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Fix Slow PowerPoint and Speedup Your Presentations

Often, Microsoft PowerPoint performs poorly and getting rid of those animations have little effect. If you do presentations often, speeding up PowerPoint may send your overall productivity through the roof. It may take a lot of effects for PowerPoint presentation to pleasingly transition between slides.

Related: Fix Slow Word and speedup document processing .

Speedup Slow PowerPoint Presentations

Try the below fixes to speedup your presentations:

• Cleanup and simplify presentations
• Remove unnecessary add-ins
• Stop AutoRecover
• Disable auto spelling check
• Remove startup programs
• Change screen resolution
• Check hardware graphics acceleration
• Clear temporary files
• Check compatibility

Method #1: Simplify Presentations

Some people get too ambitious with the design of the presentation. Complex presentation can be very slow to load, even if you have a good hardware. Follow these steps:

• Reduce the size of the images. Just dragging to resize the image isn’t enough, because the original image still has high resolution and large image size. It is better to remove images in the presentation and optimize them. After these images have optimum resolution and file size, you can re-upload them in the presentation slides. Also you can compress pictures , remove the cropped part of images and choose the optimized size when saving your presentations.

Compressing Pictures of PowerPoint

• Remove built-in PowerPoint animation, such as scaling, rotating and fading, because they can slow down the overall performance.
• Remove transparent objects and replace them with objects that have solid color fills.

Method #2: Remove Unnecessary Add-ins

If lot of add-ins are loaded, it is possible that PowerPoint will perform poorly. Each add-in will contribute in slowing down PowerPoint start-ups. Follow these steps:

• Open Microsoft PowerPoint. Go to ‘Files > Options’ and then to ‘Add-Ins’ section.
• Select ‘COM Add-ins’ option from the ‘Manage’ dropdown and click on ‘Go’ button.

Go to PowerPoint Add-ins Section

• Look for the available Add-ins list and click the add-in.
• Click the Remove button.

Disable Add-ins in PowerPoint

Similar to COM Add-ins, check for other add-in types and remove all. Now check the PowerPoint presentation is opening faster. If yes, then the add-ins are slowing down your PowerPoint. You can enable the add-ins one by one and check the performance.

Related: Fix Slow Excel and speedup spreadsheets .

Method #3: Stop AutoRecover

AutoRecover helps to save your presentations automatically and help to retrieve it when the application is terminated unexpectedly. This is a very useful function to save your content periodically. But setting low AutoRecover time will lead multiple times savings and slow down your activities. So to have good performance and also with AutoRecover function, you can set the recovery time to more than 15 minutes.

• Open Microsoft PowerPoint.
• Go to ‘Files > Options’.
• Under the ‘Save’ tab, find and uncheck “Save AutoRecover info every xx minutes”

Disable AutoRecover

Method #4: Disable Spellchecking

Spell checking helps to automatically check the text entries for the correct spelling. If text entry is slow or delayed when typing, it could be necessary to disable the spell checking feature. Follow these steps:

• Open Microsoft Outlook and go to ‘File > Options’.
• Go to ‘Proofing’ section and scroll down to the section ‘When correcting spelling in PowerPoint’.
• Disable ‘Check spelling as you type’ option. Click OK.

Disable Spelling Check

• Restart PowerPoint and verify that the problem has been resolved.

Method #5: Stop Loading Startup Programs

If you have the habit of opening PowerPoint immediately after starting Windows then the startup apps could affect the opening of PowerPoint. If your computer has plenty of startup items, it is possible that one of them causes problems. Follow these steps:

• Close all programs. Press ‘Win + R’ keys to open Run window. Type in ‘msconfig’ and open Windows Configuration Utility.
• Find and click “Selective Startup”, under the General tab. Uncheck “Load Startup items” and click OK
• Restart the computer and re-open Microsoft PowerPoint. Check whether the problem has been resolved.
• If PowerPoint performs much better, then the problem is verified. The next step is to identify the program that causes the problem.
• Close all programs. Go to Start and type in ‘msconfig’ in the search/run field. Click OK.
• Find and click “Selective Startup”, under the General tab.
• Check “Load Startup items” and click OK. Select the Startup tab.
• Disable a startup item that may cause the issue. If problem still persists, re-enable the item and disable another.

Related: Fix Slow Outlook and speedup emails .

Method #6: Check Screen Resolution

On computers with weaker hardware configurations, high screen resolutions may cause slowdowns in performance. Especially when you have dual monitor then the screen resolution will affect the display as well the speed of your presentation. So it is necessary to have the recommended resolution for your computer. Follow these steps:

• Go to desktop and right click on the empty space.
• Choose ‘Display setting’. Under ‘Display’ section check the available resolutions.

Check Screen Resolution

• Choose the recommended resolution for your computer.
• Confirm the selection and check whether the performance level improves.

Some resolutions may cause distortions in the layout of the presentation, so you may need to choose the most appropriate screen resolution.

