About This Book

PowerPoint was never exactly known for its wonderful documentation. And while the whole point of PowerPoint 2007's radical interface overhaul was to make the program easier to use, "easier" doesn't mean you're going be able to sit down with the new program and bat out a presentation without some help. Fortunately, there is help—and you're holding it in your hands.

This is the book that should have come in the PowerPoint box. It explains all the ribbons and options and shows you step-by-step how to create slideshow from scratch. You'll learn tips and shortcuts for making PowerPoint easier to work with, as well as guidelines for making your slideshows support your presentation (as opposed to letting it take over your presentation).

PowerPoint 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual is designed for readers just starting out with presentations. If PowerPoint 2007 is the first presentation program you've ever used, you'll be able to dive right in using the explanations and examples in this book.

About the Outline

PowerPoint 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual is divided into three parts, each containing several chapters:

  • Part 1: Creating Slideshowsguides you through the creation of your very first slideshow in PowerPoint 2007, from adding and editing text, basic charts, diagrams, and tables, to reordering slides and creating reusable slide masters.

  • Part 2: Delivering Slideshowsoutlines your options for getting your slideshow in front of your audience. You'll see how to run presentations onscreen and on an overhead projector, and package them up for email or CD. You'll also learn everything you need to know about printing slides, speaker notes, and handouts.

  • Part 3: Beyond Bullet Points—Graphics and Transitionsshows you how to add pictures, spreadsheets, sound and video clips, and macros to your slides to create compelling, audience-controlled presentations. You'll learn how to draw on your slides, record voice-over narration, add professional-looking slide transitions, and more.

At the end of the book, an appendix explains how to find your way around PowerPoint's built-in and online help pages. It also shows you how to get assistance from a vast online community of fans and experts.

About → These → Arrows

Both throughout this book specifically and the Missing Manual series as a whole, you'll find sentences like, "Click Start → All Programs → Microsoft Office → Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007." Consider this shorthand to save you lots of extra words to describe how to get there—to a specific file or program or feature—from where you are. Otherwise, you'd have to read through, "Click on this button, and then choose this menu, then scan through the options on this sub-menu to find this which helps you get to this place over there." You've got better things to do with your time than read all those extra words—like putting together the next Great American presentation.

PowerPoint Examples

As you read the book's chapters, you'll encounter a number of step-by-step tutorials. You can work through them using any PowerPoint document of your own, or just begin a new PowerPoint document and start fresh.

About MissingManuals.com

At the missingmanuals.com Web site, you'll find articles, tips, and updates to this book. In fact, you're invited and encouraged to submit such corrections and updates yourself. In an effort to keep the book as up-to-date and accurate as possible, each time we print more copies of this book, we'll make any confirmed corrections you've suggested. We'll also note such changes on the Web site, so that you can mark important corrections into your own copy of the book, if you like. (Click the book's name, and then click the Errata link, to see the changes.)

In the meantime, we'd love to hear your own suggestions for new books in the Missing Manual line. There's a place for that on the Web site, too, as well as a place to sign up for free email notification of new titles in the series.

Safari® Enabled

When you see a Safari® Enabled icon on the cover of your favorite technology book, that means the book is available online through the O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf.

Safari offers a solution that's better than e-books. It's a virtual library that lets you easily search thousands of top tech books, cut and paste code samples, download chapters, and find quick answers when you need the most accurate, current information. Try it for free at http://safari.oreilly.com.

Get PowerPoint 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.