Creating Pages with Slides and Notes

If you want to create printable pages that have notes or descriptive text associated with each slide, Powerpoint has a feature designed to do just this called Notes Pages, or Speaker's Notes (depending on which version you're using). To view the Notes page for any slide, go to the View menu and select Notes Pages. You will see an image of your slide there, and a placeholder for adding your script, notes, or any other text you wish. You can cut-and-paste text from Word here if you like. To print these pages, bring up the Print dialog, and at the bottom of the dialog where it says "Print What:", select Notes Pages. These pages were originally designed to be used as audience hand outs (with space for the audience to take notes) but were also used by many as speaker's notes.

Setting the Default Text Style in Powerpoint

If you want to change the style of the text that appears when you type things that aren't the title or the slide body, do the following: Make sure no objects are selected. From the Format menu, select Font. Make all the changes that you want there, and click OK. From that point on, new text will be created in that style. To Set the formatting for the title or slide body objects, go to the Slide Master and format these objects on the master.

Making Powerpoint Slides Print Correctly

Powerpoint has certain defaults to determine how it prints each object on the page. Go to View > Black and White; this will show you a gray-scale preview of how your slide will print. To change the print settings for any given object, right-click on it, then click "Black and White", and then choose the appropriate print option for that object. Master objects can be selected by going to the Master page View.

Saving Your Fonts with Your Powerpoint Presentation

If you've ever downloaded new fonts, created a design and the opened it on another computer only to find that your fonts are missing, you should remember to embed fonts in the file. Especially if you're preparing a presentation that you plan to distribute to others, be sure that you check this option by clicking on the Tools button in the File/Save As dialog box. This will work for most TrueType fonts on the Windows platform. You have the choice to embed only the characters used in the presentation (best for reducing file size) or embed all characters (best for editing by other people). I would strongly recommend you embed all characters since there is always some sort of editing/changes that follow eventually.

Powerpoint Background for Presentations Part 2

So here's an example of a light coloured background with overlaying dark text for contrast. Notice the footer showing the company, who the presentation is targeting (the audience), and a general date. It's also good practice to keep your presentation limited to one font, in this case Callibri. It is up to you whether you wish to justify the text to the left, right, or in the center , but either way, do your best to keep it consistent. You don't have to be a design wizard to keep things 'minimalist' in nature, and still have them appear professional.

Powerpoint Background for Presentations

Here's a simple background created for a MS Powerpoint presentation. Choosing a dark background will mean using a light font, so go with white, and maybe another light colour for headings to differentiate between body copy. Keep it simple and uncluttered. If you want to impress your boss and look professional, it's never a bad idea to place in a footer with the name of the presentation and the date. Keep the footer throughout your pages and you'll look sharp.