Method #7: Enable / Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration

If you have a moderately powerful computer and PowerPoint still performs poorly, then it is possible that you are not using the full capacity of the hardware. Graphics accelerator is a dedicated hardware that boosts performance when rendering 3D objects and images. The processor can do other tasks, which improves the overall computing process as well. Follow these steps:

• Go to ‘File > Options’ and click on ‘Advanced’.
• Under ‘Display’ section, look for ‘Disable hardware graphics acceleration’ and make sure it’s not checked.

PowerPoint Hardware Acceleration

• Also disable ‘Disable Slide Show hardware graphics acceleration’ option.

If you have latest computer with powerful processor, you should enable these options to get good performance.

Method #8: Clear Temporary Files

Deleting files associated with PowerPoint presentations in temporary directory could help to speed up the start-up process significantly. Follow these steps

• Type in ‘Disk Cleanup’ in the Windows search box.
• Choose Disk C: and click OK.

Disk Cleanup

• Check the Temporary files option and click OK. Click OK again to confirm the deletion of temporary files.
• Open PowerPoint and check whether the problem has been resolved.

Method #9: Do Compatibility Check

In PowerPoint 2016, go to ‘File > Info’ menu. Click on ‘Check for Issues’ button and then choose ‘Check Compatibility”.

Inspect Presentation

This will help especially when you are dealing with presentations made in earlier versions.

Most of the Microsoft applications works integrated with Windows operating system. This makes the troubleshooting process more complex as many components of your operating system can also affect the speed of PowerPoint presentations. We hope one of the above mentioned solutions help you to speedup the presentations.

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Leave your reply.

My PPT presentation has 92 slides and 11 videos with music. Total size is about 2GB, and it takes hours to save. What can I do to speed this up? Thanks

While saving any ppt, it is taking almost 20 seconds to save in window 11..whereas it used to take only 1 second in window 10….similar problem is in opening ppt….pls suggest remedies sir

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12 PowerPoint Presentation Tips To Dramatically Boost Your Efficiency

Learn practical PowerPoint presentation tips that will help you make your presentation easier, faster and more informative.

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By Guest Author

in Insights

6 years ago

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Presentations are considered to be an art of communication. And we want this communication to be effective. However, it is not so easy to make people see an idea from your own perspective. Being passionate about your subject matter is not everything. One should take into consideration various factors to get the message across to the audience successfully.

Presentations are delivered at different places. It can be a business conference, a seminar, or just an ordinary meeting within the company. However, in any case, we need special software to demonstrate various visuals that help us engage our audience. Nowadays everyone knows that the most effective presentation program is PowerPoint . No persuasive presentation can do without it. It is obvious that people who often have to make presentations know how to use it. However, there are some features of the software that are not applied by the presenters for various reasons. Some people may not know about these characteristics, while others may think that they are too complex to work with or unnecessary. Nevertheless, these features may facilitate your work to a great extent and boost your productivity. In this article, we would like to share some tips that may help you make your presentation easier, faster, and more informative.

1. Consider Using Ready-Made PowerPoint Templates

It does not matter if you are an experienced presenter or just start making presentations, the ready-made PowerPoint templates will come in handy for everyone. First of all, the pre-made slides contain all the necessary information. Secondly, the templates can be customized in accordance with your requirements. We recommend you a superb collection of PowerPoint templates by TemplateMonster , using which you will highlight your content in the best possible way.

In this collection, you will find the themes that have been designed to present products and services of different categories, such as business, fashion, sports, social services, etc. Moreover, there is an opportunity to try a sample free of charge. Here is a free template with up-to-date layout design that has been created for business presentations.

This free sample has 7 light and 7 dark slides with the introduction, the index, a phone mockup slide. Besides, there is the slide where you may include data from some research in the form of various charts, as well as the slide with SWOT analysis map. You can try this template to find out about the functionality of the ready-made templates and then opt for the premium one.

As you may already have understood, premium templates contain much more benefits. For instance, let us look at this one:

2018 Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template has been designed with a wide range of helpful features. Thus, it is suitable for any kind of business and can be used by both corporate and business clients. You can choose among more than 230 unique slides made for different purposes. Moreover, there are 12 additional color theme options and easy editable data-driven charts.

2. Speed Up Your Work with Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can be very helpful while you are working on your presentation, as well as while you are presenting your ideas to the audience. There are some shortcuts that can make the process of creating the presentation faster and more productive. For instance, when you work with shapes and slides and want to duplicate any selected item, press Ctrl+D . It will be much quicker than copy and paste. The combination of Ctrl+G will group the selected shapes together. And if it is necessary to ungroup them, press Ctrl+Shift+G . When you need to format the text, it is possible to use the following shortcuts. To center the text in the selected shape, press Ctrl+E . Ctrl+L will left-align the text in the selected shape, while Ctrl+R will right-align it.

