Lesson 1: The Basics of PowerPoint
Why use PowerPoint over a slide projector and poster board? Who uses PowerPoint? These and other questions regarding the effective use of PowerPoint will be discussed in this first lesson.
Why use PowerPoint?
The purpose of this lesson is an introduction to PowerPoint and the reasons behind using PowerPoint versus older presentations methods such as slide projectors and poster boards.
The objectives in this lesson include:
1) Learn when and where PowerPoint can spice up your presentations.
2) Discuss PowerPoint books, help resources, and web links
3) Create a presentation using the AutoContent Wizard, Design Template, and a blank presentation
4) How to use the Office Assistant and online help features
5) Understand the different PowerPoint views and toolbars
6) How to open, close, and save a PowerPoint presentation
Common situations where PowerPoint comes to the rescue:
Situation #1: The Dull Department Meeting
You are sitting through another less-than-interesting department meeting. The verbose speaker drones on about company performance and goals for the coming months. He presents his data on hard-to-read overhead slides upon which he writes with a marker that smudges. The next speaker holds up a poster board of pie charts with pretty colors, however you think your child could make a more professional presentation.
In flies a third speaker with a PowerPoint presentation. She wows (and wakes up) the audience to eye-catching graphics and animation. The text is precise and directs her speech. Her speech is to the point, effective, and everyone leaves feeling that the departmental meeting wasn’t so bad after all.
Situation #2: School and Club Presentations
Your daughter has to give a presentation to her class about her semester report on the Civil War. Instead of just giving a speech to her class, PowerPoint allows her to show images of Civil War soldiers and even play music. She can also click on links to Internet Civil War resources that are sure to wow her classmates. Her teacher is highly impressed.
Just about any situation, by any person, that requires the transfer of information can be spiced up with PowerPoint. Whether the audience is an auditorium of 500 or your local Garden Club chapter, PowerPoint is for you!
The required reading for this lesson is Chapters 1 & 2 of “Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 Step by Step” book. We will refer to this course book as (Step by Step) from here on.
