , we are more inclined to pay attention whenever presented with an unexpected cue. When we know what will happen next – someone flips the switch, and lights turn on – we don’t really pay much attention to that action.
But when we don’t know what to expect next – e.g., someone flips the switch and a bell starts ringing – we are likely to pay more attention to what will happen next. The same goes for words: everyone loves stories with unpredictable twists. So begin your presentation with a PowerPoint introduction slide or a line that no one expects to hear.
Here are a few hook examples you can swipe:
a. Open with a provocative statement
It creates an instant jolt and makes the audience intrigued to hear what you are about to say next – pedal back, continue with the provocation, or do something else that they will not expect.
“You will live seven and a half minutes longer than you would have otherwise, just because you watched this talk.”
That’s how Jane McGonigal opens one of her TED talks . Shocking and intriguing, right?
b. Ask a rhetorical, thought-provoking question
Seasoned presenters know that one good practice is to ask a question at the beginning of a presentation to increase audience engagement. Rhetorical questions have a great persuasive effect – instead of answering aloud, your audience will silently start musing over it during your presentation. They aroused curiosity and motivated the audience to remain attentive, as they did want to learn your answer to this question.
To reinforce your message throughout the presentation, you can further use the Rhetorical Triangle Concept – a rhetorical approach to building a persuasive argument based on Aristotle’s teachings.
c. Use a bold number, factor stat
A clean slide with some mind-boggling stat makes an undeniably strong impact. Here are a few opening statement examples you can use along with your slide:
- Shock them: “We are effectively wasting over $1.2 billion per year on producing clothes no one will ever purchase”
- Create empathy: “Are you among the 20% of people with undiagnosed ADHD?”
- Call to arms: “58% of marketing budgets are wasted due to poor landing page design. Let’s change this!”
- Spark curiosity: “Did you know that companies who invested in speech recognition have seen a 13% increase in ROI within just 3 years?”
3. Begin with a Captivating Visual
Compelling visuals are the ABC of presentation design – use them strategically to make an interesting statement at the beginning and throughout your presentation. Your first presentation slide can be text-free. Communicate your idea with a visual instead – a photo, a chart, an infographic, or another graphics asset.
Visuals are a powerful medium for communication as our brain needs just 13 milliseconds to render what our eyes see, whereas text comprehension requires more cognitive effort.
Relevant images add additional aesthetic appeal to your deck, bolster the audience’s imagination, and make your key message instantly more memorable.
Here’s an intro slide example. You want to make a strong presentation introduction to global pollution. Use the following slide to reinforce the statement you share:
“Seven of nine snow samples taken on land in Antarctica found chemicals known as PFAs, which are used in industrial products and can harm wildlife”
Source: Reuters
4. Ask a “What if…” Question
The “what if” combo carries massive power. It gives your audience a sense of what will happen if they choose to listen to you and follow your advice. Here are a few presentations with starting sentences + slides to illustrate this option:
Alternatively, you can work your way to this point using different questions:
- Ask the audience about their “Why.” Why are they attending this event, or why do they find this topic relevant?
- Use “How” as your question hook if you plan to introduce a potential solution to a problem.
- If your presentation has a persuasion factor associated, use “When” as a question to trigger the interest of the audience on, for example, when they are planning to take action regarding the topic being presented (if we talk about an inspirational presentation).
5. Use the Word “Imagine”
“Imagine,” “Picture This,” and “Think of” are better word choices for when you plan to begin your presentation with a quick story.
Our brain loves interacting with stories. In fact, a captivating story makes us more collaborative. Scientists have discovered that stories with tension during narrative make us:
- Pay more attention,
- Share emotions with the characters and even mimic the feelings and behaviors of those characters afterward.
That’s why good action movies often feel empowering and make us want to change the world too. By incorporating a good, persuasive story with a relatable hero, you can also create that “bond” with your audience and make them more perceptive to your pitch – donate money to support the cause; explore the solution you are offering, and so on.
6. Leverage The Curiosity Gap
The curiosity gap is another psychological trick frequently used by marketers to solicit more clicks, reads, and other interactions from the audience. In essence, it’s the trick you see behind all those clickbait, Buzzfeed-style headlines:
Not everyone is a fan of such titles. But the truth is – they do the trick and instantly capture attention. The curiosity gap sparks our desire to dig deeper into the matter. We are explicitly told that we don’t know something important, and now we crave to change that. Curiosity is an incredibly strong driving force for action – think Eve, think Pandora’s Box.
So consider incorporating these attention grabbers for your presentation speech to shock the audience. You can open with one, or strategically weave them in the middle of your presentation when you feel like your audience is getting tired and may lose their focus.
Here’s how you can use the curiosity gap during your presentation:
- Start telling a story, pause in the middle, and delay the conclusion of it.
- Withhold the key information (e.g., the best solution to the problem you have described) for a bit – but not for too long, as this can reduce the initial curiosity.
- Introduce an idea or concept and link it with an unexpected outcome or subject – this is the best opening for a presentation tip.
7. The Power of Silence
What would you do if you attended a presentation in which the speaker remains silent for 30 seconds after the presentation starts? Just the presenter, standing in front of the audience, in absolute silence.
Most likely, your mind starts racing with thoughts, expecting something of vital importance to be disclosed. The surprise factor with this effect is for us to acknowledge things we tend to take for granted.
It is a powerful resource to introduce a product or to start an inspirational presentation if followed by a fact.
8. Facts as Weapons of Communication
In some niches, using statistics as the icebreaker is the best method to retain the audience’s interest.
Say your presentation is about climate change. Why not introduce a not-so-common fact, such as the amount of wool that can be produced out of oceanic plastic waste per month? And since you have to base your introduction on facts, research manufacturers that work with Oceanic fabrics from recycled plastic bottles .
Using facts helps to build a better narrative, and also gives leverage to your presentation as you are speaking not just from emotional elements but from actually recorded data backed up by research.
9. Fact vs. Myths
Related to our previous point, we make quite an interesting speech if we contrast a fact vs. a myth in a non-conventional way: using a myth to question a well-accepted fact, then introducing a new point of view or theory, backed on sufficient research, that proves the fact wrong. This technique, when used in niches related to academia, can significantly increase the audience’s interest, and it will highlight your presentation as innovative.
Another approach is to debunk a myth using a fact. This contrast immediately piques interest because it promises to overturn commonly held beliefs, and people naturally find it compelling when their existing knowledge is put to the test. An example of this is when a nutritionist wishes to speak about how to lose weight via diet, and debunks the myth that all carbohydrates are “bad”.
