Section outline

  • CREATING AN ELECTRONIC PRESENTATION USING POWERPOINT

    There are many different digital applications that are designed to produce presentations. Applications can be hosted in a variety of ways, such as cloud-based, web-based, server or desktop installed. Some examples include: Prezi, Google Slides, SlideDog, Keynote and Microsoft PowerPoint.

    This activity uses Microsoft PowerPoint as the recommended application, therefore, some language and descriptions used in the activity will be specific to PowerPoint. However, you can use the application of your choice and transfer the skills and steps required to complete this activity over to your chosen application.
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      TASK ONE

      Read through the scenario below, then work step-by-step through the tasks listed to discover the functions and features of your chosen electronic presentation application.

      Scenario:
      You are employed as the Social Media Assistant at Go! Travel. You have been asked to create a presentation on the culture of surfing in Australia.

      In PowerPoint (or your chosen application), spend five minutes exploring the top ribbon, which includes different tabs that have their own unique panels/groups within. This will help establish an overview of the features and functions available to you. You must save your presentation at the completion of every task. To do this, select the 'File' tab from the top ribbon, then click 'Save As' and save to an appropriate destination on your device.

      Create and edit a title slide:
      1. Open a new/blank presentation.
      2. Here, a blank slide will appear - this will be your title slide. Using this slide, continue the following steps.
      3. Add the title “Australia’s Surf Culture” and subtitle “An Overview” to the slide.
      4. Add your name to the slide.
      5. Try moving the placeholders and resizing them to where you would like them to appear.
      6. Try changing the font type (e.g. Calibri, Arial) and size.
      7. Try different font colours - both lighter and darker colours.
      8. Try applying different combinations of other attributes such as bold and underline.
      9. Try adding speaker notes to your presentation. Click 'Notes' at the bottom-right corner of the PowerPoint page. These notes can be hidden from an audience and used by a deliverer when presenting a slide deck.
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      TASK TWO

      Now that you have your title slide, it is time to play around with the background effects to see how this influences readability. If needed, change the font colour to ensure there is a contrast in colours. Remember to walk about two metres away from your laptop/computer screen to test the readability from a distance.

      Adjust slide effects:
      1. Hover your cursor over the slide and right-click. From this menu, click 'Format Background' to open a menu with various formatting options.
      2. Try different solid and gradient fills.
      3. Try different texture fills.
      4. Try different patterns fills.
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      TASK THREE

      Now, change the colour scheme and design theme to see how this influences readability. It is important to ensure the colour scheme aligns with the style guide within your organisation. For example, Go! Travel requires all employees to abide by the style guide within the Go! Travel Policies and Procedures Manual when creating electronic presentations. When editing the colour scheme, remember to walk about two metres away from your screen to test the readability.

      Adjust the colour scheme and design theme:
      1. Click on the 'Design' tab. Then, from the 'Variants' panel, click the downward arrow and select 'Colours' - a menu will appear. Click on 'Customise Colours' and then make changes to your customised theme in this menu.
      2. Create a new colour scheme according to your preferences, and name it 'Surfing Life'.
      3. Change the design theme to see the effect on readability and overall professionalism. Try a few different themes. To do this, click the 'Design' tab in the top ribbon to select from various options.
      4. Apply your created colour scheme to your presentation. A simple way to do this is to change the colour of any text.
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      TASK FOUR

      You are now ready to add two more pages to your presentation. These slides should be inserted after the title slide, as the title slide should always come first in a presentation.

      For the first slide:
      1. Select 'Home' then click the dropdown menu from 'New Slide' to see the options. Select the slide layout called ‘Title and Content’.
      2. Add the title “Australia’s Surf Culture”.
      3.

      Add dot points in the text placeholder:

      • Numerous world class surf beaches
      • A strongly supported sport
      • Surf beaches close to major Australian cities

      For the second slide:
      1. Select 'Home' then click the dropdown menu from 'New Slide' to see the options. Select the slide layout called ‘Two Content’.
      2. Add the title “Australia’s Surf Culture”.
      3.

      Add dot points in the left-side content placeholder:

      • Famous surfing champions are from Australia
      • Major surf clothing brands and designs from Australia
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      TASK FIVE

      Presentations can greatly benefit from including images, provided they are appropriate and complement the text. Images are included to create visual interest, and can be used to capture information (i.e. infographics), evoke emotion or intrigue viewers. Always ensure that the images you use are appropriate to the content, suit the audience, and are free to use (you must abide by copyright laws).

      Change the background image on your title slide only:

      1. Hover your cursor over the slide and right-click. A menu will appear. Click on 'Format background' and select 'Picture or texture fill'. Form here, you can insert a background image of your choice.
      2. Find 2-3 images online that would be suitable for your title slide.
      3. Try adding the different images to your title slide to see how it affects the readability.
      4. Select your preferred background image, then make any changes needed to the text to improve the readability.

      Add additional images to your slides:

      1. Find 2-3 images that are relevant to your topic online. Select different styles such as cartoon, photograph, colours and black and white.
      2. Try adding the different images to your slides to see how it transforms the slides.