Moreover, when we prepare the presentation, it is possible to use the mouse. However, in the process of delivering the speech, we have to focus our attention on the audience and not on the screen of the computer. In this case, if you do not have an assistant and have to do everything yourself, it is easier to press some buttons quickly rather than use the mouse. For example, if you need to go to some particular slide in slideshow mode, you should press < slide number >+Enter . SHIFT + F5 will help you to view your presentation from the current slide. The combination of Ctrl+Break will finish a slideshow.

3. Choose the Appropriate View Mode for a Definite Task

It is not a secret that by default, PowerPoint opens a presentation in Normal view. If you save the file of your presentation, next time it will be opened in the view last saved. On the one hand, it is convenient, especially if you want to continue working on it. On the other hand, it is not always the most suitable opening view. Thus, you can change view modes and select the one that you need for your work or for a particular task. You will find various PowerPoint view options, such as Slide Sorter or Notes Page View and others on the View tab.

4. Display a Blank Slide to Keep Control of the Audience

There are several cases when it may be necessary to display a blank slide while delivering the presentation. You can do this to stop the presentation in order to answer some questions or for some break. Another variant is when you want to underline the key information and you want people to look at you but not at your slides. There are two options to choose from. You have to press the button either with letter B which blacks out the screen or with letter W . In this case, the blank slide will be of white color. Pressing B or W for the second time will return you to the presentation.

5. Modify the Quick Access Toolbar According to Your Needs

There are various important commands in PowerPoint that may be difficult to find. The Quick Access Toolbar is very helpful in solving this problem. It contains a set of commands that are included by default. However, it is possible to add the ones that you use more often in order to access them just in one click. It may also be useful to remove the ones that you do not need. Thus, customizing this toolbar will contribute to making your work more productive.

6. Create Your Personal Graphics and Charts Library with ShapeChef

If you want to add more character to your slides, you will definitely appreciate such PowerPoint add-in as ShapeChef. First of all, you will have access to an awesome collection of graphic, charts and different icons. It is possible to download the existing items, as well as organize one’s own shapes, logos, charts and other graphics into categories. The library pane is integrated into the PowerPoint window. Therefore, it is very simple to take a chart or any icon for a presentation. You just have to drag it from the library pane into your PowerPoint slide. What is more, there is an opportunity to create shared libraries for your colleagues or the entire company.

7. Use Photo Manipulation Tools

The visual component is significant in any presentation. However, it can be challenging for some people to prepare appropriate pictures if they are not skilled in photo-editing software. PowerPoint contains photo manipulation tools that may help solve this issue. Imagine you have several objects in the picture but you want the audience to pay attention to one of them. Separate the foreground object from the background one with Remove Background tool. With the help of Correction tool, you will control the level of brightness and contrast, as well as sharpness and softness of a picture. It is also possible to change the picture, using various filters of Artistic Effects tool.

8. Transfer Shape Formatting with Format Painter

Imagine you have 20 shapes in your presentation and you want to keep the formatting consistent. It is not necessary to spend a lot of time applying the same look to all of them, especially if you have applied multiple formatting. Format Painter will do it in several seconds. It is possible to format any picture chart, shape, cell, text, fill color, or outline color. Moreover, one can copy the formatting from one object to other ones on the same slide, the same presentation, or across presentations.

9. Manage Different Objects with Selection Pane

If you work with complicated graphics, Selection Pane can become an irreplaceable tool. For example, you have inserted shapes, images and text boxes on the slide and all of them are stacked on top of each other. It may be challenging to select an individual object and modify it. With the help of the Selection Pane, it is not only possible to select one or more objects and edit them. This tool allows you to rearrange the objects that are located behind or in front of the other ones. Moreover, it is possible to hide the objects if you want to focus on some specific ones while delivering the presentation. You may also rename any component’s name.

What Are Stock Photos and Should You Use Them?  – Check out our Master’s Guide

10. Use Autocorrect Option to Insert Special Symbols and Type Complex Words

If you need some special symbols, you usually open the Symbols dialogue box. However, there is even a faster way to enter some symbols, just typing a few characters. For instance, if you type (C), you will get the © symbol. If you need to insert the ® symbol for Registered, type (R). Although AutoCorrect option contains a set of symbols by default, it is possible to modify them. Furthermore, you may insert not only symbols but also words and phrases. Just assign a set of characters for the phrase in the Autocorrect option, for instance, ‘mmf’ for money market funds. Next time you use the phrase, just type ‘mmf’ and press the spacebar. The phrase will automatically appear in the text of your presentation.

11. Take Advantage of PowerPoint Collaboration Features

PowerPoint enables you to work on the presentation with colleagues, especially if you are engaged in one project. First, it is necessary to save the presentation to OneDrive or SharePoint Online for Office365. Then you open it and choose Share in the top-right corner of the ribbon. Finally, you add the email addresses of the people whom you invite either to view or edit the presentation. In this case, it is also possible to control where others work in your shared file.