10. The Power of Music
Think about a presentation that discusses the benefits of using alternative therapies to treat anxiety, reducing the need to rely on benzodiazepines. Rather than going technical and introducing facts, the presenter can play a soothing tune and invite the audience to follow an exercise that teaches how to practice breathing meditation . Perhaps, in less than 2 minutes, the presenter can accomplish the goal of exposing the advantages of this practice with a live case study fueled by the proper ambiance (due to the music played in the beginning).
11. Physical Activity
Let’s picture ourselves in an in-company presentation about workspace wellness. For this company, the sedentary lifestyle their employees engage in is a worrying factor, so they brought a personal trainer to coach the employees on a basic flexibility routine they can practice in 5 minutes after a couple of hours of desk time.
“Before we dive in, let’s all stand up for a moment.” This simple instruction breaks the ice and creates a moment of shared experience among the attendees. You could then lead them through a brief stretching routine, saying something like, “Let’s reach up high, and stretch out those muscles that get so tight sitting at our desks all day.” With this action, you’re not just talking about workplace wellness, you’re giving them a direct, personal experience of it.
This approach has several advantages. Firstly, it infuses energy into the room and increases the oxygen flow to the brain, potentially boosting the audience’s concentration and retention. Secondly, it sets a precedent that your presentation is not going to be a standard lecture, but rather an interactive experience. This can raise the level of anticipation for what’s to come, and make the presentation a topic for future conversation between coworkers.
12. Acknowledging a Person
How many times have you heard the phrase: “Before we begin, I’d like to dedicate a few words to …” . The speaker could be referring to a mentor figure, a prominent person in the local community, or a group of people who performed charity work or obtained a prize for their hard work and dedication. Whichever is the reason behind this, acknowledgment is a powerful force to use as a method of starting a presentation. It builds a connection with the audience, it speaks about your values and who you admire, and it can transmit what the conversation is going to be about based on who the acknowledged person is.
Closing Thoughts
Now you know how to start your presentation – you have the opening lines, you have the slides to use, and you can browse even more attractive PowerPoint presentation slides and templates on our website. Also, we recommend you visit our article on how to make a PowerPoint Presentation to get familiarized with the best tactics for professional presentation design and delivery, or if you need to save time preparing your presentation, we highly recommend you check our AI Presentation Maker to pair these concepts with cutting-edge slide design powered by AI.
Like this article? Please share
Curiosity Gap, Opening, Public Speaking, Rhetorical Triangle, Speech, What If Filed under Presentation Ideas
Related Articles
Filed under Presentation Ideas • September 5th, 2023
Persuasive Speech: Actionable Writing Tips and Sample Topics
Business professionals, students, and others can all benefit from learning the principles of persuasive speech. After all, the art of persuasion can be applied to any area of life where getting people to agree with you is important. In this article, we get into the basics of persuasive speaking, persuasive speech writing, and lastly persuasive speech topics.
Filed under Presentation Ideas • August 5th, 2023
How Parkinson’s Law Can Make Your Presentations Better
Sometimes even the best presenters procrastinate their work until the very last moment. And then, suddenly, they get a flow of ideas to complete their slide deck and present like they have been preparing for it for ages. However, doing so has drawbacks, as even professional presenters cannot always elude the side effects of […]
Filed under Presentation Ideas • April 29th, 2022
How to Become Great in Public Speaking: Presenting Best Practices
Public Speaking takes a lot of practice and grit, however, it also requires a method that can help you through your presentation. Explore more about this subject in this blog post.
5 Responses to “How to Start a Presentation: 5 Strong Opening Slides and 12 Tricks To Test”
I love to follow the ideas, it’s good for a freshman
Leave a Reply
22 Ways to Open a Presentation
Getting your first presentation slide right can be a tricky task. It sets the tone of your whole presentation, and can make or break you in terms of confidence.
Always alter your presentation openings, depending on your audience. Remember that what might work for you in a boardroom would likely turn a room of millennials into a bored room . But don’t worry. Our advice isn’t to start telling jokes at any available opportunity. Instead, we’ve collated the many various ways you can start a speech, to inspire you to choose a presentation slide that’s right for you, and your audience.
22. Welcome!
Use a welcoming presentation slide when people have come specifically to see you present.
Don’t use this if you’re presenting in the middle of other presentations, or when the audience have already seen something to do with your product or service that day.
21. Use a Physical Object
Bring an object along to your presentation that you think could be useful in your presentation, and start with explaining what it is, and why it is significant.
It could be a red ball, which you promise to toss at people who look like they’re going to fall asleep, or a product which you’re trying to sell. Either way, having an object in your opening is an unusual way of starting a presentation, and can get you some important points when presenting.
Use this if you’re presenting to a lively young audience instead of an opening presentation slide.
20. What If…
A good TED talk tactic. Use an imaginary scenario to get the audience to pay attention, and tickle their own abstract ideas about your subject.
Use this presentation slide if you have a hypothetical focus of your presentation, and you’re looking for input from the audience.
19. Show of Hands
Ask the audience their opinion on something.
Often, this can break the ice between you and the audience, and get you feeling a little more comfortable before you start with your first presentation slide.
18. A Wise Man Once Said… (Or indeed woman!)
Use a famous quote as a point of reference.
This can be a good way to start a presentation if you think the audience need some context before your presentation, and can be an easy way in if you’re about to explain something complicated.
17. A Prelude.
Instead of starting off your presentation with an about me or history slide, try and tell the audience who you are, and what you’re about before you make the presentation.
One short story about what makes you a real person, and why they should listen to you speak can make a big difference in your confidence, and in the audiences’ faith in you.
16. Dramatic Pause…
You don’t need to use a presentation slide to kick off your speech.
Instead, start your presentation with 10 seconds of silence, and a blank powerpoint slide to heighten the audience anticipation.
15. Add some Glitz
Quote a movie or a song in your first presentation slide to build rapport with your audience.
As long as it’s something that most of the audience will know, you’ll have them listening intently right from the get go!
This is especially important to consider when presenting to millenials.
14. A Number.
Open your speech with a statistical presentation slide.
A number can start your presentation right by giving your audience something tangible to understand.
If your presentation includes an interesting statistic, or you have an interesting point inside your presentation, show it off right at the start to keep your audience curious about how you arrived at that fact.
13. Make a Bold Claim
Controversial or elaborate hypotheses are often approached in presentations in an apologetic way, with a build up to the claim.
This is mostly due to nervous presenters to whom the idea of seeming silly at the start of a presentation puts them off using this as a tactic. Don’t be one of them!
12. Thank you
Another effective presentation slide opener is to thank the audience for being there.
Make them feel part of the presentation, and appreciated to get the best reaction from them later in your presentation.
