Dedicated computer
If you give numerous presentations to small groups using your laptop computer, give them the illusion that your computer is used only for this purpose. Create a single desktop folder and put all of your presentation shortcuts in that folder. Save all of the PowerPoint files as PowerPoint Show (.pps) files. Then, place a shortcut to the folder in Startup and set it to maximum size, filling the entire screen. When you start the computer, the open folder appears. All you have to do is click the file you want, and the show starts at this point. To have your folder open to full-screen size, right-click Start. When the Start Menu window opens, double-click Programs and StartUp. Use the right mouse button to drag your desktop presentation folder to the StartUp folder. Now right-click the shortcut in StartUp and choose Properties. When the dialog box opens, click the Shortcut tab and then click the arrow at the right side of the Run list box. When the list expands, select Maximized and then click OK to close the dialog box and save your settings. Finally, hold down Shift and click the StartUp folder Close box to close all the open folders. 

Ways to run PowerPoint
You can run a PowerPoint slide show without opening the PowerPoint editing view by locating the slide show file, right-clicking its icon, and then choosing Show. Here's a different way to start a show without going through the editing view. By default, PowerPoint slide shows have the extension .ppt; but, if you want your shows to open and run automatically, you can change the extension to .pps. This is especially helpful, for example, when you want to e-mail a show to someone who isn't very familiar with PowerPoint. All they have to do is double-click the file to run the show. To do this, click Windows Explorer and locate your file. Right-click the icon and choose Rename. When the name highlights, just press Backspace once at the end of the name and type s where the last letter was, changing the extension to .pps. When you press Enter, you'll get a dialog box asking if you really want to change the extension. Click Yes to continue.

As an alternative for opening your presentation, you can swing right into a seamless presentation at the touch of a button. Run Windows Explorer and locate your slide show file. Right-click the icon and choose Show. PowerPoint opens and runs your slide show. When the show finishes, PowerPoint closes. Your audience never sees the PowerPoint working window. If you don't want your audience to see you running Explorer, place a shortcut to the file on your desktop. Then, when you're ready to start the show, right-click the shortcut and choose Show. 

Wizards and Templates
When creating a new PowerPoint slide show, you can use a wizard or a template. A wizard consists of a series of dialog boxes that ask what elements you want to use in your slide show. To use the wizard, run PowerPoint and select the radio button labeled AutoContent Wizard. Simply click Next, then answer the questions, and keep clicking Next until you have answered all of them. If PowerPoint is already running and you would like to use the wizard, choose File, New. When the New Presentation dialog box opens, click the Presentations tab. Double-click AutoContent Wizard to close the dialog box and start the wizard.

Templates are slide shows that have already been set up and designed.  They allow you to make any modifications needed to create your show. To use a template, run PowerPoint and select the Template radio button. Click OK and choose the template that best suits you. If you don't see a suitable one in the Presentations Design area, click the Presentations tab and look through those templates. If PowerPoint is already running, you can choose File, New. When the New Presentation dialog box opens, click the Presentation Design tab. There is no reason to consider one method over the other. If you don’t use either the wizard or template, you can start with a blank slide and develop your show from scratch. 

Slide Master
Slide Master is a special slide. Anything you place on it will appear on all the slides in a slide show. If you would like to place some action buttons in every slide for navigation for Next Slide and another for Previous Slide, choose View, Master, Slide Master, or hold down the Shift key and click the Slide View button. When Slide Master opens, choose Slide Show, Action Buttons and select the Next button. Use the mouse to draw, place, and size your new button. When the Actions Settings dialog box opens, click OK to close it and use the default settings. Now repeat this procedure to place the Previous action button. You'll see a floating toolbar labeled Master on your screen. Click Close to return to your slide show. The two buttons you placed in Slide Master will appear on each slide in the show, as well as on any new slides. 

