Choose and Customize View Panes in PowerPoint 2013

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Rick Enrico

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PowerPoint 2013 offers several view panes that help streamline the presentation creation process by giving you different perspectives and tools for editing, organizing, and managing your slides. Each view serves a specific function, whether you’re working on content, structure, or design. Understanding how to choose and customize view panes can enhance your workflow and make it easier to build professional presentations.

Here’s how to choose and customize view panes in PowerPoint 2013 to optimize your slide creation experience.

1. Choosing View Panes in PowerPoint 2013

PowerPoint provides several different views, each designed to help you with specific tasks like editing, organizing, or reviewing your slides. You can easily toggle between views using the View tab in the PowerPoint ribbon.

Key View Panes:

a) Normal View

  • Purpose: This is the default view in PowerPoint, allowing you to edit and design your slides. It includes three main sections: the Slide Thumbnails pane on the left, the Slide pane (where you edit the current slide), and the Notes pane at the bottom.
  • When to Use: Ideal for building and editing slides one by one.

How to Access:

  • Go to the View tab and click Normal.

b) Slide Sorter View

  • Purpose: Displays thumbnails of all your slides in a grid, allowing you to rearrange, delete, or reorder them easily.
  • When to Use: Best for organizing and rearranging your slide order or getting an overview of the entire presentation.

How to Access:

  • Go to the View tab and click Slide Sorter.

c) Reading View

  • Purpose: Lets you view the presentation as the audience would see it, but within the PowerPoint window. It’s helpful for reviewing your presentation without entering full screen mode.
  • When to Use: Use this view to preview animations, transitions, and overall flow.

How to Access:

  • Go to the View tab and click Reading View.

d) Slide Show View

  • Purpose: Runs the entire presentation in full screen, showing slides as they will appear to your audience.
  • When to Use: Use this view to rehearse the timing of your presentation or to present it live.

How to Access:

  • Go to the View tab and click From Beginning or press F5.

e) Outline View

  • Purpose: Displays only the text of each slide in outline form, making it easier to focus on the structure and content.
  • When to Use: Ideal for working on slide content, especially when you want to ensure clarity and consistency in text flow.

How to Access:

  • Go to the View tab and click Outline View.

f) Notes Page View

  • Purpose: Shows each slide along with the notes you’ve added. You can add speaker notes here that are visible only to you while presenting.
  • When to Use: Best for preparing and reviewing speaker notes for your presentation.

How to Access:

  • Go to the View tab and click Notes Page.

2. Customizing View Panes in PowerPoint 2013

You can adjust and customize view panes in PowerPoint to make your workflow more efficient. Here’s how to modify each pane based on your needs:

a) Slide Thumbnails Pane

  • Purpose: Located on the left side of the Normal View, the Slide Thumbnails pane displays mini versions of all slides, allowing for easy navigation and rearrangement.

How to Customize:

  • Resize: You can adjust the size of the Slide Thumbnails pane by hovering over the right edge of the pane until your cursor turns into a double arrow. Click and drag left or right to resize the pane.
  • Collapse or Expand: Click the small arrow at the top of the pane to collapse or expand it as needed. Collapsing it gives you more room for slide editing.

b) Notes Pane

  • Purpose: The Notes Pane, located below the Slide pane in Normal View, allows you to add notes for each slide.

How to Customize:

  • Resize the Pane: Click and drag the top edge of the Notes pane to make it larger or smaller based on how much space you need for notes.
  • View Notes on a Larger Scale: If you need to focus more on your notes, switch to Notes Page View for a more detailed view.

c) Zoom Feature

  • Purpose: Allows you to zoom in or out on your slides in the Slide pane.

How to Customize:

  • Adjust Zoom: Use the Zoom Slider at the bottom-right corner of the PowerPoint window to zoom in or out. You can also access the Zoom button in the View tab to manually set the zoom percentage.
  • Fit to Window: To reset the view and fit the entire slide into the window, click the Fit Slide to Current Window button in the View tab.

d) Gridlines and Guides

  • Purpose: Gridlines and guides help you align objects on your slides more precisely.