11. Ask a Question
Start by asking your audience a difficult question about the topic to get a feel for the room.
Don’t ask them for a show of hands, but instead just ask them to think about it.
10. State their Problem
If you’re pitching to investors, focus on their problem. Try and relate your product or service to how their lives would be improved on your first presentation slide.
If they’re not the right audience, try and relate it their son, their daughter or their mother. Make it personal.
9. Grab their Attention
Do you have a shocking piece of information you’re going to present? Maybe you have an impressive statistic, or fact which you discovered or achieved.
Lead with something bold and colorful to grab their attention from the start.
8. Make Fun of Yourself
Be humble and approachable right from your first slide if you want to make a fantastic impression.
By showing the audience that you can make fun of yourself, and that you’re honest, you will knock down a little of the fourth wall between you and the people in front of you.
7. Use Curiosity
Using curiosity as a way to grab your audience’s attention is a good way to make you feel some power if you get nervous in presentations. Try something along the lines of: “I have the most exciting job in the world. No really, I do. Everyone I meet says “Wow, how do have the energy to do such a thing every day” , as i shrug, and take the compliment. Can you guess what i do? That’s right. I’m an accountant. ”
6. Look Back
Refer to the past in your first presentation slide, and make a comparison of what humans thought the future would look like related to your presentation topic.
This can be a great way of getting the audience to feel like they already knew something about a difficult subject. It can also help to build connection between you and your audience by relating to a common belief.
5. Look Forward
Open your presentation by referring to the future, and what you hope to achieve with your research, data, or pitch.
This is an impressive first presentation slide if you are trying to convince your audience to believe in something, whether that be a product, or a cause.
4. Use a Foreign Proverb
Using an english proverb might be a bit old hat in this day and age. Unless of course you’re going with the ‘dad joke’ ideal to millenials, in which case, press on!
Instead, use a proverb from a different language. There are some real gems out there, and can impress your audience that you’ve gone to the research trouble.
3. Refer to Current Events
If, on the day you’re due to present you read about an interesting current events story, or news article which links to your presentation, use it as your opening!
Discussing a current events article will show the audience your intellect and also get them understanding you from the get go.
2. Refer to a Historical Event
If you’re presenting something really fantastic, comparing your presentation to something significant in the past can be a good way of building some hype.
Of course, if you’re building something which isn’t that revolutionary, try adapting this opening into a humorous comparison instead, and build some rapport with your audience.
1. Tell a Story
The best way to start a powerpoint presentation is to start is with a story.
A thoughtful story along with a link to your presentation will get you off on the right foot
Get awesome presentation content in your inbox every week
It only takes a click to unsubscribe.
2018 © SlideCamp
Stack Exchange Network
Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.
Q&A for work
Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.
Automatically open Powerpoint in presenter mode, on correct screens
We have a laptop that we only use to present an induction course which is just a powerpoint presentation.
We have a second screen hooked up and when the presentation opens up someone has to navigate to and hit the start presentation button, at that point and it opens in presenter view with the notes on the laptop and the presentation on the second screen.
What I'd like to be able to do is avoid that on element of interaction.
Is it possible to launch a power point directly into presentation mode with no additional user interaction?
- microsoft-powerpoint
3 Answers 3
Save the file in PowerPoint Show (*.ppsx) format . It will open automatically in presentation mode.
From Microsoft's site :
PowerPoint Show .ppsx A presentation that always opens in Slide Show view rather than in Normal view. Tip: To open this file format in Normal view so that you can edit the presentation, open PowerPoint. On the File menu, click Open, and then choose the file.
Note: If you need macros enabled save as a .ppsm. If you're in PowerPoint 2003 the older format you need is .pps.
- it opens the presentation on screen 2 correctly but you don't get the presenters view on screen 1. Can't see an option for configuring it... – Patrick Jul 7, 2017 at 14:59
- 1 Hmmm. Seems you're right, there's no way to force visibility of the Presenter View in .ppsx files. That's annoying, and weird. So, my next method would be to save as a .pptm (macro-enabled .pptx) and use VBA to launch the slideshow, which would bring up Presenter View. But irritatingly, PowerPoint doesn't allow you to execute macros on open - so we need another workaround. You could download an auto_open PowerPoint add-in to give this functionality, or you could use something like a macro-enabled Excel file to call the .pptx on open. Bit painful but it can be done. – Andi Mohr Jul 7, 2017 at 15:51
- Frustrating, so close and yet so far. I think I'll just leave an instruction on screen 'open powerpoint, click these two buttons' and be done with it. There is only so much you can automate away :) Thanks for you help. – Patrick Jul 10, 2017 at 8:38
I achieved this by the following
I Added a macro to the Powerpoint presentation
Then start the powerpoint presentation from the command line with
I used a 2003 presentation in 2016 - so the extension for presentations containing macros is ppt not pptm.
The remaining issue I have is that when I close the presentation it prompts to save - it does not do this if I load and run it using the GUI.
I think I'm a bit late, but this might be helpful to others.
The best way I could find to start in presenter mode is by pressing Alt F5 . It will start from the first slide, though. If you want to start from the current slide, you might need to use the sequence Alt S C . But it doesn't work if you press each individually, they have to be pressed at the same time. Also, this second metho does a weird error sound and I couldn't figure out why.
Anyway, if you are ok about starting on the first slide, Alt S will do just fine.
Source: https://support.office.com/en-ie/article/use-keyboard-shortcuts-to-deliver-powerpoint-presentations-1524ffce-bd2a-45f4-9a7f-f18b992b93a0
- (1) The question says “with no additional user interaction”. It sounds like you’re just offering a different form of user interaction. (2) Or rather, three different forms. What’s the relationship between Alt+F5 and Alt+S? – Scott - Слава Україні Jun 27, 2019 at 23:38
You must log in to answer this question.
Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged microsoft-powerpoint ..
- The Overflow Blog
- Spreading the gospel of Python
- OverflowAI and the holy grail of search
- Featured on Meta
- Our Partnership with OpenAI
- What deliverables would you like to see out of a working group?
Online PowerPoint Viewer App
View powerpoint online. ppt, pptx., powered by aspose.com and aspose.cloud ., * by uploading your files or using our service you agree with our terms of service and privacy policy ..
Send the download link to
Press Ctrl + D to store it in your bookmarks in order not to search it again
We've already processed ??? files with total size of ??? Mbytes.
How to open a presentation using Aspose Viewer
- Click Drop or upload your files .
- Select the presentation you want to open and view on your device.
- Wait for Aspose Viewer to process and open the file.
After uploading and opening your presentation, you can perform these tasks:
- Zoom : zoom-in and zoom-out.
