MS Power Point – Introduction, Features

MS Office PowerPoint is a presentation software application that allows users in the preparation of professional,
high-impact, dynamic presentations. The building blocks of a PowerPoint presentation are slides. Slides, help to
focus on visuals as well along with the user. In this article, we will be discussing in detail the functions and
features of MS PowerPoint.

MS Power Point – Introduction

Given below are some of the important things that one must know about the development of Microsoft
PowerPoint:

 The program was developed by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin, in a software company named
Forethought, Inc.
 It was released on 20/04/1987, and after 3 months it was acquired by Microsoft.
 The first version when introduced by Microsoft was MS PowerPoint 2.0 which was released in 1990.
 It is a presentation-based application that uses images, videos, graphics, etc. to make a presentation more
attractive and interesting.
 The PowerPoint presentation is are saved as “.ppt”files.
 A PowerPoint presentation comprising slides and other attributes is also known as PPT.
Eventually, with every version, the program was more creative and more interactive. Various other features
were introduced in PowerPoint which significantly increased the requirement and use of this MS Office
program.

MS PowerPoint Practical Application

MS PowerPoint is used in various fields few of them are mentioned below:

 Business: Introduction of products, services, offerings ·

 Sales and Marketing Department: Sales and marketing materials are largely designed on PowerPoint. ·
 Finance Department: To display yearly projections and budgets. ·
 Data Presentation: One can generate create diagrams, derive graphs or charts with massive data. ·
 Stationary Material: One can create certificates, calendars
 Educational Slideshows: They may be used in classrooms for teaching purposes.
 Presentations: It could be used for any family functions like weddings, anniversaries, family reunions,
birthdays, etc.
Features of MS PowerPoint
Some of the features are discussed below:

PowerPoint Design Ideas

 It can be found in the “Design” tab in the PowerPoint Ribbon.

 You can choose the desired design for your PPT.

Animations
 MS PowerPoint animations helps you to emphasize certain points of your present

 There are primarily 3 categories of animations in PPT.

 Entrance Animation
 Emphasis Animation
 Exit Animations
 Each animation category gives you a list of additional options to choose from.
Slide Transitions
 While animation allows you to animate elements within your slide, transitions allow you to change how
slides change from one to another.
 This can have a remarkable impact on a slide’s first impressions.
 Some of the most important transitions are:
 Cut
 Reveal
 Shapes
 Uncover
 Wipe
Images
 There are two main ways of adding images.
 You could either add an image from your Personal Computer or you can embed an image from the
internet.
 Merge Shapes
 MS PPT allows you to merge shapes. This is because you might not always have the exact shape that
you are looking for.
 Videos
 Videos can be easily added from the storage on your Personal Computer.

 Videos can also be selected from the internet.

Icons
 With the feature to add icons into your presentations, it just gives you some freedom to add a personal
touch to the presentation.
PowerPoint Notes for Presentation
 Note features help you remember what to say for each slide which is a great way to stay on topic.

 Your presentation can be made in such a way that the notes do not appear on the slides but they still
appear on your PC or Mac.
Morph Transition
 By using Morph Transition, you can make elements move between slides giving a video like feel to your
PPT!
Charts
 Charts are used in presentations to illustrate data in an easy-to-understand way for your audience.
 Charts can be linked to external data sources or even excel sheets.
 The charts also easily getup dated automatically in PPT when the data is edited in excel.
Removing Background from Images
 With Microsoft PowerPoint, you can remove a background from your image

Video Editing (Basic)

 It allows you to trim, cut portions of a video out, and even add

 It works as a basic video editor.

Export PowerPoint as Video
 The entire presentation can be exported as videos in Microsoft PowerPoint.

Add Audio Narration

 MS PowerPoint allows you to add audio narration to your presentation.

Adding Comments to Slides

 Comment feature is more relevant to the person who reviews a presentation rather than the person who
creates it.