How to Customize:

  • Show or Hide Gridlines/Guides: Go to the View tab, and in the Show group, check or uncheck Gridlines and Guides.
  • Add More Guides: Right-click on an existing guide, then choose Add Vertical Guide or Add Horizontal Guide to increase the number of guides.
  • Snap Objects to Grid: If you want objects to align perfectly to the grid, select Snap objects to grid under the View tab.

e) Presenter View (When Using Slide Show Mode)

  • Purpose: Presenter View offers a dual-screen setup where you see speaker notes, upcoming slides, and a timer, while the audience sees only the current slide.

How to Customize:

  • Enable Presenter View: Go to the Slide Show tab and check the Use Presenter View box.
  • Customize Screen Layout: During the presentation, you can move or resize the panes in Presenter View to suit your preferences, showing more or less of the notes, timer, or slide preview.

3. Other Customization Options

a) Ruler

  • Purpose: Helps you align text, shapes, and objects on your slide.

How to Enable:

  • Go to the View tab and check Ruler in the Show group.

b) Multiple Windows

  • Purpose: If you’re working on multiple presentations, you can view them in separate windows to easily compare or copy content between them.

How to Open Multiple Windows:

  • Go to the View tab and click New Window to open another instance of the current presentation in a new window. You can arrange them side-by-side using the Arrange All button.

Final Thoughts

Choosing and customizing view panes in PowerPoint 2013 is a powerful way to improve your workflow, helping you focus on specific aspects of your presentation. Whether you’re editing content, organizing slides, or preparing notes, PowerPoint’s flexible views and customization options give you the tools to work more efficiently and design professional presentations with ease.

By mastering these view pane options and making them work for your needs, you can streamline your presentation-building process and ensure that your final output is polished and effective.

PowerPoint Etiquette for Presentations

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Rick Enrico

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The do’s and don’ts of PowerPoint etiquette aren’t explicitly laid out. Good manners are handed down to us by family, which we build on as we learn life’s lessons. Everyone is expected to conduct themselves appropriately and treat each other reasonably.

Unsurprisingly, this also applies when delivering a pitch. PowerPoint is more than two decades old and it’s become a staple in corporate life. But common sense still isn’t so common when it comes to PowerPoint etiquette. There’s a simple code of conduct when giving a presentation.

Speakers who pay attention to protocol show how professional and respectable they are. Here are a few tips to help you become a credible presenter:

Get a Head Start

Make a good first impression by arriving on time. There’s nothing fashionable about being late. It results in a domino effect of delays and inconveniences, and the time lost can’t be brought back. Arriving ahead of time is always better, so you can check the equipment for your presentation.

Technical difficulties can be avoided by checking for hardware problems and by having a backup plan. People also appreciate feeling that their time is valued. The longer it takes you to finish, the more of someone else’s time you’re taking. This makes them feel grateful, and even more likely to tune into your performance.

So make sure to start and end on time.

Call Attention

Begin your speech with a smile. Even if you’re having a bad day, don’t project your mood to your audience. Ask everyone how their day was and spread a positive vibe. You can then ask the audience to help you trim down other sources of distraction, the most notorious being the smartphone.

Politely ask if your listeners can put their smartphone on silent. It’s distracting for both the audience and the speaker when it’s being used in the middle of a presentation. Even if not all of them put away their phones, at least you were polite enough to ask.

Their focus is already split between you and your slides. Help yourself and the audience by simply asking for distractions to be put away.

PowerPoint Etiquette

You are the center of the presentation, and your deck is simply there to complement your content. Don’t let your deck be the point of distraction between you and your audience.

At the same time, precisely because it’s a visual tool, you need to consider other things as well. According to bestselling author, Michael Hyatt, readability is crucial in a PowerPoint. Take note that your slide will be projected from a distance. Not all projectors are the same, some aren’t powerful enough to render small fonts properly.