- Navigate through its slides.
- Use different modes : full-screen mode, slideshow mode, etc.
- Download the file as a PowerPoint file, image, PDF, or in other formats.
Note: We delete all files from our servers after 24 hours. If you get a download link to share your presentation, the link will stop working after 24 hours.
Aspose Viewer App is a free and easy-to-use online presentation viewer or reader. You get to open your presentation from any computer (Windows, macOS) or smartphone (Android, iOS). Simply upload your file and view it. No software installation is needed.
You can use the Viewer app to present your slides (or demonstrate a presentation) to people. If necessary, you can also share a temporary presentation (or slide) link with people. The Viewer app shows each slide of the presentation as an image, which is a convenient format that protects against editing and copying.
The Viewer App’s intuitive interface allows you to perform these basic tasks: navigate through slide pages, zoom into presentation slides, observe presentation slides in the navigation menu, download a full presentation in its original format or download presentation slides as images.
Other Aspose Apps you may want to try: Collage web app for making collages and merging JPG photos; Video web app for converting presentations to videos. Read an article on opening or viewing presentations: How to Open and View Presentations Without PowerPoint or Office
Aspose.Slides PowerPoint Viewer
- PowerPoint Reader, PowerPoint Viewer, and PowerPoint Player in a single Aspose.Slides app.
- Open any PowerPoint and OpenOffice presentation format: PPT , PPTX , ODP .
- Use the free PowerPoint Web Viewer to open PPT, PPTX online and view PPS , ODP files.
- Powerful PowerPoint Viewer is an alternative for Windows 10 PCs, Android smartphones, iPhones, and other devices.
- PowerPoint Viewer for 64 bit or 32 bit systems.
- App includes PowerPoint Viewer for all recent Microsoft PowerPoint editions: PowerPoint Viewer 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019.
- Use PowerPoint Player to demonstrate presentations at business meetings, public conferences, daily standups, online meetings, etc.
- How do I open a presentation online without PowerPoint? With Aspose’s free Presentation Viewer, you can open and view any presentation from any device or OS: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, etc.
- Can I open my PowerPoint online? Yes. With this Viewer app, you can open all the widely-used PowerPoint files (PPT, PPTX, ODP, and others) online.
- What operations are available in the online Viewer? You can do many operations: Go into full-screen mode, use slides overview, specify an autoplay timer, and so on.
- Is the Presentation Viewer easy to use? Yes, the app is very easy to use. All you have to do is upload your presentation file to open or view it. You can then switch to full-screen mode, for example.
- Can I open my PowerPoint in my browser? Yes, you can. On the Aspose’ Viewer page, you just have to upload your presentation to open and see its contents.
Fast and Easy-To-Use Viewer
Support for All Platforms
Viewer Quality
Other supported viewers.
We provide viewers used to open many other file formats. Please, go through the list below.
- PDF Viewer (View PDF document)
- ODP Viewer (OpenDocument Presentation File Format)
- OTP Viewer (Origin Graph Template)
- POTM Viewer (Microsoft PowerPoint Template)
- POTX Viewer (Microsoft PowerPoint Open XML Template)
- PowerPoint Viewer (PowerPoint Open XML Presentation)
- PPS Viewer (Microsoft PowerPoint Slide Show)
- PPSM Viewer (Microsoft PowerPoint Slide Show)
- PPSX Viewer (PowerPoint Open XML Slide Show)
- PPT Viewer (PowerPoint Presentation)
- PPTM Viewer (Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation)
- PPTX Viewer (PowerPoint Open XML Presentation)
- DOCX Viewer (Open DOCX files online)
- DOC Viewer (Open DOC files online)
Oops! An error has occurred.
Error has been reported successfully..
You have successfully reported the error, You will get the notification email when error is fixed. Click this link to visit the forums.
� Aspose Pty Ltd 2001-2022. All Rights Reserved.
- What is PowerPoint? Video
- Create a presentation Video
- Choose the right view for the task Video
- Add and format text Video
Create a presentation
Create a presentation from scratch, or from a theme. All themes have a palate of colors and fonts designed to work together.
Create a blank presentation
Open PowerPoint.
Select one of the Blank Presentation and start typing.
Note: Microsoft 365 subscribers will find Design Ideas based on the words you type. You can browse and select a new look.
Create a presentation from a theme
Select File > New .
Double-click a theme in the gallery to create a presentation in that theme. Or search for more templates.
Apply or change a slide layout
Apply a template to your presentation
Create and save a PowerPoint template
Get Microsoft presentation templates
Need more help?
Want more options.
Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.
Microsoft 365 subscription benefits
Microsoft 365 training
Microsoft security
Accessibility center
Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.
Ask the Microsoft Community
Microsoft Tech Community
Windows Insiders
Microsoft 365 Insiders
Was this information helpful?
Thank you for your feedback.
A simple guide to slideshows
Learn what slideshows are, how they’re used, common features, and how to choose a slideshow maker. Get started creating your own slideshows today with Microsoft PowerPoint.
What is a slideshow?
What are slideshows used for.
Meetings and presentations
Slideshows are most frequently used to create professional presentations for business meetings, conferences, and educational purposes. A slideshow program allows people to organize content, include visuals, and enhance the overall impact of their message.
Visual storytelling
Because slideshows sequentially display engaging visuals, text, and other multimedia, they’re a strong way to tell a cohesive and compelling narrative from start to finish.
Content creation
Slideshows give content creators a versatile and efficient way to organize information, increase visual appeal, and communicate effectively across different contexts.
Photo and video sharing
Slideshow makers are popular for creating photo and video presentations, especially for events like weddings, birthdays, and vacations. People can add transitions, music, and captions to fully bring the photo-sharing experience to life.
Training and tutorials
Slideshows help break down complex information into digestible chunks with the support of visuals and text, making them ideal for instructional materials, tutorials, and training modules.
Collaborative projects
In collaborative settings, teams use slideshow makers to create joint presentations or reports. The best slideshow makers enable multiple contributors to add their content simultaneously, which helps ensure a cohesive and unified presentation.
What are the features of a slideshow creator?
Slideshow creators vary in what they offer but ideally include:
A library of templates, themes, and images.
If you’re not a designer, this feature is huge. Simply browse the options available in your slideshow maker library to create a polished, professionally designed presentation in a flash. Be sure to confirm that access to the library is free and the images are approved for unrestricted usage.
Audio and video compatibility.
Keeping your audience engaged is key to any successful slideshow presentation. To mix things up, being able to add a multimedia element—like a song or a video clip—will help people stay focused and interested.
Presentation tools.
