There are several ways to start a PowerPoint presentation.

To get started , click on File > New and the New Presentation task pane appears .

The new category displays the four ways of starting a presentation. Template- displays a pre-designed skeleton format presentation with layout and design giving the entire presentation a professional look. AutoContent Wizard- enables the selection of presentation type from a list of ready-made slides and includes some sample text. Blank Presentation- loads a fresh slide, paper without any design or sample text. Open an Existing Presentation- loads a saved presentation.

Starting a presentation by using a Template

Microsoft Presentation provides built-in design templates for ready use. Using the template provides you with quick, professional-looking presentations. The task pane allows you to preview and apply a design template to a presentation. The selected template can be applied to all slides or only a single slide. You can also apply more than one of design template to a single presentation.

Apply a design template

1. Click Format, then click Slide Design If the Task pane is already open, click the Drop-down arrow then choose Slide Design. 2.Click the Arrow at the Right side of the design template. A drop-down list will appear where you can select the option to apply the design to All Slides or Selected slides.

Starting a presentation using the AutoContent wizard The AutoContent wizard allows you to choose from a list of ready-made slides and text . The sample text in the wizard is based on a selected topic . It helps build the structures of a presentation.

Starting a Presentation Using the AutoContent Wizard

1. If the New Presentation task pane is not displayed click New on the File menu. 2.Under New click from AutoContent Wizard and follow the instructions in the wizard. 3. In the presentation replace the text suggestion with the text you want. Make any other change such as adding or deleting slides adding text elements or animation effect and inserting header and footer.

Starting a Presentation by Using the Blank Presentation

Creating from a blank presentation is like writing on a blank sheet of paper. This is done without the help of Design template and the AutoContent Wizard. If this option is used, only the default layout is displayed on the screen.

To Create a Presentation from Blank Presentation

1. From the New Presentation Task Pane, click Blank Presentation. 2. Click File Menu, click New. Click Blank Presentation.

Starting a Presentation by Using an Existing Presentation

This option is often used when you want to create a new presentation by copying the entire format of an existing presentation. 1. From the task pane, click New from Existing presentation. 2. Click the selected file, then type a filename and click Create New from the dialog box. It will automatically create a new presentation using the selected presentation as the template.