Imported slides
When you set the background on the Master slide and then import a slide from another show, the imported slide takes on the new background. However, if you first open the source slide show and set the background on the slide you want to import, then it will retain its background. For a demonstration, run PowerPoint and open a blank slide. Now, choose Insert, Picture, ClipArt and insert a picture onto the slide. Next, choose Format, Background and select a background. Click Apply to close the dialog box and apply the background to the current slide. Choose File, Save As and name the file. Click Save, and choose File, Close to close the new file. Create another slide show that will import the slide from the first show. Open a blank slide and repeat the aforementioned procedure. Insert your new ClipArt picture and then choose View, Master, Slide Master. This time select a background different from the one you chose for the other show and click Apply To All to close the dialog box and apply the background. Now create a second slide. Press Ctrl-M and Enter and the new slide will appear with the master background. Click Browse, locate the file you just created, double-click it to close the dialog box, and select the file. Next, click Display to view the slide. Double-click the slide to insert it into your current slide show, click Close to close another ClipArt picture, and save your file. Finally, choose Insert, Slides From File. When the Slide Finder dialog box opens, click the Slide Finder. The slide will appear with its original background.

Navigating a slide show
During your presentation you may be called upon to show a slide out of the slideshow order. You can go directly to any slide during your slide show as long as you know which slide has the sought data. The best way to do this is to make sure you know what material is associated with each slide's title. To move to another slide during a presentation, right-click the screen and choose Go, By Title, YourTitle. PowerPoint immediately goes to the requested slide. To return to the slide show, choose Go, By Title again and select your original slide. 

Airplane animation
To create an ascending or descending airplane in a PowerPoint slide, rotate the nose of the plane up or down as you drag copies away to create the impression that it is taking off or landing. To create the show, locate a small plane in ClipArt and insert it onto the slide. Set its animation to Crawl From Left. Next, hold down Ctrl and drag away a copy of the plane. With the copy still selected, choose Draw, Ungroup. Then choose Draw, Group. These steps will allow you to rotate the plane. Now, right-click it and choose Custom Animation. When the dialog box opens, click the Effects tab and choose Flash Once, Fast from the list. Click the Timing tab and select the Animate and Automatically check boxes. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply your changes. Once you've set the animation, continue to drag away copies of the second plane. The idea is to drag as many copies as you need to produce smooth motion. As you drag away each new copy, select Rotate and rotate the plane to point more vertically. By dragging away each copy, you don't need to set the animation for each one. This technique does cause a little bit of jerkiness to the downward or upward motion. 

Blank screen
If you want a blank screen to pause your slide show presentation while discussing its key points with your audience, press B on the keyboard. The case for this letter can be upper or lower. PowerPoint will display a completely black screen. To display the slide again, press any key. You can use the same method to pause Freelance Graphics slide shows by pressing B.

Bullet sizes
If you need to change the bullet size in a PowerPoint list, right-click the bulleted list and choose Bullets And Numbering. When the Bullets And Numbering dialog box opens, use the Size spin box to set the bullet size relative to the font size. When you finish, click OK to close the dialog box and apply your changes. 

Colored picture blocks
To place a ClipArt picture inside a colored box, run PowerPoint and open a blank slide. Choose Insert, Picture, ClipArt and double-click the picture you would like to use. Now, right-click the picture and choose Format Picture. When the Format Picture dialog box opens, click the Colors And Lines tab. Under Fill, click the arrow at the right side of the Color list box. When the list opens, select the preferred color, and then click OK to close the dialog box and apply your color selection. 

Summary
In preparing visual presentations, you need to decide whether the text on a slide is more important than the graphics. In all Western languages, people read from left to right, so putting text on the left side of a slide gives it more importance. For example, if you want to show a bulleted list next to a picture, place the text to the left of the picture. On the other hand, if the picture is the most important information on the slide, place it on the left with the text on the right. The same thing is true of titles and pictures. It's usually a bad idea to place any pictures ahead of the title. People also read from top to bottom. There is some data from studies indicating that people tend to look at the upper left of a slide first unless some large or colorful object focuses attention elsewhere.