12. Make the Export User-Friendly

Sometimes you have to send the presentation file to some people. However, usually different problems occur when they try to open it if it is saved in the PowerPoint format. The recipient may have a different version of the program installed. It is recommended to export the presentation as a PDF file. You have to press File, choose Export, and Create PDF. The final step is to save your presentation as a PDF. As a result, the users will see the presentation as it is, as well as you will be sure that nothing will be edited.

So, as we know, it is rather challenging to hold the attention of the audience during the presentation. However, we hope that these simple tips will help you prepare your presentations, as well as deliver them more efficiently.

About the author:

Helen Miller is our guest author from TemplateMonster.com . She is a freelance author who is always inspired to write on web-design and web-development up-to-date subjects. Helen has a great interest in the IT sphere and she always has fresh ideas to share.

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Helping you with presenting, PowerPoint, and speaking

Work faster in PowerPoint

January 31, 2014 by Ellen Finkelstein 5 Comments

When I work with clients in 1-on-1 coaching , I use webinar software so we can work together on a presentation. Sometimes I wield the mouse and sometimes my client does.  Because I work in PowerPoint so much, I use the fastest way possible — at least as far as I know. But when my clients take over, I often see them use slower ways of accomplishing a task.

So, here are my best tips for working faster in PowerPoint.

The ribbon is often the slowest way

For many tasks, the ribbon isn’t the way to go. Take font changes, for example.

To change the font or its color or size, use the mini toolbar. When you select text, the mini toolbar appears. At first it’s semi-transparent but if you move your cursor over it, you’ll find tools for quickly changing the font and its properties. Because the mini toolbar is close to the text, you’ll find it faster to make common changes there than to go all the way up to the ribbon. And if you aren’t on the Home tab, using the ribbon is especially slow.

The ribbon has more tools than the mini toolbar, so sometimes you have to use it, but avoid it when possible.

Right-click is your friend

• To change a slide’s layout, instead of going to the Home tab and choosing an option from the Layout button, just right-click off the slide and choose Layout, then the option you want.
• To reset a slide’s layout, right click off the slide and choose Reset Slide.
• To open the Format Shape task pane or dialog box, right-click the object and choose Format Shape.

Love your keyboard shortcuts

The fastest way to get the job done is often a keyboard shortcut.

To save your presentation, don’t use the ribbon. Better than that is the Quick Access toolbar at the top of the PowerPoint window. But by far the fastest way is to press Ctrl + S.

To copy any object and paste it, I see many people right-click and choose from the shortcut menu. But it’s much faster to use Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V.

We all make mistakes. When you do, press Ctrl + Z to undo your last action. You can do this any number of times.

Of course, to delete anything on a slide, select it and press the Delete key. If that object contains text, you need to click the border so that you delete the object and not just some of the text in it.

I see many people spend a lot of time dragging objects to move them a small distance. They move it too far, then try to move it back a little bit. Instead, use the 4 arrow keys; you’ll have a lot more control. To move an object an even smaller distance, press Ctrl while you tap the arrow keys.

Customize the Quick Access toolbar

To customize the Quick Access toolbar, click the arrow at its right end, shown by the red arrow at the right. You can quickly choose from some common options. To find more, choose More Commands.

Note that you can also choose the Show Below the Ribbon option which is helpful when you add so many buttons that they run into the part of the title bar that says the name of the presentation.

When you choose More Commands, the Options dialog box opens with the Quick Access Toolbar category active. You can choose commands from the left side and click the Add button to add them to the toolbar. Then, you can use the Up and Down arrows on the right to move the buttons around so that they’re in the order you want. I always want a New, Open and Save button there and also add a couple of commands that aren’t on the ribbon at all. I’ve seen professional designers with buttons going clear across the screen.

What techniques do you use to make your work quicker? Leave a comment and share them with your fellow PowerPoint users!

Related posts:

• Save PowerPoint customizations for the Quick Access Toolbar and ribbon
• Nudging Objects Slightly
• Customize the PowerPoint interface
• PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts

5 Leave a Reply

I use all of the tips you suggest, but I particularly like the Quick access toolbar. I customize it for those actions that don’t have shortcut keys but I use a lot.

One that few people use is F5 to begin the show. On the ribbon I use to set (almost) all formating icons. I usually hide the ribbon, to have more space to edit the slides. Thank for your advices…

I also love shortcuts, Ellen. I tell clients/students the fewer clicks the better. And one of my favorite techniques even eliminates clicking all together! When you start a new slide and see “Click to add title” I say “Ha! You can’t fool me into doing an extra click.” You merely need to type and your text will automatically go into the title text box.