Handy presenter tools go a long way toward making your slideshow experience seamless. For example, straightforward slide navigation, slideshow keyboard shortcuts, pen and highlighter markup, and adjustable resolution settings.
AI assistance.
With AI revolutionizing content creation, using a slideshow maker that has AI capabilities will enhance efficiency and innovation. Depending on the slideshow app you have, creating an entire slideshow could be as easy as a quick prompt, like “Make a presentation about the benefits of sustainable fashion that has 15 slides.”
Animations.
Like audio and video, animations give your audience a bit of sensory surprise that can capture their attention.
Slide transitions.
Add some pizzazz to how you change slides with visual effects like fading, wiping, and zooming.
Screen recording.
Being able to record your screen in a slideshow maker is helpful when giving an instructional talk, software demonstration, and other types of presentations that require visual aids.
A place to put speaker notes.
Having somewhere to jot a few notes down will help remind you of everything you want to cover as you present.
Different viewing options.
Looking at different views—for example, a presenter view, an audience view, and a high-level view of slide order—is useful when organizing your slideshow’s structure and understanding and preparing for what you’ll see versus what your audience will see.
How do I choose the right slideshow maker?
When choosing a slideshow maker, keep the following questions in mind to make sure you get the most for your money:
Is it scalable with your business?
As your organization grows and changes, it’s important to have flexible technology that adapts to new needs. Having certain features—such as cloud-based collaboration, compatibility with other work apps, and a mobile app—will help ensure that no matter how your business changes, the slideshow maker is up to the task. This also applies to pricing plans. Consider choosing a slideshow app that has a subscription plan (so the software is always up to date), volume-based pricing, or enterprise-level pricing.
Does it have a variety of visual elements?
It’s pretty much a given that a slideshow maker will allow you to add images, but think outside the JPEG box—what other visual elements are available to you? Features like preset themes, free templates, SmartArt, a built-in clip art library, shape tools, background styles, 3D models, and charts and graphs provide diverse ways to switch up how a slideshow looks without relying solely on adding your own images.
Is it easy to use?
You could have the most feature-rich slideshow maker on the market, but if it isn’t easy to use, you probably won’t use it. Or you will, but you’ll be frustrated, waste valuable time, and have difficulty convincing people you work with to use it. As you research slideshow makers, look for videos that show the apps’ interfaces in action to help you decide if they’re intuitive and will have a shorter learning curve.
Does it have collaboration and sharing options?
Because making a slideshow is often a collaborative effort, it’s worthwhile to find a slideshow creator that was designed with this in mind. Pick one that offers editing controls and commenting, as well as the ability to work on a slideshow at the same time as someone else. Having a cloud-based slideshow maker will be key here. You’ll not only save yourself time but also keep things simple by not having multiple versions of the same slideshow.
Explore more about slideshows and slideshow makers
Copilot in powerpoint.
Transform how you make slideshows with the versatile AI in Copilot for PowerPoint.
Improve your presenting skills
Practice presenting with an AI speaker coach to get feedback on body language, repetition, and pronunciation.
Six slideshow tips and tricks
Read up on tips about how to finesse your slideshows to give your most confident presentations.
Get free PowerPoint templates
Show your style with PowerPoint templates in more than 40 categories.
How to make a branded slideshow
Create a cohesive visual identity for your brand that goes beyond adding a logo to every slide.
Try a photo album template
Relive your favorite memories with photo album templates designed for all your unforgettable moments.
The benefits of visual aids in slideshows
Discover why using visual aids helps communicate ideas and messaging more effectively.
Slideshows that reach all learners
Explore the different ways that people learn and how to include all learning styles in your presentations.
Frequently asked questions
How do i make a good slideshow.
Making a good slideshow in PowerPoint is easy:
Plan what you’d like to include in your slideshow.
Launch your slideshow creator.
Choose the theme you’d like.
Import media.
Add text, music, and transitions.
Record, save, and share your slideshow.
Learn more about how to make a slideshow .
How do I add music to a slideshow?
To add music to a slideshow, first make sure that you’re using a slideshow maker with music compatibility. In PowerPoint, follow these steps:
Open your PowerPoint presentation and select the slide where you want to add music.
Click on the Insert tab in the ribbon menu.
Click on the Audio button and select Audio on My PC.
Browse to the folder on your computer where the audio file is located and select it.
Click on the Insert button.
How do I record a slideshow?
The steps for recording a slideshow in PowerPoint will vary depending on the version that you own. Get help with slideshow recording based on your version.
What types of files can I add to a slideshow?
File compatibility in PowerPoint includes the use of JPEGs, PNGs, TIFFs, GIFs, PDFs, MP3s, WAVs, MIDIs, MPEG-4 Videos, and Windows Media Videos.
How do I share my slideshow?
To share your PowerPoint slideshow, follow these steps:
Open your presentation and click Share at the top right of your screen.
If your presentation isn't already stored on OneDrive, select where to save your presentation to the cloud.
Choose a permission level, like Anyone with a link , or maybe just people in your company. You can also control if people can edit or just view the doc.
Select Apply.
Enter names and a message.
Select Send.
Follow Microsoft
How-To Geek
6 ways to create more interactive powerpoint presentations.
Engage your audience with cool, actionable features.
Quick Links
- Add a QR code
- Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only)
- Embed a Live Web Page
- Add Links and Menus
- Add Clickable Images to Give More Info
- Add a Countdown Timer
We've all been to a presentation where the speaker bores you to death with a mundane PowerPoint presentation. Actually, the speaker could have kept you much more engaged by adding some interactive features to their slideshow. Let's look into some of these options.
1. Add a QR code
Adding a QR code can be particularly useful if you want to direct your audience to an online form, website, or video.
Some websites have in-built ways to create a QR code. For example, on Microsoft Forms , when you click "Collect Responses," you'll see the QR code option via the icon highlighted in the screenshot below. You can either right-click the QR code to copy and paste it into your presentation, or click "Download" to add it to your device gallery to insert the QR code as a picture.
In fact, you can easily add a QR code to take your viewer to any website. On Microsoft Edge, right-click anywhere on a web page where there isn't already a link, and left-click "Create QR Code For This Page."
You can also create QR codes in other browsers, such as Chrome.
You can then copy or download the QR code to use wherever you like in your presentation.
2. Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only)
If you plan to send your PPT presentation to others—for example, if you're a trainer sending step-by-step instruction presentation, a teacher sending an independent learning task to your students, or a campaigner for your local councilor sending a persuasive PPT to constituents—you might want to embed a quiz, questionnaire, pole, or feedback survey in your presentation.
In PowerPoint, open the "Insert" tab on the ribbon, and in the Forms group, click "Forms". If you cannot see this option, you can add new buttons to the ribbon .
