Announcements

Hey!

You really need to check out all the stuff in the WorldStart Bargain Bin! I was sorting through it yesterday and there are tons of great deals and lots of new stuff.

Again, everything on the Bargain Bin page is $3.97- $7.97 and shipping is FREE! See why they call it the Bargain Bin?

Anyhow, take a look for yourself and happy shopping!

http://www.worldstart.com/cgi-bin/a.pl?wrdstart&1036&store/bargainbin.htm

Oh, check out the new titles section too. Lots of really great deals there as well:

http://www.worldstart.com/cgi-bin/a.pl?wrdstart&1036&store/newtitles.htm

PS - Buy 2 or more titles from our online store and get a FREE WorldStart flashlight keychain. These are really cool, I have one on my keyring and it's comes in handy when it's too dark to get the key to the keyhole. It's yours FREE with any purchase, but only while supplies last (figure a few days or so).

MS Office 101

Question: What is MS PowerPoint?

MS PowerPoint is a program in which people create presentations. Each presentation is made up of many different pages, known as slides.

So, in short, it's a slide show to present your information. The cool part about this slide show is that it isn't just Aunt Emma's pictures from vacation. A PowerPoint slide show can contain pictures, text, spreadsheets, graphics, visual effects, sound effects, etc… The combinations are endless.

As a teacher I've used this program many times, including presentations for specific classroom topics and looped presentations that are running during parent-teacher conferences to display important information for parents.

The program is also used by many teachers as a way for students to present their research information to an entire class. (Of course this requires some sort of projection device, connection to a TV, or large computer monitor designed for displaying information to an entire room.)

Virtually all of the professional development conferences I've attended have speakers who use PowerPoint (or similar software) to present their information. I also have friends with corporate jobs that constantly use PowerPoint presentations to display the information they need to convey at meetings.

I think one of the best features of a PowerPoint presentation is the ability to print handouts for the audience. The handouts contain a small picture of the slide and a space to take notes. Handouts are great when you really want your audience to have something that reminds them of exactly what you said.

As you can see there are as many ways to use this program as you can create. Let the creating begin.

Office Tip of the Day

Basic Beginnings for a PowerPoint Presentation

MS PowerPoint is a program that really needs to be experienced to truly understand, but we all need a place to start. So let's begin at the beginning.

When you first open MS PowerPoint you will be presented with several choices.

• Use the AutoContent Wizard.
• Use the Design Templates.
• Start a Blank Presentation.
• Open an Existing Presentation.

These four options are probably where we should spend our time today. (Our true PowerPoint novices will need to know how to do this to keep up with other tips.)

The AutoContent Wizard is a program that walks you through the steps of creating a presentation. It has you select the purpose of your presentation then allows you to input your content. When you finish with the wizard you will have a nearly complete presentation. You'll probably want to tweak it here and there, but this option can save you the trouble of building a presentation from the ground up. (I'd like one of these for life - pick a project, answer a few questions, input some content and wham - the job is done! I WISH!)

Using the Design Templates is a pretty neat thing too (if you have this installed). This is a selection of presentation templates where the background and possibly the framework is setup and you have to enter the content. These are really interesting and eye-catching backgrounds. Templates can really help you to produce a truly professional looking presentation with a minimum time investment into the color and design scheme issues.

When you choose the Design Templates choice, you will be taken to a window where you can preview and choose which template you wish to use. You're looking for one that is both eye-catching and appropriate to your topic.

If you choose something from the Presentation Designs tab you are simply choosing the background design for the presentation.

If you choose something from the Presentations tab you will get the background design and suggested content for the theme you chose. It is important on this tab to read the name of the presentation you choose, the title gives a clue as to what content suggestions will be found in the template.

Should you choose the Start a Blank Presentation option you will be faced with an immediate decision about the set-up of the first slide. Once you've chosen a slide type you will get a plain white slide with text boxes, titles or whatever you chose to have on the slide. You will then need to insert your content. Should you want background colors and designs they will have to be built from scratch. This can be a good thing, you have an opportunity to be really innovative and original.

Finally, you have a choice to open an existing presentation. This is for working on something you've already begun and need to finish or edit.

After you're begun a presentation you will need to enter your content and jazz it up with color, graphics and sound. Keep in mind that this is for display so be careful not to put too much on a slide (especially text). Use a new slide when you switch focus.

You'll find that the menus are similar to those in Excel and Word. When you're looking to insert something, like a new slide, go to the Insert menu, etc… (There are other ways to do some of this stuff, but if you can't find it, go to the menus.)

To move from one slide to another use the little up and down arrows under the right side scroll bar.

Once you've created several slides you can see how your slide show is shaping up by going to the Slide Show menu, View Show choice. Your entire monitor will display the slides without editing tools or menus. To advance slides simply click. When you complete the show it will automatically take you back to the Slide view where you can edit slides as needed. (If you want to exit the show early just hit the escape key.)

As I stated before, MS PowerPoint is really a program you need to experience and play with to understand. You should probably approach this program with a simple topic in mind and then play with what's available.

Now that we've introduced our novice users to MS PowerPoint we will be able to cover more specific and interesting ideas. Get your creative engines revving.