PowerPoint 2016 Slide Creation Guide: Features and Functions

PowerPoint 2016: A Comprehensive Guide to Slide Creation

Microsoft's presentation software, PowerPoint, has been an essential tool for communicating ideas since its release in 1987. In this guide, we will explore some of the key features and functionalities available within PowerPoint 2016 to help you create compelling slides. We'll look specifically into elements such as slide designs, animations, transitions, charts, and text formatting.

Designing Slides

In 2016, Microsoft introduced several creative themes designed to make it easier to create visually appealing presentations without extensive graphic design knowledge. These templates come with customizable font families, color schemes, and layout options for titles, body text, and images. To access these themes, open PowerPoint 2016, navigate to the 'Design Tab', select 'Themes', and choose from one of many prebuilt options that match your intended message or brand.

While templates can greatly improve overall slide aesthetics, additional care must be taken when adding visuals like photos, videos, diagrams, infographics, etc., to keep your audience engaged and focused. When incorporating media into your presentation, ensure that they align with your message and are relevant to your target audience. To insert images and other media files, click "Insert > Pictures", browse through folders on your computer, or drag and drop items from Windows Explorer.

Animations and Transitions

Animations allow you to bring static objects to life, making your slides more interactive and interesting. By using animations effectively, you can direct your audience's attention where you want them to go, increase comprehension, and reinforce important points. Before applying animation effects, consider if they serve your purpose—avoid cluttering slides with unnecessary animation.

To apply animations to specific elements or groups of elements, select those objects and visit the 'Animation tab'. Choose among various preset options, adjust their timing, and control how multiple animated elements interact with each other. Note that too much movement may distract viewers from your main points; therefore, maintain balance between simplicity and creativity while keeping transitional animations subtle yet impactful.

Similarly, transitions introduce motion between successive slides, giving an impression of flow and coherence. From simple fades to complex dissolves, there is a variety of options to fit different preferences – experiment with them and find what works best for your content. Remember to avoid overusing transition effects; excessive motion may confuse and disorient audiences.

Charts and Graphics

Clear and well-designed graphs, charts, and tables facilitate understanding complex data by presenting information visually. Data-rich slides tend to lose effectiveness due to overwhelming complexity; thus, carefully crafted graphics simplify and clarify statistics, trends, and relationships.

When creating charts and graphs, use clear labels and legends, ensuring that users understand these elements intuitively, even during quick glances. Also, remember that high-quality visual representations often require considerable time and effort — don’t rush the process! Once created, optimize charts and graphics for screen viewing, maintaining consistent typography, spacing, colors, and grids to further enhance clarity and visual appeal.

Formatting Text Effectively

Effective communication relies heavily upon appropriate and engaging text formatting techniques. While PowerPoint doesn't offer endless options, it provides sufficient tools to format text attractively and concisely. Easily change font styles, sizes, and colors, apply bullets and numbering formats, adjust line height, indents, alignment, and more. However, it's crucial to strike a balance between attractive appearance and maintaining legibility. Ensure optimal contrast between background and foreground elements and use only two font families per document to prevent confusion. Additionally, limit text length per slide to passive reading levels and chunk large amounts of information into smaller pieces for better digestion.

With the basics covered, delving deeper into more advanced aspects of PowerPoint 2016, including SmartArt, shape transformations, and multimedia functionalities, can significantly strengthen your skills and unlock new possibilities for professional and personal communications.