As at April 2024, this feature is only available for those using their work or school account. We're using a Microsoft 365 Personal account in the screenshot below, which is why the Forms icon is grayed out.
Then, a sidebar will appear on the right-hand side of your screen, where you can either choose a form you have already created or opt to craft a new form.
Now, you can share your PPT presentation with others , who can click the fields and submit their responses when they view the presentation.
3. Embed a Live Web Page
You could always screenshot a web page and paste that into your PPT, but that's not a very interactive addition to your presentation. Instead, you can embed a live web page into your PPT so that people with access to your presentation can interact actively with its contents.
To do this, we will need to add an add-in to our PPT account .
Add-ins are not always reliable or secure. Before installing an add-in to your Microsoft account, check that the author is a reputable company, and type the add-in's name into a search engine to read reviews and other users' experiences.
To embed a web page, add the Web Viewer add-in ( this is an add-in created by Microsoft ).
Go to the relevant slide and open the Web Viewer add-in. Then, copy and paste the secure URL into the field box, and remove https:// from the start of the address. In our example, we will add a selector wheel to our slide. Click "Preview" to see a sample of the web page's appearance in your presentation.
This is how ours will look.
When you or someone with access to your presentation views the slideshow, this web page will be live and interactive.
4. Add Links and Menus
As well as moving from one slide to the next through a keyboard action or mouse click, you can create links within your presentation to direct the audience to specific locations.
To create a link, right-click the outline of the clickable object, and click "Link."
In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, click "Place In This Document," choose the landing destination, and click "OK."
What's more, to make it clear that an object is clickable, you can use action buttons. Open the "Insert" tab on the ribbon, click "Shape," and then choose an appropriate action button. Usefully, PPT will automatically prompt you to add a link to these shapes.
You might also want a menu that displays on every slide. Once you have created the menu, add the links using the method outlined above. Then, select all the items, press Ctrl+C (copy), and then use Ctrl+V to paste them in your other slides.
5. Add Clickable Images to Give More Info
Through PowerPoint's animations, you can give your viewer the power to choose what they see and when they see it. This works nicely whether you're planning to send your presentation to others to run through independently or whether you're presenting in front of a group and want your audience to decide which action they want to take.
Start by creating the objects that will be clickable (trigger) and the items that will appear (pop-up).
Then, select all the pop-ups together. When you click "Animations" on the ribbon and choose an appropriate animation for the effect you want to achieve, this will be applied to all objects you have selected.
The next step is to rename the triggers in your presentation. To do this, open the "Home" tab, and in the Editing group, click "Select", and then "Selection Pane."
With the Selection Pane open, select each trigger on your slide individually, and rename them in the Selection Pane, so that they can be easily linked to in the next step.
Finally, go back to the first pop-up. Open the "Animations" tab, and in the Advanced Animation group, click the "Trigger" drop-down arrow. Then, you can set the item to appear when a trigger is clicked in your presentation.
If you want your item to disappear when the trigger is clicked again, select the pop-up, click "Add Animation" in the Advanced Animation group, choose an Exit animation, and follow the same step to link that animation to the trigger button.
6. Add a Countdown Timer
A great way to get your audience to engage with your PPT presentation is to keep them on edge by adding a countdown timer. Whether you're leading a presentation and want to let your audience stop to discuss a topic, or running an online quiz with time-limit questions, having a countdown timer means your audience will keep their eye on your slide throughout.
To do this, you need to animate text boxes or shapes containing your countdown numbers. Choose and format a shape and type the highest number that your countdown clock will need. In our case, we're creating a 10-second timer.
Now, with your shape selected, open the "Animations" tab on the ribbon and click the animation drop-down arrow. Then, in the Exit menu, click "Disappear."
Open the Animation Pane, and click the drop-down arrow next to the animation you've just added. From there, choose "Timing."
Make sure "On Click" is selected in the Start menu, and change the Delay option to "1 second," before clicking "OK."
Then, with this shape still selected, press Ctrl+C (copy), and then Ctrl+V (paste). In the second box, type 9 . With the Animation Pane still open and this second shape selected, click the drop-down arrow and choose "Timing" again. Change the Start option to "After Previous," and make sure the Delay option is 1 second. Then, click "OK."
We can now use this second shape as our template, as when we copy and paste it again, the animations will also duplicate. With this second shape selected, press Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, type 8 into the box, and continue to do the same until you get to 0 .
Next, remove the animations from the "0" box, as you don't want this to disappear. To do this, click the shape, and in the Animation Pane drop-down, click "Remove."
You now need to layer them in order. Right-click the box containing number 1, and click "Bring To Front." You will now see that box on the top. Do the same with the other numbers in ascending order.
Finally, you need to align the objects together. Click anywhere on your slide and press Ctrl+A. Then, in the Home tab on the ribbon, click "Arrange." First click "Align Center," and then bring the menu up again, so that you can click "Align Middle."
Press Ctrl+A again to select your timer, and you can then move your timer or copy and paste it elsewhere.
Press F5 to see the presentation in action, and when you get to the slide containing the timer, click anywhere on the slide to see your countdown timer in action!
Now that your PPT presentation is more interactive, make sure you've avoided these eight common presentational mistakes before you present your slides.
Got any suggestions?
We want to hear from you! Send us a message and help improve Slidesgo
Top searches
Trending searches
11 templates
67 templates
21 templates
environmental science
36 templates
9 templates
holy spirit
Business presentation templates, engage your audience in your business presentations with our free customizable ppt templates and google slides themes. they’re perfect for business plans, office meetings, pitch decks or project proposals., related collections.
Company Profile
568 templates
601 templates
Business Plan
822 templates
476 templates
496 templates
571 templates
373 templates
Project Proposal
615 templates
It seems that you like this template!
Employee benefits consulting.
Download the Employee Benefits Consulting presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. Your business demands smart solutions, and this consulting toolkit template is just that! This versatile and ingenious toolkit will provide you with the essential tools you need to shape your strategies and make informed decisions. Whether you are devising...
Monthly Strategy Review Meeting
The results from last month were great for the company, now we must keep it up! If you'll be discussing the strategy to follow during your next meeting, prepare a presentation and have the agenda and the different points to be talked about ready. We didn't want something too serious,...
Premium template
Unlock this template and gain unlimited access
Internship Report
Download the "Internship Report" presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. The world of business encompasses a lot of things! From reports to customer profiles, from brainstorming sessions to sales—there's always something to do or something to analyze. This customizable design, available for Google Slides and PowerPoint, is what you were...
