How-To Guide: Look like a pro when starting a PowerPoint presentation

Written by Jane Hames

Do you use PowerPoint as a visual aid when presenting? How do you start running the Slide Show?

I sometimes see presenters opening PowerPoint and then fumbling around for the Slide Show button to start the full screen show (I don’t mind admitting that I have been guilty of this in the past!).

Have you tried saving the presentation as a PowerPoint Show on the desktop? This makes starting the presentation look effortless and a lot more professional and this how you do it:

1. Open the presentation in PowerPoint.
2. From the FILE tab, select SAVE AS.
3. From the SAVE AS TYPE box, select POWERPOINT SHOW from the list.
4. Choose where to save the show and then click on the SAVE button.
5. To run the show, double click on the icon.

My preference is to save it on the desktop, or if I am using someone else’s laptop to present from, I put it on a memory stick and then copy it onto their desktop so that it is ready to use when it it comes to my turn to present.