Thanks so much, Ellen, for all you do. I have some more favorites. Shift+F5 will start the slide show with the slide you’re on at the moment–a quick way to check a new transition/animation at full size. Also, once you have the Quick Access Toolbar and Ribbon the way you want them, get into a populated slide and hit the Alt key. All the keyboard shortcuts light up! All you need to do is choose one. You don’t even have to hit the keys simultaneously or quickly. Just hit them in the order shown. A great keyboard shortcut trick is …  Read more »

As ALWAYS great and helpful techniques! A couple of other tips i like to share with my students to help them work more quickly in PPT: Ctrl + W to close just the presentation and not PPT itself saving time waiting for PPT to re open. Ctrl + D to duplicate (not that it is so much time saving from Ctrl + C then Ctrl + V). I also like Shift + F5 to start the slide show from the current slide v the beginning. And finally, for those like me who often forget keyboard shortcuts, hitting the alt key …  Read more »

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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 .

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How to create presentation slides up to 5 times faster

Ever struggled to create powerful slides for your presentations? Don’t worry, we've all been there! That’s why we've put together a few tips to help you worry less and deliver more.

PowerPoint is the most popular presentation software worldwide, used everywhere from corporate board rooms to university classrooms, so what better than to maximize its potential? After all, there are plenty of time-saving features that can help you make slides up to five times faster, helping you out with your tight schedule. 

1. Use PowerPoint Designer 

Not sure how to arrange your content? Create stunning slides in seconds with PowerPoint Designer. First, make sure you’ve got the right version of Office and that it’s turned on in Settings . Pickit works seamlessly with Designer and in just a couple of clicks you can create amazing layouts. Insert an image and choose from the selection of suggested design ideas. Simple as that.

2. Use large enough font sizes

Pay attention to your choice of font. When creating a presentation, have in mind both the font size and the font type. Try to use no more than two different fonts in your presentation, and make sure they flow well with each other and don't clash or distract.

• Font size Why is it so important when creating a presentation? The font needs to be large enough to read from across the room. The size most commonly used for text body is  28+, a font less than 24-point is used when adding explanatory text, where you could use a 20-point font size. Use at least 30+ size for headlines to be sure they're easy to read. 
• Font type  Choose a font that’s easy to read, ex:  Myriad Pro, Lucida Console, Tahoma, Helvetica, Calibri, Gil Sans, Futura, Century Gothic. For example, Gil Sans works well for headings and Tahoma for the text. 

3. Less is more, so keep it simple

Use an unexpected photo or clipart image that catches people off guard. Or why not try a few unpredictable ingredients that can help keep people’s attention and make your PowerPoint more dynamic and engaging?

• Include only one idea or message per slide
• Stick to three to five bullets at a time
• Use no more than five elements per slide

" 91% of people feel that a well-designed slide deck would make them feel more              confident when giving a presentation."

4. Use engaging images for impact

Want to quickly improve a tired slide deck? Make your images larger and reduce the quantity of text. Images should be chosen carefully to reinforce your message. We know our brain can process images up to 60,000 times faster than text, and using a large image gets your point across quickly, without being a distraction. And a shortlist of brief bullets will help your audience follow your argument. 

See more:   Why even "non-creative" people need to use quality presentation images

5. Try the  10/20/30 rule 

There's no universal laws when it comes to slide count and time, but many people agree that Guy Kawasaki's 10/20/30 rule is a good benchmark. The rule suggests that PowerPoint presentations should ideally have 10 slides, last no more than 20 minutes, and contain no font smaller than 30-point. For an engaging and meaningful session try the following:

• 10 slides According to Guy, this the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation because a normal human being can't be expected to comprehend more than 10 concepts in a short meeting. Sometimes you might need a few extra slides, but don't go adding them unless you need to. There's no need to use filler slides if they don't add value to your presentation.
• 20 minutes On average, spend around 2 minutes per slide. Make sure you're aware of your time slot. Even if the setup goes perfectly, people will arrive late and have to leave early. In a perfect world, you should be able to give your pitch within 20 minutes, and have 10-20 minutes left for questions and discussion. This way you'll make sure that you're fully engaging with your audience.
• 30 font size  Surprises in headlines work because the human brain is stimulated by the unexpected. These prove to be far more stimulating and grab our attention much quicker than things we know well.

Go ahead! Check it out and let us know what works best for you. Is the 10/20/30 rule the magic ingredient that will save the day for you? Or is it the images found in our award-winning app for PowerPoint?

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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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.

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Increase playback speed of video in PowerPoint

I'm using PowerPoint 2016. In my presentations I can include mp4 videos but I would also like to increase the speed of the playback (e.g. 16 times faster). How can this be done? I did not find any possibility to do this.