Managing Phosphorus in Agriculture Consulting
Download the Managing Phosphorus in Agriculture Consulting presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. Your business demands smart solutions, and this consulting toolkit template is just that! This versatile and ingenious toolkit will provide you with the essential tools you need to shape your strategies and make informed decisions. Whether you...
Customer Loyalty MK Plan
Download the Customer Loyalty MK Plan presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. This incredible template is designed to help you create your own marketing plan that is sure to impress your entire team. Using this amazing tool, you'll be able to analyze your target audience, assess your competitors, map out...
Tennis Championship Pitch Deck
Download the Tennis Championship Pitch Deck presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. Whether you're an entrepreneur looking for funding or a sales professional trying to close a deal, a great pitch deck can be the difference-maker that sets you apart from the competition. Let your talent shine out thanks to...
Investment Company Business Plan
A business plan sets the strategy, resources, goals and plans for your company. If you focus on using money to fund new projects, get huge returns, make ideas possible and getting new forms of income, this template for investment companies is the one that best will reflect your ideals! With...
Digital Adaptation Meeting
Download the "Digital Adaptation Meeting" presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. Gone are the days of dreary, unproductive meetings. Check out this sophisticated solution that offers you an innovative approach to planning and implementing meetings! Detailed yet simplified, this template ensures everyone is on the same page, contributing to a...
Simple Business Plan
Boosting sales, attracting new customers, expanding the market... All of these are goals that businesses want to achieve. Aim high in your next presentation for your business plan, especially if you put your trust in this free template by Slidesgo.
Investment Business Plan
Rewards come after a great investment, and this applies especially to companies. You’ll need to attract potential investors and other people to put their trust in your project. With this free presentation template, you can explain your business plan, your market research and everything you need to strike a new...
Public Consulting
Consulting services are essential for many businesses and organizations. Promote yours by showing your audience a presentation created out of this dynamic template. The illustrations are isometric, which is always a good innovation. All the layouts, graphs and infographics included are very helpful when it comes to defining your potential...
Colorful Candy Shop Company Profile
Do you like candies? It’s time to sweeten your presentation with a very fun template! The pastel colors and wavy abstract shapes will make your information stand out and frame your data into a cool candy-land. Present your candy shop to potential investors, clients or at an industry level and...
Macari Company Profile
Making your business known in all areas is not easy, but not impossible either. Clear, concise, direct and minimalist: this is the aesthetics of this presentation with which you can create your company profile department by department, down to the smallest detail. With only three colors (white, black and red)...
Speech Therapy Expert CV
Download the Speech Therapy Expert CV presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. Having a good CV can make all the difference in landing your dream job. It's not just a piece of paper, it's your chance to showcase your skills, experience, and personality. If you want to stand out from...
Law Consulting Sales Pitch
To ensure that people act according to what they’re allowed to do, law consulting firms offer their helpful legal services. When it comes to demonstrating your strong points and attracting new clients, there’s nothing like a sales pitch, and this new free business template is cut out for that job.
Technology Consulting
If you want to attract new clients to your technology company and to keep them satisfied, design your own consulting sales pitch with these minimalistic slides.
Cute Interface Portfolio
Download the Cute Interface Portfolio presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. When a potential client or employer flips through the pages of your portfolio, they're not just looking at your work; they're trying to get a sense of who you are as a person. That's why it's crucial to curate...
Co-operative Company Business Plan
Having a good business plan can open many doors. At Slidesgo we know that, and that’s why we have created this co-operative company business plan, to help you structure your information. Start with an overview of market trends and competitors. Then edit the graphs to talk about your potential clients...
- Page 1 of 327
Great presentations, faster
Slidesgo for Google Slides :
The easy way to wow
Register for free and start editing online
- Get started with computers
- Learn Microsoft Office
- Apply for a job
- Improve my work skills
- Design nice-looking docs
- Getting Started
- Smartphones & Tablets
- Typing Tutorial
- Online Learning
- Basic Internet Skills
- Online Safety
- Social Media
- Zoom Basics
- Google Docs
- Google Sheets
- Career Planning
- Resume Writing
- Cover Letters
- Job Search and Networking
- Business Communication
- Entrepreneurship 101
- Careers without College
- Job Hunt for Today
- 3D Printing
- Freelancing 101
- Personal Finance
- Sharing Economy
- Decision-Making
- Graphic Design
- Photography
- Image Editing
- Learning WordPress
- Language Learning
- Critical Thinking
- For Educators
- Translations
- Staff Picks
- English expand_more expand_less
PowerPoint 2016 - Creating and Opening Presentations
Powerpoint 2016 -, creating and opening presentations, powerpoint 2016 creating and opening presentations.
PowerPoint 2016: Creating and Opening Presentations
Lesson 3: creating and opening presentations.
/en/powerpoint2016/understanding-onedrive/content/
Introduction
PowerPoint files are called presentations . Whenever you start a new project in PowerPoint, you'll need to create a new presentation , which can either be blank or from a template . You'll also need to know how to open an existing presentation .
Watch the video below to learn more about creating and opening presentations in PowerPoint.
To create a new presentation:
When beginning a new project in PowerPoint, you'll often want to start with a new blank presentation.
- A new presentation will appear.
To create a new presentation from a template:
A template is a predesigned presentation you can use to create a new slide show quickly. Templates often include custom formatting and designs , so they can save you a lot of time and effort when starting a new project.
- Click the File tab to access Backstage view , then select New .
- A preview of the template will appear, along with additional information on how the template can be used.
- A new presentation will appear with the selected template .
It's important to note that not all templates are created by Microsoft. Many are created by third-party providers and even individual users, so some templates may work better than others.
To open an existing presentation:
In addition to creating new presentations, you'll often need to open a presentation that was previously saved. To learn more about saving presentations, visit our lesson on Saving Presentations .
Most features in Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint, are geared toward saving and sharing documents online . This is done with OneDrive , which is an online storage space for your documents and files. If you want to use OneDrive, make sure you’re signed in to PowerPoint with your Microsoft account. Review our lesson on Understanding OneDrive to learn more.
To pin a presentation:
If you frequently work with the same presentation , you can pin it to Backstage view for easy access.
- Select the File tab to go to Backstage view , then click Open . Your Recent Presentations will appear.
Compatibility Mode
Sometimes you may need to work with presentations that were created in earlier versions of PowerPoint, like PowerPoint 2003 or PowerPoint 2000. When you open these types of presentations, they will appear in Compatibility Mode .
Compatibility Mode disables certain features, so you'll only be able to access commands found in the program that was used to create the presentation. For example, if you open a presentation created in PowerPoint 2003, you can only use tabs and commands found in PowerPoint 2003.
