Powerpoint isn’t limited to the office….

Powerpoint has so many opportunities available, that it seems a waste to limit it to a business presentation.

Often we find it easier to practise a skill if we are using something we are familiar with, and something we can use at home, or in our “other life” outside work.

Here are some fun uses for Powerpoint, so it isn’t just for the office world:

Photo albums
I’ve seen some fun and poignant photo albums at family events, including weddings and birthdays.  Powerpoint has some easy to use, ready-made colourful templates that you can use to slot in your images, add narratives, sounds or special effects.  You can even add video clips.

Gallery of children’s art work
 If you are a parent your house can rapidly fill up with pictures from nursery or school.  If you’ve run out of noticeboard space, a good solution is to scan the images and make your child their very own gallery using the photo album template to suit.  And if you are old enough to remember, you could even add the tune to the gallery  in Take Hart…This saves wall space and you can share it online with grandparents, aunts, uncles….And it gives your child a real sense of pride in their own work.

Quizzes
School PTA quiz, pub quiz, kid’s party quiz, fundraising events or revision aid – quizzes are great fun to put together and use at events (and save your voice from repeating the question).  Powerpoint comes up trumps by giving you a template for this in the File Menu.

Using Powerpoint for some of the fun stuff makes it easier to get used to the program and what it can do.  It’s made more accessible as you can use templates to do the hard work of layout and formatting – and you can amend, adjust, and add your own colour scheme.

Give it a go…and if you want to take it to the a higher level, try one of our Microsoft Powerpoint training courses.  Learning with others in a new environment can give you the freedom to explore with the support you need to get the most out of your time. https://www.stl-training.co.uk/powerpoint-training-london.php

 

 

The Animations tab in Powerpoint 2007 and 2010

Animations can be used to apply to whole slides, or you can use customise animations that can be applied to bullet points.  This is an intermediate/advanced technique in Powerpoint.  As I am new to this and still at the experimental phase – this is about  familiarisation (instead of ignoring an entire tab because I don’t get what it does).

Animations are used to make transitions from one slide to another.  You can customise animations to maximise their impact.

The Animations tab on the Ribbon in Powerpoint 2007 and 2010, gives you lots of exciting options to apply to your bullet points.

Animations-tab-Ribbon-Powerpoint-Training-2007
the Animations tab in Powerpoint

You can use this tab to apply or amend new animations to items on the current slide, and add effects.  In the Animations tab, click on an object on the slide and the tab options will be available.

The main effects you’ll come across in animation are entrance, exit, motion paths and sound effects.  For example, when you have bullet points, you can decide how to animate the entrance to the slide, exit from the slide, and what you use to trigger the action.

To get the most out of animations, I find it easier to practise with someone who really gets how they work and when to use them.  So I do recommend our one day 2010 or PowerPoint 2007 training courses. (Be aware though that 2003 doesn’t have the animations functions at the level of 2007 or 2010). Have a look at what you can do at https://www.stl-training.co.uk/powerpoint-2007-advanced.php