Top 11 PowerPoint tips & tricks which will make your presentation professional

Give your pitch more pep with a YouTube video

Add energy and action to your presentation with a web video.

1. Go to the online video and copy the URL.

2. In PowerPoint, select Insert > Video > Online Video.

3. Paste the URL, and then click the arrow to insert the video onto the slide.

Action! Add your video now 

PowerPoint Designer helps your slides look their best.

• While you're putting your ideas onto a slide, Designer works in the background to match your content to professionally designed layouts.
• Designer suggests different ways to integrate pictures with text. It also helps with charts, lists, and more.

Get the right look

Get creative with your slide show!

• With Zoom for PowerPoint, you can create a zoom-in effect that skips ahead, revisits a previous slide, or creates a visual table of contents. Play the video at left to see a Zoom transition.

Get your Zoom on

Emphasize your main subject by removing the background of a picture.

• Select the picture that you want to revise. Choose Format > Remove Background.
• Mark areas to keep, mark areas to remove, or let PowerPoint do it for you.

Fix your picture now

Change the orientation of your slide to fit your content.

• On the Design tab click Slide Size > Custom Slide Size. Under Orientation, choose Portrait or Landscape.
• Sorry, landscape and portrait can't be mixed in the same presentation.

Change your page orientation

Just a few clicks and you're playing music for the duration of your slide show.

1. Select Insert > Audio > Audio on My PC.

2. Select a music file > Insert.

3. Select Audio Tools Playback > Play in Background.

The music will start automatically during your slide show.

See what else you can do with sounds

With the Eyedropper, you can copy a color and then apply it to text or images on your slide so your tones and colors match perfectly!

1. Select the text or shape you want to color.

2. On the Format tab, select Text Fill or Shape Fill, whichever you need, then select the Eyedropper.

3. Point the mouse at the color you want to extract, then click to transfer the color.

Copy a color from anywhere on the screen

When you want to give a high-fidelity version of your presentation to colleagues or customers, save it as a video.

1. Select File > Export > Create a Video.

2. Select the video quality you want.

3. Determine the timings and narration to include, and then click Create Video.

4. Name the video and choose a format: either MPEG-4 Video or Windows Media Video.

Share your video with others

Screen recording is a great way to create a webinar, lesson, or short demonstration.

PowerPoint puts your recording on a slide, or you can save it directly to a video file that you can share on YouTube.

In PowerPoint, just click Insert > Screen Recording to get started

You don't need a mouse or clicker to run a slide show:

Press F5 to start from the beginning, or Shift+F5 to start from the current slide.

Press the right arrow key to see the next slide or animation. The left arrow key shows the previous slide or animation.

Press number and then Enter to go to a particular slide number.

Press Esc to end the slide show.

See more keyboard shortcuts

Your smartphone can be a laser pointer and remote control when you're showing a PowerPoint presentation.

1. Add the PowerPoint app to your iPhone, Android phone, or Windows phone.

2. Connect your smartphone to the projector by using an HDMI adapter, or connect wirelessly by using AirPlay, ChromeCast, or Miracast.

3. Advance through the slides with a touch, or emphasize key ideas with the laser pointer.

Watch the demo