Lesson Lab 7
The Power of PowerPointThis article is available in a full color PDF file. Open Here.
PowerPoint is a very robust piece of software designed to allow the end user to create wonderful presentations. Unfortunately, PowerPoint is a business tool. It can be very easy for pastors or multimedia volunteers to get intimidated by the numerous features inside PowerPoint. This lesson lab is designed to focus on the features a church can use to maximize the power of PowerPointfor sermons, praise time and announcements.
PowerPoint overview: PowerPoint is a Microsoft product, this means that any of the general techniques and shortcuts you know about other Microsoft products will probably apply to PowerPoint. Like most Microsoft products, PowerPoint uses a basic category system for organizing its features. The categories located at the top of the screen are: File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Slide Show, Window, and Help. Every feature you need for your sermon can be found in those categories. We will be covering the features that make up general sermon design. Lets start learning about PowerPoint.
FILE:
The file category offers you the ability to work with the filing system of your computer. This section is where you will open, save or start new files.
EDIT:
This section allows you to cut and paste information or find text within a slide. There are a number of shortcut keys for items in this category (see below).
VIEW:
This category allows you to view your sermon in a number of formats, from thumbnails to your completed presentation. Its a good idea to get to know each viewing style some work better than others for your purposes.
INSERT:
The Insert tab,offers you a number of the features that you will use often when building your sermons. Under the Insert tab, the three most important functions for you are listed below:
New Slide This will allow you to add a new slide. The new slide will duplicate the Master slide on the Master Template (we will discuss in another lesson).
Insert Slide From File This function allows you to insert one or all of the slides from an existing presentation. Simply click on the feature and browse to find an existing presentation. **Make sure to check the keep source formatted tab in this feature** Checking this tab allows the image to come in as it currently looks not formatted like the Master Slide.
Insert Picture This option will allow you to add pictures to your slides. Picture fi les work best in PowerPoint when they are either JPEG or PNG image files.
TOOLS:
The Tools menu is where you can spell check your slide and install Macros. Be sure to check out our powerful multi-image importer macro in the Extras folder on the Multimedia Starter Kit.
SLIDESHOW:
The Slideshow tab offers you a chance to see the entire presentation, and add animation or transitions. We suggest that you limit the use of transitions and animation. Use animation only when you want people to be watching the screen and not listening to the pastor. Transitions can be used a little more regularly, but still need to be handled wisely. If you are going to use transitions, we recommend keeping to the famous axiom less is more. Use one style throughout a presentation instead of a different transition every slide. Keep in mind that the goal is to enhance your message, not sell the latest widget. Other than the Help key, the remaining tabs offer few of the features that really apply to standard church sermons.
Below we have listed some shortcut keys that will help you speed up your design.
SHORTCUT KEYS: (Windows)
F5: Start the slide show
CTRL C: Copy function
CTRL V: Paste Function
CTRL M: Create a new slide
DEL: This will delete the entire slide highlighted in the thumbnail view
Get used to these shortcuts; they will save you a lot of time in the future. Finally, there are a few tools that can be reached by simply right clicking on an object. Generally, the two most important features are the Font and Order buttons. The Font feature allows you to modify all features of the font you are working with. The Order feature allows you to move images forward or backward against the background to allow everything to blend together. Keep in mind that PowerPoint offers different features when you right click on different objects. Take what you have learned from this simple introductory tutorial and experiment with building a presentation. Keep in mind, Oxygen CD-ROMs allow you to create an entire presentation template using their Presentation Design Center. This new feature will save you a lot of time when starting a presentation from scratch. We hope this information will help you improve the visual impact of your sermon, and further increase the strength of your ministry.
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