• microsoft-powerpoint

• remake teh video at 16 times the speed? –  joojaa Aug 24, 2019 at 15:38
• @joojaa Remaking the video is not a possibility because it takes a long time to process it. –  machinery Aug 24, 2019 at 17:02
• You do understand that you would have done it by now? –  joojaa Aug 24, 2019 at 17:36

3 Answers 3

You can change the playback speed of a video in powerpoint, which i discovered after following this tip . Here are the steps required:

• Enable the 'Developer' Tab in the ribbon, found under Powerpoint options > Customize Ribbon > Main Tabs.
• In the Developer Tab in the ribbon, in the 'Controls' section, access the 'more controls' option.
• In the More Controls popup, scroll to the bottom of the list and select 'Windows Media Player'
• Click anywhere on your slide to create a new windows media player instance. Note: this may raise a security warning as you are activating an ActiveX control. You must enable to continue.
• Right click on the windows media player and select 'Properties' or 'Property Sheet'
• Click the three dots icon next to 'Custom' to launch a dialog, where you can initiate file selection or manually enter a url (alternatively, you can enter the file path or URL directly into the URL property). Note: your file or url must be a windows media playable file .
• At the 'Custom' property, click to open windows media player options window.
• Click the 'advanced' tab, and alter the figure in the 'Rate' field.

The normal / default playback rate is 1.0000. Change this figure to .5000 to play the video at half speed (i.e. slower), or change it to 2.0000 for double-speed playback (i.e. faster).

I found another way after trawling ALL day for answers. However, I'm using PwrPt 2013, so maybe it will work for you and maybe it won't.

• Open Windows Movie Maker.
• Add your video file to it.
• Under the Edit tab, set your preferred speed from dropdown menu.
• Under Home tab>> Save Movie dropdown menu>> For Computer/High Definition (whichever you prefer. Without doing this, your file won't be compatible with PwrPt)>> choose folder location and file name>> save.

The video will be converted into a suitable file format while saving the preferred speed and you can insert it into Powerpoint.

Apparently, this also works for VLC player, but haven't used it myself.

"More Controls" has no popup and no items such as 'Windows Media Player'.

So perhaps the above post by christianhanvey is for an older version and not for Office 365 Powerpoint ?

I determined a solution

by uploading the separate videos to the free website: https://online-video-cutter.com/change-video-speed (note: This website does not put their Water Mark on your videos)

and I then slowed down and sped up the videos and saved them

Next I uploaded the adjusted videos to my Powerpoint

• @christianhanvey's answer works for me (using the latest Office 365 as of Oct 2023), but I wanted to have the file embedded in the Powerpoint file, so I used your solution instead. –  Mathieu Dhondt Oct 19, 2023 at 7:03

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged microsoft-powerpoint video ..

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The Fastest Way to Create an Ignite Presentation

by Olivia Mitchell | 31 comments

I set myself the challenge of preparing my first Ignite presentation as fast as possible.

The Ignite presentation format is a 5 minutes long presentation with 20 slides and with the slides advancing automatically every 15 seconds. It’s the presentation equivalent of a haiku or sonnet . It’s a very challenging format which can take forever to prepare.

Here’s the way that I did it:

1. Sketched the outline using my Presentation Planner

I used my normal presentation planner which I teach to all my clients. Here’s a picture of my planner – as you can see neatness was not important. I just wanted to get my key message and sequence of ideas down on paper.

Click on the image to see a larger view.

Time: 10 minutes

2. Converted planner to 20 slides

I typed what I wanted to say into the format of 20 slides:

Time: 1 hour

3. Packaged into 15 second blocks

I then used the “rehearse timings” button and delivered the presentation:

The Slide Sorter view (above) showed me how long I spent talking on each slide.

My aim was for each slide to take 13 to 15 seconds. The reason for this is that I think it’s better to have to wait a beat for a slide, than to be running out of time and constantly playing catch up.

When I first tried this out I was all over the place, some slides taking 7 seconds and some 34 seconds. I spent time rearranging, deleting and massaging. In the screen shot above you can see that I had got most of the slides close to 15 seconds, but I still had some work to do to shorten some.

Time: 2 hours

4. Created visual slides

I only started creating visual slides once I had my storyline packaged into 20 neat slices of 15 seconds each. Here’s what my visual slides looked like:

5. Printed out my notes

Ignite is one type of presentation format when preparing a script is virtually essential during the preparation phase. Working from a script allows you to massage your sentences to  fit the 15 second time blocks. A slight change in sentence structure can make a significant change in the time it takes to say something. So this is one occasion where you should plan to say it the same way every time (not normally something I recommend).

I printed out my verbal slides (shown in point 2. above) as handouts – 2 to a page:

Time: 5 minutes

5. Rehearsed

This step took the longest as I fine-tuned my pace to get my timing just right. For example, I wanted my dead parrot slide to appear just as I said “dead parrot”!

Time: 3 hours

6. Delivered

I used notes for the actual presentation as well. I could have spent extra time memorizing it, but I didn’t see a sufficient pay-off for that extra time. I had rehearsed enough that I did spend most of the time connecting with the audience.

Time: 5 minutes!

My presentation was videoed but unfortunately the audio didn’t work, so instead I’ve produced a Slidecast using Slideshare:

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31 Comments

Fantastic post. This is useful not only for creating an Ignite presentation, but any presentation. Few people dissect the process of creation, especially the work BEFORE you even open your computer and AFTER you’ve finished designing. Bravo.