Take the necessary precaution and choose a font no smaller than 30pt. Very few words can fit on a slide with a font size reaching triple digits. Using little to no words on a slide isn’t rude towards the audience. In fact, the opposite is true.

This just shows that you’re prepared to explain the material without having to rely on your slides.

Be Mindful

We can’t always be aware of how we behave, especially on stage. Having good manners is important in leaving a good impression. Punctuality takes practice, so make it a habit to develop good time management skills. Be courteous to others and smile.

Appreciate people’s time by making sure your presentation starts and ends as scheduled. You can also reduce the amount of distractions so that you and the audience can focus. Lastly, your deck is there as a complement, not a substitute.

So make sure to prepare your deck thoroughly and exercise good PowerPoint etiquette.

References

Hyatt, Michael. “5 Rules for More Effective Presentations.” Michael Hyatt. July 10, 2012. Accessed October 13, 2015. www.michaelhyatt.com/5-rules-for-more-effective-presentations.html

Featured Image: “Serious for Some” by Lachlan Hardy on flickr.com

3 Ways to Combat Noise in Your Business Presentation

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Have you wondered why it seems difficult to deliver your message clearly and effectively? Things such as noise can negatively affect your business presentation, making it impossible to get your message across since they can’t easily understand what you’re trying to say. According to eHow contributor, Damon Verial, noise also acts as a communication barrier that stumps your overall performance.

Learn how noise disrupts your success as a presenter, preventing you from conveying your point clearly.

Two Types of Noise

Your job doesn’t end after preparing your PowerPoint slides and crafting your pitch. In fact, your actual performance begins when you might experience unexpected slip-ups. One of those is noise. There are two kinds of noise which presenters often face:

1. External Noise

This includes distracting sounds such as:

  • audiences laughing
  • background noise
  • any accidents that affect your overall performance

This type of noise is sometimes unavoidable, since these are outside factors beyond your control.

2. Internal Noise

This kind of noise involves your own thinking and that of your audience’s. It includes being uncomfortable about your topic, worrying about how your audiences perceive you, or failing to recognize their needs. While these can be controlled with careful practice before you present, mistakes are still possible even with the strictest rehearsal.

There are three ways to combat this kind of noise and effectively communicate with your audience:

a. Determine the Cause of Noise

Internal and even external noise can be controlled to a certain extent. Identify its source to find an immediate solution. If the problem is in the venue, you can adjust by politely telling the organizer to resolve the particular distraction.

For example, if it’s technical problems or any physical noise, ask them to fix it so you can proceed with your message. You might not be able to remove it entirely, but you can prevent further distractions that may affect your performance.

b. Enhance Your Listening Skills

As a speaker, you need to understand that speaking isn’t your only job. Since your objective is to make your audience understand your message, listening is part of the process. Keep them engaged by asking them to participate and giving them a chance to speak up.

It also prevents any misunderstandings, which are also considered as noise.

c. Use Repetition for Emphasis

This reminds your audience of significant ideas from your pitch, especially if they were unable to understand your point. Reiterating your thoughts enables you to highlight what you want them to learn and to focus on providing them with memorable information.

This shows that you respect the time they spent listening to your pitch, and you want to give them something in return.

Conclusion

Noise prevents you from giving your message clearly. While it’s true that it can be controlled to a certain extent, learning how to fight this distraction will help you communicate effectively with your audience. By identifying the source of noise, you’ll be able to solve that particular problem and lessen any negative effects.

Listening also helps you to easily understand your audience and avoid being misunderstood. Repeating your points allows you to emphasize what you want them to learn. It also shows that you care about your audience.

Applying these will give you a more effective and successful presentation. To help you with your PowerPoint presentation needs, let SlideGenius experts assist you!

 

References

Check Out The Room Before You Speak.” Total Communicator. Accessed September 11, 2015.
Overcome Anxiety Like Presentation Expert Warren Buffett.” SlideGenius, Inc. May 04, 2015. Accessed September 11, 2015.
Verial, Damon. “How to Overcome Noise Barriers in Communication.” eHow. Accessed September 11, 2015.