Introduction - Guidance provided within this section covers the basic techniques which should be used irrespective of the learning environment the presentation is designed for.

General Slide Content - A presentation slide can only contain a certain amount of information. This section covers the size and style of material that should be contained on a single slide.
Slide Layout Design - Built into the slide options are a number of text and content designs for slides. These designs when utilised appropriately will enable a presentation to be exported to a number of different formats, eg Microsoft® Word, while retaining all the textual information.
Appropriate Background Colours - It is important to consider the environment in which a presentation will be delivered as this will affect which background colour will provide adequate contrast to the text. This section explores the issues of text background colour.
Appropriate Text Colour - In a similar way to the importance of background colour, this section describes the best way of amending the colour within all text sections of a document.
Use of the Notes Field - The Notes Field is one of the most important and under utilised sections of a Microsoft® PowerPoint. This section discusses the appropriate use and application of the notes field.

Creating Interactivity and Multimedia Content within Microsoft® PowerPoint

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Introduction - This section contains information on the interactivities which can be added to a presentation. Information covers the use of hyperlinks, text boxes, action settings and the creation and insertion of audio and video content.

Use of Hyperlinks - There are a number of methods available to hyperlink to other material within a Microsoft® PowerPoint presentation.
Use of Hyperlinks: Linking to a Web Page - Using hyperlinks to link to a web page
Use of Hyperlinks: Linking Internally - Using hyperlinks to link within a presentation
Use of Hyperlinks: Linking to Documents - Using hyperlinks to link to documents
Use of Screen Tips - Hyperlinks can be used in conjunction with screen tips to provide additional pop-up information about the target material. It is also to use screen tips over images to give context-specific information on different parts of the image.
Using Text Boxes - Text boxes enable the user to insert textual comments into a presentation while it is being shown in the slide show mode. This can be excellent for engaging the audience and noting comments directly.
Audio within PowerPoint - Within Microsoft® PowerPoint it is possible to insert audio files and assign audio clips to objects or images. Audio files have a variety of uses for example exemplifying content without overcrowding the slide with excessive textual content. As with the use of all audio, the possible accessibility barriers should be carefully considered.
Video within PowerPoint - Within a PowerPoint slide it is possible to embed a video within a slide and have the video play while the presentation is in slide show mode. This saves any visual content having to be played through another player, but does significantly increase the file size of the document.

Creating Transitions and Animations within Microsoft® PowerPoint

Introduction - Custom animation schemes can be used to great effect within a presentation to exemplify a concept or sequentially provide information for the learners. This section provides guidance on how to effectively and appropriately utilise transitions and animations.

Slide Transition - This section will examine the use of automated slide advancement, enabling a presentation to be viewed without presenter input.
Use of PowerPoint Animate Content - Microsoft® PowerPoint can be used as a tool to display text and images in a pre-determined order. There are three major ways of animating text and image content.
Sequential Display of Text - Microsoft ® PowerPoint can be used as a tool to display text line by line, ensuring information is portrayed in small chunks.
Graphical Animation on a Series of Slides - When creating an animation, each stage of the graphic or text can be displayed on a separate slide, building the concept with each slide. This is the most effective way of creating an animation if the presentation is designed to be printed.
Customising Animation on a Single Slide - With this method a single slide is used and material displayed and removed one after another. This option has its benefits when a file is viewed online with a slow connection speed as the file size is significantly reduced.

All references to Windows, Office, Word, PowerPoint and Excel are references to the Microsoft^® products of the same name.

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