Great thoughts. This is helpful for anyone creating a presentation (which is the most common thing that everyone has to do nowadays). Thank you for sharing your thoughts and methods.

Brilliant – I can’t believe that I haven’t read something like this before. Thanks, Olivia!

Really great stuff, Olivia! Congratulations. I tell the people in my courses that an excellent presentation is like an iceberg: What we see (the presentation) is very small compared to what lies beneath the surface (the preparation). Your post demonstrates, succinctly and eloquently, that what comes out is in direct proportion to what goes in.

Jon, Craig and John, Thank you for the lovely comments.

A tweeter pointed out that I still spent 8 hours preparing for a 5 minute presentation. It’s a long time. But from other people I know who’ve done Ignite presentations and from blog posts I’ve read it can take a heck of a lot longer.

8 hours is a breeze – i can’t wait to try it your way! I usually log about 30 for a high-stakes preso. Granted, I’m a bit slow…

If it’s not an Ignite presentation, then:

1. You’ll need to put more work (read: time) into developing the overall structure of the presentation and crafting engaging content. 2. You won’t need to spend anytime on dividing your presentation into discrete 15 second blocks!

For a step by step guide to using my planner, download the Guide “How to make an effective PowerPoint Presentation.”

All the best with your next presentation Olivia

Olivia, this is brilliant – thanks for sharing.

It’s good to let Ignite presenters know up-front they need to spend some serious time preparing, and your method is very sensible.

The 5 minute presentation which took 8 hours of preparation could easily be re-used as a longer presentation, now that all the hard work has been done.

Thanks Stephen. That’s very true that having prepared a 5 minute presentation you can easily scale it to a longer timeframe. The discipline of creating the 5 minute presentation first is likely to lead to a better 50 minute presentation too! Olivia

Love the post, esp the audio Slidecast. It’s mind opening to hear alternative perspective about the learning style theory.

I have a question though about the concept behind Ignite Presentation: why on earth do we need to spend so much time to rehearse so that the slides will correlate with what we say? Why not just use a clicker and click when it’s time to show the next slide?

There’s no good reason for doing it in a “normal” presentation, but it’s a major part of the fun of Ignite.

The idea is to make presentations enjoyable again, as an antidote to all the boring, death-by-powerpoint sessions we’re used to. Making the slides auto-advance adds an extra challenge and an element of danger to the presentations – once they start, there’s no going back.

Check out an Ignite in your local town, and you’ll see what all the fuss is about. Or check out the best videos at http://igniteshow.com

I agree with what Stephen has said. I don’t regard an Ignite presentation as a regular presentation, but rather as an art form. The constraints of the form lead to more creativity. In particular, the constraints of the form make it almost impossible to produce a series of boring bullet-points slides.

And it’s really fun for the audience!

However, I’m in two minds about lecturers at tertiary institutions asking students to deliver Ignite presentations (I’ve heard of this a number of times). I think for students who are novices at public speaking, the constraints of Ignite lead to another level of difficulty – kind of asking people to run before they can walk. If the aim is to avoid boring bullet-point presentations it would be better to simply say “Your presentation should be between 4 minutes 45 seconds and 5 minutes, 15 seconds. You can have as many slides or as few slides as you like, but no bullet-points!”

I’m asking my students to try Ignite! talks this semester. It’s the first time I’ve done them, as a bit of an experiment, so we’ll see how it goes. It’s not the only talk they’re giving, though, so the Ignite! talks are “low stakes,” as it were.

And for what it’s worth, I gave my students this link, and have already heard that they found it very helpful! So well done, you!

i am the tom!

That is great, Olivia!

I’ve learned quite a bit and admire the effort you put into this production and appreciate you sharing it.

Wonderful!!!! Many thanks!!!

great tipz, Olivia. thankz a lot. Keep the mood, ok? Z.

While I wholeheartedly disagree with your Ignite speech thesis about learning styles, I appreciate this post on how to prepare an Ignite speech. I have assigned my students the task of creating their own Ignite speech (it requires demonstration of all of the things we’ve been practicing since the start of the semester) and referred them to this post. Great job!

Love this blog post!

Here’s an infographic that I put together for the folks I coach on the Ignite style. Maybe helpful to your readers as well? http://wp.me/p1Hrlz-3Q

This is awesome!

the ignite presentation on learning styles is superb

Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to your blog before but after looking at many of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely happy I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back frequently!

Thank you so much for this manual! I have to give an Ignite presentation on a research project I’ve done and I had no idea how to start this. It helped me out a lot!

These are really great ideas in about blogging. You have touched some fastidious factors here. Any way keep up wrinting.

Helpful info. Fortunate me I discovered your site accidentally, and I’m surprised why this coincidence didn’t came about earlier! I bookmarked it.

Pretty cool idea, it’s always better to do it in a team of people of course whenever you got the chance to work with others. Brainstorming ideas and then making the presentation itself is way faster that way.

Thanks for posting your process (and also how long each step took, which is extremely helpful).