      Select your preferred images, then try different formatting options including:

      1. Finding the optimal position to fit the images in with the text.
      2. Using the handles on the image, see how it looks if you resize it. To do this, drag from the corners to maintain the correct proportions of the image.
      3. Try applying different effects to the image, such as colour and artistic effects.
      4. Try adding different border styles to your images.
      5. Try adding different pre-set frames to your images.
      6. Try adding different shape effects to your images.
      7. If your images have excess edges or only part of the image is wanted, try cropping the picture to only the part you wish to keep.
      8. Now that you have tried a variety of effects and formatting styles on your images, add the ones you want to keep to your slides and format them accordingly. You may want to move your text elements around to fit in with your image positioning.
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      TASK SIX

      Shapes are graphics in Microsoft PowerPoint that can be used to add interest to any presentation, emphasise a point, or create custom graphics to suit your audience and content. You may wish to use suitable shapes to highlight information anywhere on a slide. For example, a long rectangle shape would be suited to convey a brief statistic at the bottom of a slide to highlight an interesting fact about the slide content.

      Add a shape to the first slide you created from Task Five:

      1. Click the 'Insert' tab, then select the 'Shapes' option. Select a shape from the ‘rectangles' section.
      2. Click on the shape you just added. This will open the 'Shape Format' tab.
      3. Adjust the size of the shape for the best fit on the slide.
      4. Add the text “Surf’s up!” to your shape.
      5. Try changing the fill colour to solid, gradient, texture, pattern and no fill.
      6. Try changing the outline of the shape to a different colour, weight (border thickness) and solid line to dashes.
      7. Try applying different types of shape effects such as shadow, reflection, glow, soft edges, bevel and 3-D rotation.

      Now add a circle shape to the second slide you created from Task Five:

      1. “Everybody’s surfing now!” to the circle shape.
      2. Add an effect to the shape to make it stand out.
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      TASK SEVEN

      Tables can help you to display detailed information, such as numerical data. Tables of any size can be easily created in PowerPoint, allowing you to visually display information. The height and width of each column and row can be adjusted to visually suit the information and allow the table to effectively fit on a slide. After creating a table, you can easily add more columns and rows as you wish.

      Insert a table to convey relevant data:  
      1. Insert a new ‘Title and Content’ slide to the end of your presentation (it will be slide 4).
      NOTE: If you need help remembering this step, see step 1 in Task Four.
      2. Add the title “Australia’s Surf Beaches and Clubs”.
      3. Click the 'Insert' tab, then select 'Table' and 'Insert Table'.
      4. Insert a table on your slide. Select 3 columns and 6 rows.
      5. Add the following column headings: State, Surf Beaches, Surf Clubs.
      6. Add the following row headings: VIC, NSW, QLD, SA, WA.
      7. Add the following data:
      - VIC Beaches 16, Clubs 9
      - NSW Beaches 23, Clubs 15
      - QLD Beaches 19, Clubs 7
      - SA Beaches 14, Clubs 5
      - WA Beaches 12, Clubs 6
      8. Resize the table to best fit on your slide.
      9. Resize the columns and rows as needed to ensure all data is visible and legible.
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      TASK EIGHT

      Graphs and charts are an excellent way to display comparative data, or complex numerical data. Graphs and charts also add visual interest for your audience - allowing them to see and understand the data visually. There are many types of graphs and charts, so it is important to choose the style that effectively supports your data.

      Insert a chart to display the surf club data:   
      1. Insert a new ‘Title and Content’ slide to the end of your presentation (it will be slide 5).
      NOTE: If you need help remembering this step, see step 1 in Task Four.
      2. Add the title “Australia's Surf Beaches and Clubs”.
      3. To insert a chart, click the 'Insert' tab and then select 'Chart'.
      4. Insert a chart on your slide. See the data table below to help you decide which type of chart would be best suited.
      5.

      Use the following data for your chart:
      6. Click the chart and select 'Change Chart Type' to open a pop-up box with chart options. Try changing the chart to different styles such as pie, bar, line, waterfall.

      NOTE: Not all chart types will be suitable for the date you want to display. Select the chart type you think best represents the data.
      7. Add a 3D look to your chosen chart.
      8. Add a border to your chart using a colour and style consistent with your presentation.
      9. Resize the chart to best fit on your slide.
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      TASK NINE

      Animation can be used to great effect in a slide deck, to draw the audience's attention to specific information. Animation should be used carefully, and should not be overused. Sound effects and transitions can also be used to visually enhance a presentation. To add an animation, click the 'Animations' tab from the top ribbon.

      Bring your presentation to life through transitions, sound, animation and linking:    
      1. Add transitions to your slides. To do this, click the 'Transitions' tab from the top ribbon and select from the various options.
      2. Try different options to see the effect. Be sure to check the effect on the previous slide as well.
      3. Add a sound effect to the slide transition and set an appropriate duration for the sound. The 'Sound' dropdown menu is within the 'Transitions' tab in the 'Timing' panel.
      4. Add an animation of your choice to the chart on slide 5. To do this, click the 'Animations' tab in the top ribbon and select from the various options.
      5.

      Add a hyperlink to slide 2, using the “surf beaches” text from the first dot point “Numerous world class surf beaches”. Create a link to a website for your favourite beach. If you don’t have access to the internet, you can link to a document instead. To create a hyperlink, select the text you want to link and right-click, then select 'Link' to open a menu with the linking options.
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      TASK TEN

      Finalise your presentation and save it to the appropriate folder/destination on your device.
      Important: For this Activity tab, you are not required to upload your completed presentation.