As we will be using an LCD projector in class, you can include colour in your slides.

1. Open Powerpoint. You should find this in the start menu - programs - Microsoft Office.
2. A dialog box appears, giving you a number of options. We will open a blank presentation just now, but if you want to access a presentation you saved earlier, you can also do that from here.
3. Choose 'Blank presentation' and click OK.
4. You are now given a choice of autolayouts. We will come back to these. For the time being, click on the blank sheet and then OK.
5. Powerpoint comes with a number of built-in backgrounds. Go to the drop down menu marked Format and choose 'Apply Design'. If you wait a second or two, a design will appear in the preview box. Click on different designs until you find one you like.
6. You can also change the colour of your slides manually by going to 'background' on the same menu. You can experiment with this later - but please remember to make your slides readable!
7. The easiest way to start preparing your presentation is to use an autolayout. Go to format - slide layout to get these back. Click on the bulleted list (top row, second from the left) - you'll notice the name of the slide appears in the bottom right corner. Click apply.
8. You will now see some straightforward instructions! Click on the 'add title' section and type 'My Presentation'.
9. Now click on the 'add text' section and type your name.
10. Press return and type your class. Press return again and type 'Stow College'.
11. You will notice that the list automatically appears with bullet points. To change the style of the bullet, click and drag over the text, or press control and A to select everything in the box. Now go to format - bullet. You will see a choice of bullets. Change the bullet, the colour and the size (note that this is a percentage in relation to the text).
12. Highlight the text again and click on the drop down font menu in the toolbar. Change the text to Comic Sans MS. Now change the size (next to the font on the toolbar to 40. Click on B to make the text bold.
13. You can also do all this by clicking on format - font. This gives you more options, including changing the colour of the text.
14. You now know the basics of adding and formatting text - congratulations. However, this is a very short presentation! To add a new slide, go to Insert - new slide. If you're in a hurry, use control + M.
15. You will get the choice of another slide layout. This time, choose Text & Clip Art (bottom left corner).
16. Don't panic - your old slide is still there! You can use the scrollbar on the right hand side of the screen to go up and down.
17. In your new slide, double click on the clip art icon. Click a piece of clip art you like and then click 'OK' to insert it.
18. Click to add text.
19. When you have added some text and a title to the second slide, click on file - save to save the slide. You will need to name it - if you don't have a disk, save it to the desktop for the time being.
20. Click on Slide Show - view show. You should see a full screen of your first slide. Click the mouse to see your second slide, and then to return to the main screen. You should now be able to create a visual aid to support your presentation - but remember to keep your slides simple - if there is too much information, you won't communicate as effectively with your audience.