Microsoft PowerPoint 2021/365 for Absolute Beginners

Explore the PowerPoint 2021 interface—from the start screen and backstage area to the ribbons, slides pane, and status bar—featuring templates, pinned recent presentations, and quick access toolbar.

Customize the quick access toolbar in PowerPoint to quickly access frequent commands, add or remove items, and adjust its position above or below the ribbon.

Learn the fundamentals of opening, closing, and saving PowerPoint presentations using the file tab and keyboard shortcuts, and manage new and existing files with save and save as.

Discover how to find and customize PowerPoint templates, edit text and images, and save reusable templates to the custom office templates folder for quick access.

Access PowerPoint options from the file tab to customize general, proofing, and advanced settings. Enable features like live preview, screen tips, and auto recover, and manage language and accessibility options.

Configure quick access toolbar under ribbon with bold, slideshow commands, and separators; load financial pitch deck template, edit title and author, save as my pitch deck.potx in default templates folder.

Explore slide layouts and placeholders, switch between title, title and content, or blank layouts, and add new slides by choosing a layout to place text, bullets, tables, or images.

Learn to add, arrange, and duplicate slides in PowerPoint 2021/365, organize sections, and master quick shortcuts for efficient slide management, layout changes, and resets.

Import slides from other presentations using copy-paste with destination theme or keep source formatting, then reuse slides from another file for quick, consistent PowerPoint imports.

Import slides from a Word outline to quickly create PowerPoint slides with title and text layouts. Then replace fonts from Times New Roman to Lato for a cohesive look.

Learn to customize slide backgrounds and apply themes in PowerPoint, using solid, gradient, picture, and texture fills, and apply changes to selected slides or the whole presentation.

Create a blank PowerPoint, add a title, a comparison slide, a two content slide, and duplicate the blank slide, then insert corporate_training.jpg with placeholders, apply the IOM theme, and save.

Create a title slide in a blank PowerPoint by inserting a background image from pexels and using crop and fill to perfectly fill the slide without distortion.

Learn to enhance slide readability by applying a transparent shape overlay over a background image in PowerPoint, using shape fill, transparency, and formatting options to keep text legible.

Learn to insert and format shapes in PowerPoint, lock aspect ratios with shift, edit shapes into other forms, resize and rotate, and apply fills, outlines, effects, and text.

Lock drawing mode to continuously draw shapes from the insert shapes library, and set a default shape to ensure consistent formatting and branding.

Explore merging shapes in PowerPoint to create new shapes, remove overlaps, and design text effects using union, combine, fragment, intersect, and subtract, with z-order and alignment tips.

Insert a circular logo on the title slide and fill the circle with the logo using the picture fill technique. Crop and center the image, then remove outlines.

Add a title and subtitle on the slide using latino black and lasso, center them in a full-width text box, and subtly apply a background count slot script word.

Use the eyedropper tool in PowerPoint to sample colors from the slide and apply them to text and shapes. Maintain a limited, branding-aligned color palette for a cohesive presentation.

Practice creating a Jupiter Space title slide in PowerPoint 2021/365, using a background image, transparent overlay, Roboto Slab fonts, a blue accent, and saving as Jupiter_space.pptx.

Learn to select, align, and group objects in PowerPoint with practical techniques such as multiple selection, click-and-drag, keyboard modifiers, and using the selection pane for complex slides.

Learn to use PowerPoint's selection pane to rename slide objects, arrange their z-order, and move items forward, backward, or to the back, for easier editing.

Master aligning and distributing objects in PowerPoint, group and ungroup for centered slides, and use smart guides, grid lines, and rulers to ensure precise placement.

Practice selecting, aligning, and grouping four colored rounded rectangles on a blank slide, rename objects in the selection pane, and ensure center alignment with equal spacing.

Duplicate slide one and modify the background, text, and heading to create a meet the team slide. Use the selection pane and crop and fill to align elements precisely.

Learn how to fill circular shapes with team member images in PowerPoint 2021/365, using crop and fill, borders, and alignment techniques to create a polished slide.