In the image below, you can see at the top of the window that the presentation is in Compatibility Mode. This will disable some PowerPoint 2016 features, including newer types of slide transitions.
To exit Compatibility Mode, you'll need to convert the presentation to the current version type. However, if you're collaborating with others who only have access to an earlier version of PowerPoint, it's best to leave the presentation in Compatibility Mode so the format will not change.
You can review this support page from Microsoft to learn more about which features are disabled in Compatibility Mode.
To convert a presentation:
If you want access to all PowerPoint 2016 features, you can convert the presentation to the 2016 file format.
Note that converting a file may cause some changes to the original layout of the presentation.
- The presentation will be converted to the newest file type.
- Open our practice presentation .
- Notice that the presentation opens in Compatibility Mode . Convert it to the 2016 file format. If a dialog box appears asking if you would like to close and reopen the file in order to see the new features, choose Yes .
- In Backstage view, pin a file or folder.
/en/powerpoint2016/saving-presentations/content/
COMMENTS
Create a new presentation. Open PowerPoint. Select Blank presentation, or select one of the themes. Select More themes to view the gallery and search for more. Add a slide. Select the slide you want your new slide to follow. Select Home > New Slide. Select Layout and the you type want from the drop-down.
Step-1: Go to the folder which contains your PowerPoint Presentation file. Go to the folder on your computer where you have saved your PowerPoint Presentation file. 'Right Click' on the file to open a dropdown menu. Step-2: Click on 'Show'. From the dropdown menu, click on the fourth option that says 'Show.'.
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation design software that is part of Microsoft 365. This software allows you to design presentations by combining text, images, graphics, video, and animation on slides in a simple and intuitive way. Over time, PowerPoint has evolved and improved its accessibility to users.
In this video, you'll learn the basics of creating and opening presentations in PowerPoint 2019, PowerPoint 2016, and Office 365. Visit https://edu.gcfglobal...
The first thing you'll need to do is to open PowerPoint. When you do, you are shown the Start Menu, with the Home tab open. This is where you can choose either a blank theme (1) or a pre-built theme (2). You can also choose to open an existing presentation (3).
Open an Existing Presentation. Click the File tab. Click Open . Press Ctrl + O. The Open screen appears and gives you a few ways to find a presentation to open. Select the location where the file is saved. Recent displays a list of presentations that you've recently opened. Shared with Me displays files others have shared with you on OneDrive ...
Select the File tab to go to Backstage view, then click Open. Your Recent Presentations will appear. Hover the mouse over the presentation you want to pin, then click the pushpin icon. The presentation will stay in the Recent presentations list until it is unpinned. To unpin a presentation, click the pushpin icon again.
How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation. Open the PowerPoint app, select a template and theme, then like "Create.". Click the text box to add your title and subtitle to create your title slide. Click the "Insert" tab, then "New Slide" to add another slide. Choose the type of slide you want to add, then add text and pictures.
Download Article. 1. Find the PPT file you want to open on your computer. Open the folder that contains your presentation, and locate your PPT file. 2. Right-click on the PPT file. This will open your file options on a drop-down menu. 3. Hover over Open with on the menu.
Step 2: Choose a Template. Select a template or a blank presentation to start creating your slides. PowerPoint offers a variety of templates to fit every need and occasion. Whether you want something simple and professional or colorful and creative, there's a template for you. If you prefer to start from scratch, you can choose a blank ...
Financial PowerPoint Template with Calculator by SlideModel. 5. Use the Word "Imagine". "Imagine," "Picture This," and "Think of" are better word choices for when you plan to begin your presentation with a quick story. Our brain loves interacting with stories. In fact, a captivating story makes us more collaborative.
8. Make Fun of Yourself. Be humble and approachable right from your first slide if you want to make a fantastic impression. By showing the audience that you can make fun of yourself, and that you're honest, you will knock down a little of the fourth wall between you and the people in front of you. 7.
During presentation on some slide I click on some part of the slide and then the OS opens some external file with its associated program. ... PowerPoint, click and open external file during presentation. Ask Question Asked 14 years, 4 months ago. Modified 10 years, 2 months ago.
It will open automatically in presentation mode. From Microsoft's site: PowerPoint Show .ppsx. A presentation that always opens in Slide Show view rather than in Normal view. Tip: To open this file format in Normal view so that you can edit the presentation, open PowerPoint. On the File menu, click Open, and then choose the file.
Aspose.Slides PowerPoint Viewer. PowerPoint Reader, PowerPoint Viewer, and PowerPoint Player in a single Aspose.Slides app. Open any PowerPoint and OpenOffice presentation format: PPT, PPTX, ODP. Use the free PowerPoint Web Viewer to open PPT, PPTX online and view PPS, ODP files.; Powerful PowerPoint Viewer is an alternative for Windows 10 PCs, Android smartphones, iPhones, and other devices.
Create a blank presentation. Open PowerPoint. Select one of the Blank Presentation and start typing. Note: Microsoft 365 subscribers will find Design Ideas based on the words you type. You can browse and select a new look.
In PowerPoint, follow these steps: Open your PowerPoint presentation and select the slide where you want to add music. Click on the Insert tab in the ribbon menu. ... Open your presentation and click Share at the top right of your screen. If your presentation isn't already stored on OneDrive, select where to save your presentation to the cloud. ...
Engage your audience with cool, actionable features. 2. Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only) If you plan to send your PPT presentation to others—for example, if you're a trainer sending step-by-step instruction presentation, a teacher sending an independent learning task to your students, or a campaigner for your local councilor sending a persuasive PPT to constituents—you ...
It might be the case that the PowerPoint slideshow is set to open on the wrong monitor and thus this issue is happening. Hence, you can set the correct monitor to open the presentation. To do so ...
In this 2-hour long project-based course you will learn how to build a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation using the power of Microsoft Copilot AI. ... Open new doors with Coursera Plus. Unlimited access to 7,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs - all included in your subscription ...
Download the News Report Writing Tips for Students presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. The education sector constantly demands dynamic and effective ways to present information. ... Download and open in Google Slides . Download as a PowerPoint file . Education. 16:9 / Like . Download ...
Download and open in Google Slides . Download as a PowerPoint file . Download and open in Canva ... Download the Employee Benefits Consulting presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. Your business demands smart solutions, and this consulting toolkit template is just that! This versatile and ingenious toolkit will provide you with the ...
PowerPoint files are called presentations. Whenever you start a new project in PowerPoint, you'll need to create a new presentation, which can either be blank or from a template. You'll also need to know how to open an existing presentation. Watch the video below to learn more about creating and opening presentations in PowerPoint.
Make Powerful PowerPoint presentations. Exports to PowerPoint, Google Slides and PDF.