How to Create a New PowerPoint Document

PowerPoint is a powerful presentation graphics application. You can use it to create on-screen slide shows, produce handouts for your audience, and organize a presentation with speaker notes.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Microsoft Powerpoint

1. Open PowerPoint.

2. In the box that appears, select either the AutoContent wizard, which will walk you through the process of creating a PowerPoint presentation; Blank Presentation to create your own presentation from scratch; or Template. You can also open existing presentations from this window.

3. If you chose the wizard, follow the instructions to create your presentation.

4. If you chose Template, select a template from the list that appears. A preview of the template appears to the right of the list. Click OK when you've selected the template you want.

5. If you chose Blank Presentation or Template, select a layout for your first slide, then click OK.

Tips & Warnings

• If the new template box doesn't open when you open PowerPoint, select New from the File menu. In the box that appears, click the Wizard or Blank Presentation icons or click the Presentation Designs or Presentations tabs to select a template.
• The templates provide a basic background design for your slides. The layout adds other elements - headlines, a bulleted list, a chart and so on - to the template background or blank slide.
• When you choose a layout, it applies only to the first slide. Whenever you add a new slide, you'll be able to pick a new layout for that slide.