Copy formatting across PowerPoint and other Microsoft apps with the format painter; double-click to apply to multiple items, but it may copy unintended effects, requiring manual adjustments.

Learn to create and customize bullets, numbering, and paragraph text in PowerPoint. Use the home ribbon paragraph group to adjust bullets, icons, colors, alignment, columns, and line spacing.

Explore how to use the morph transition in PowerPoint 2021/365 to create smooth, animated slide changes, using the meet the team example with duplicated slides and resized elements.

Delete the previous exercise slide, insert a new blank slide, and build a meet the team slide using the exercise files, background image, blue borders, and rounded rectangle profiles.

Learn to create a single image across multiple shapes by merging parallelograms with the union option, then fill with a picture and crop to fit, removing outlines for divider slides.

Explore inserting and formatting icons in PowerPoint 2021/365. Learn to use the icon library, search and insert SVG icons, color and resize them, adjust with crop, rotate, and Z-order.

Learn how to compress pictures in PowerPoint to reduce file size and prevent lag by applying compression to all images, deleting cropped areas, and selecting high fidelity or other resolutions.

Master PowerPoint animation basics by applying entrance, emphasis, and exit effects, distinguishing transitions from animations, and tuning timing, duration, and delay with the animation pane.

Learn to apply multiple animations to the same image in PowerPoint by using the add animation dropdown, sequencing with after previous, and combining fly in, pulse, and optional fade out.

Learn to trigger animations in PowerPoint beyond on-click, using the trigger feature to link effects to slide objects, like clicking a logo, with tips on z-order and the selection pane.

Explore slide sorter view and other PowerPoint views to organize slides efficiently. Learn to duplicate, move, delete, and reorder slides while noting animations or transitions.

Create a divider slide in PowerPoint by inserting a blank slide, adding a background image with a transparent overlay and merged shapes, then fly in from left and fade in.

Learn to create half-page image slides using crop and fill, guides, and shape fills, then build destination slides with slide zoom to navigate Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Explore how to link slides in PowerPoint using actions, including mouse click and mouse over, linking to specific slides or urls, and comparing actions with slide zoom.

Discover how to use slide zoom in PowerPoint to jump between slides, return to a main page, and customize zoom thumbnails with borders and alternate images.

Create hyperlinks in PowerPoint to slides, other presentations, external websites, emails, or documents using the insert hyperlink option, with screen tips and navigation via icons or shapes.

Complete exercise eight by building a space presentation with six half-page location slides, using guides for alignment, replacing images from the exercise files, and applying a glow and slide zoom.

Demonstrate how to add and format tables in PowerPoint 2021/365, including inserting tables, applying borders and shading, editing headers, inserting columns and rows, merging cells, and aligning the final layout.

Create a process flow diagram in PowerPoint using SmartArt to visualize steps like booking a trip, customizing layout, colors, and text.

Learn to build a process flowchart in PowerPoint using shapes and connectors. Reflect the booking process with a decision box for check availability, dates available or not, and pay deposit.

Create an organization diagram with smart art by inserting a picture organization chart under hierarchy, add staff, heads of department, and assistants, with photos, cropping, and formatting.

Learn how to insert charts in PowerPoint using Excel data or embedded charts, with a line chart and markers to display sales over four years.

Learn to format charts in PowerPoint by using the chart design and format ribbons, edit data, adjust chart elements, apply styles, colors, labels, and axis options for readability.

Practice creating and formatting tables, charts, and diagrams in PowerPoint, including a bookings data bar chart with Roboto fonts, date labels, hidden horizontal axis, and a flowchart with elbow connectors.

Learn how to insert and customize cut-out people, stickers, illustrations, cartoon images, and 3D models in PowerPoint to add personality and convey emotion.

PowerPoint offers a basic background removal tool that lets you insert an image, mark areas to keep or remove, and refine the cutout to create a clean, layered slide.

Practice creating a divider slide by duplicating a slide and replacing images, then recreate our customers slide by inserting Nathan, removing his background, adding a decorative illustration, and compressing images.