Creating Effective Presentations

• A digital presentation expresses ideas to an audience using digital tools

Presentation Content

• Regular text can be included
• Itemized lists
• Tables of data
• Graphics elements for visuals
• Sound and video clips
• Animations to illustrate concepts

Presentation Use Cases

• Used to present project proposals in business settings
• Employed in teaching and training scenarios
• Used to demonstrate machine parts and operations

Impress Overview

• Impress is a component of the LibreOffice suite
• It is open source and free
• Presentations made with Impress can be opened in software like MS PowerPoint

Presentation Software Examples

• MS-Office 365 PowerPoint
• Google Presentation
• Microsoft SkyDrive PowerPoint

Quality Presentation Characteristics

• Use 5-8 lines of text per slide
• Choose a font size appropriate for the room and audience distance
• Correct grammar and spelling are important
• Limit slides to no more than two graphics
• Use dark colors and bold fonts to highlight key points
• Limit each slide to one animation or video
• Contents and sequence of topics should attract the audience's attention

Launching LibreOffice Impress

• In Windows, double-click the desktop shortcut, or find Impress in the Start menu
• In Ubuntu Linux, launch Impress from the application launcher or through "Show Applications"

Impress Window Components

• Title Bar: Displays the file name with .odp extension and the application name
• Menu Bar: Organizes commands into logical menus like File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Slide, Slideshow
• Toolbars: Provide GUI controls for Impress, including Standard toolbar, Slide pane, Workspace, Slides, Task pane, Master Pages, Layout

Closing Impress

• Click the Close (x) button, use File Menu → Exit, or press Alt+F4 or Ctrl+Q

Creating a Presentation from a Template

• Use File Menu → New or Ctrl+N for a blank presentation
• Choose a template from the "Select a Template" window
• Use Slide → Slide Layout to choose a slide layout

Adding Text to Slides

• Click "Click to add text" in a text frame and type

Saving Presentations

• Use File Menu → Save, Ctrl+S, or the Save button on the Standard Toolbar
• The Save dialog box allows specifying the location and name

Saving Presentations with a Different Name

• Use File → Save As or Shift+Ctrl+S
• In the Save As dialog box, enter a new file name

Saving Presentations in a Different Format

• Use File → Save As and choose a different format from the drop-down menu
• Default save format is .odp

Saving as HTML

• Choose File → Export
• Select the directory
• Enter file name
• Click Save

Saving in PDF Format

• Click File → Export as PDF
• Choose the directory
• Enter a filename
• Click Save

Closing a Presentation

• Select File Menu → Close or press Ctrl+W

Opening a Presentation

• Select File → Open or use Ctrl+O
• Specify the file location and click Open

Running a Slide Show

• Click Slide Show → Start from First Slide
• Use the Slide Show icon, the Slide Sorter toolbar, or press F5

Inserting a Duplicate Slide

• Select the slide in the Slides Pane, then:
• Use menu Slide → Duplicate Slide
• Right-click the slide and select Duplicate Slide
• Right-click in Workspace and select Slide → Duplicate Slide
• Click the Duplicate Slide icon in the Presentation toolbar

Inserting New Slides

• Select menu Slide → New Slide
• Right-click a slide and select New Slide
• Right-click in Workspace and select Slide → New Slide
• Click the New Slide icon in the Presentation toolbar
• Use Ctrl+M

Moving and Copying Slides

• Cut and paste to move slides
• Copy and paste to copy slides
• Use Ctrl+X for Cut, Ctrl+C for Copy, Ctrl+V for Paste

Deleting Slides

• Select slides in the Slide Pane and right-click to delete or press the Delete button

Renaming a Slide

• Slides are named slide1, slide2, etc. by default
• Select Rename Slide in the context menu and assign a new name

Copying, Moving, and Deleting Content

• Select the text or object
• Right-click and select Copy/Cut
• Position the cursor and Paste

Deleting Text

• The Delete key removes characters to the right of the cursor
• Backspace removes characters to the left
• Select text to delete a line or paragraph

Undo and Redo Changes

• Undo (Ctrl+Z) reverses the last action
• Redo (Ctrl+Y) reapplies the undone action

Workspace Views

• Normal view is the main view for working with individual slides for formatting, design, and adding elements
• Outline view shows slides in sequence, displaying text content within the Workspace
• Notes view allows adding notes for the presenter, not visible to the audience
• Slide Sorter view displays slide thumbnails, useful for reordering slides through 'drag and drop'

Formatting Text

• Use formatting icons on the Formatting toolbar or Format → Text
• Options include font, size, bold, italic, underline, color, alignment, bullets, and line spacing

Text Formatting Keyboard Shortcuts

• Increase font size: Ctrl+]
• Decrease font size: Ctrl+[
• Bold: Ctrl+B
• Italic: Ctrl+I
• Underline: Ctrl+U
• Superscript: Shift+Ctrl+P
• Subscript: Shift+Ctrl+B

Table Creation

• Insert a table via Insert → Table or the Table icon
• Specify the number of rows and columns in the Insert Table dialog box

Entering and Editing Data in a Table

• Click, TAB, or arrow keys can place the insertion point in a cell

Selecting Cells and Tables

• Position the cursor along the left edge of the cell until it becomes a sloped white arrow and right-click to select it
• To select a row/column, position the cursor along the left edge until it becomes a sloped white arrow press the left mouse button and drag
• Select the entire table by clicking its edge when the cursor changes to a sloped white arrow

Table Manipulation

• Change column width by dragging the border line when the cursor changes to a double arrow
• Right-click on the table border to change borders and background in the Table Properties dialog
• Delete a table by clicking the table border and pressing Delete key

Inserting Images

• Use Insert → Image or the Insert Image icon
• Select the image file
• Insert images from the gallery via Insert → Media → Gallery, then drag the image onto the workspace

Formatting Images

• Includes moving, resizing, and rotating
• Move: Click and drag
• Resize: Drag selection handles
• Rotate: Use the Rotate icon on the Line and Filling toolbar

Image Toolbar

• The Image toolbar becomes available under the Properties window when an image is selected
• Access it via View → Toolbars → Image

Drawing Tools

• Activate the Drawing toolbar via View → Toolbars → Drawing

Grouping Objects

• Select objects with the selection tool and draw a rectangle around them, or use Edit → Select All (Ctrl+A)
• Group via Format → Group, Ctrl+Shift+G, or right-click and select Group

Ungrouping Objects

• Select any object in the group
• Ungroup via Format → Group → Ungroup, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G, or right-click and select Ungroup

Working with Slide Masters

• Slide masters are found in the Master Pages section of the Sidebar
• Available subsections: Used in this Presentation, Recently Used, and Available for Use

Adding Transitions

• Open the Slide Transition section in the Sidebar
• Select slides in the Slides pane or Slide Sorter view to apply a transition
• Modify the transition for speed and sound
• Set advance to the next slide manually or automatically
• To apply a transition across all slides, click to Apply to All Slides