If you’re interested, I just posted a self-critique of my own Ignite talk. (It includes tips on things like having an effective opening line, using humour, and holding a microphone…)

Great work on the ways to prepare presentations. It is an essential part of any business activity.

Wow! Your article on the fastest way to craft an Ignite presentation is a treasure trove of practical advice. I appreciate the focus on brevity and impactful content. Your tips are sure to save a lot of time while ensuring a powerful presentation.

Thanks for sharing your expertise!

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• Click on "Blank presentation" to create your presentation from scratch, or pick your preferred free PowerPoint template from the options at the top (there's also a host of editable templates you can find on the Microsoft 365 Create site ).
• Create your presentation as normal. Your edits will be saved automatically to your Microsoft OneDrive as long as you're connected to the internet.

It's important to keep in mind, though, that while you're free to use this web version of PowerPoint to create your slides and edit templates, there are certain features it doesn't have that you can find on the paid version. For instance, you can access only a handful of font styles and stock elements like images, videos, icons, and stickers. Designer is also available for use on up to three presentations per month only (it's unlimited for premium subscribers). When presenting, you won't find the Present Live and Always Use Subtitles options present in the paid plans. The biggest caveat of the free version is that it won't get any newly released features, unlike its premium counterparts.

Method #2: Install Microsoft 365 (Office) To Your Windows

Don't fancy working on your presentation in a browser? If you have a Windows computer with the Office 365 apps pre-installed or downloaded from a previous Office 365 trial, you can use the Microsoft 365 (Office) app instead. Unlike the individual Microsoft apps that you need to buy from the Microsoft Store, this one is free to download and use. Here's how to get free PowerPoint on the Microsoft 365 (Office) app:

• Search for Microsoft 365 (Office) on the Microsoft Store app.
• Install and open it.
• Sign in with your Microsoft account. Alternatively, press "Create free account" if you don't have one yet.
• Click on Create on the left side panel.
• Select Presentation.
• In the PowerPoint window that opens, log in using your account.
• Press Accept on the "Free 5-day pass" section. This lets you use PowerPoint (and Word and Excel) for five days — free of charge and without having to input any payment information.
• Create your presentation as usual. As you're using the desktop version, you can access the full features of PowerPoint, including the ability to present in Teams, export the presentation as a video file, translate the slides' content to a different language, and even work offline.

The only downside of this method is the time limit. Once the five days are up, you can no longer open the PowerPoint desktop app. However, all your files will still be accessible to you. If you saved them to OneDrive, you can continue editing them on the web app. If you saved them to your computer, you can upload them to OneDrive and edit them from there.

Method #3: Download The Microsoft PowerPoint App On Your Android Or iOS Device

If you're always on the move and need the flexibility of creating and editing presentations on your Android or iOS device, you'll be glad to know that PowerPoint is free and available for offline use on your mobile phones. But — of course, there's a but — you can only access the free version if your device is under 10.1 inches. Anything bigger than that requires a premium subscription. If your phone fits the bill, then follow these steps to get free PowerPoint on your device:

• Install Microsoft PowerPoint from the App Store or Google Play Store .
• Log in using your existing Microsoft email or enter a new email address to create one if you don't already have an account.
• On the "Get Microsoft 365 Personal Plan" screen, press Skip For Now.
• If you're offered a free trial, select Try later (or enjoy the free 30-day trial if you're interested).
• To make a new presentation, tap the plus sign in the upper right corner.
• Change the "Create in" option from OneDrive - Personal to a folder on your device. This allows you to save the presentation to your local storage and make offline edits.
• Press "Set as default" to set your local folder as the default file storage location.
• Choose your template from the selection or use a blank presentation.
• Edit your presentation as needed.

Do note that PowerPoint mobile comes with some restrictions. There's no option to insert stock elements, change the slide size to a custom size, use the Designer feature, or display the presentation in Immersive Reader mode. However, you can use font styles considered premium on the web app.

Method #4: Use Your School Email Address

Office 365 Education is free for students and teachers, provided they have an email address from an eligible school. To check for your eligibility, here's what you need to do:

• Go to the Office 365 Education page .
• Type in your school email address in the empty text field.
• Press "Get Started."
• On the next screen, verify your eligibility. If you're eligible, you'll be asked to select whether you're a student or a teacher. If your school isn't recognized, however, you'll get a message telling you so.
• For those who are eligible, proceed with creating your Office 365 Education account. Make sure your school email can receive external mail, as Microsoft will send you a verification code for your account.
• Once you're done filling out the form, press "Start." This will open your Office 365 account page.

You can then start making your PowerPoint presentation using the web app. If your school's plan supports it, you can also install the Office 365 apps to your computer by clicking the "Install Office" button on your Office 365 account page and running the downloaded installation file. What sets the Office 365 Education account apart from the regular free account is that you have unlimited personal cloud storage and access to other Office apps like Word, Excel, and Outlook.

Read the original article on SlashGear .