Before one can start creating a PowerPoint presentation, a few basic terms must be defined. Like most graphics presentation software, PowerPoint divides a presentation into several slides. Each slide is a screen that typically contains bulleted points that are related to a single main idea. Bulleted points are not complete sentences, but key words that articulate the components of the main idea. These key words or bulleted items are later expanded upon by the presenter. The graphic below demonstrates a slide with bulleted points and sub-points.

The slides together make up the presentation or slide show. A presentation can have as little as one slide (generally used to make an announcement) to seventy slides depending upon the topic. Once the presentation has been created, PowerPoint uses the slide show function to display the slides in full-screen, animated form. The graphic below shows a presentation in the slide sorter view (a viewing feature that allows you to see miniatures of all the slides within a presentation).

 

Because PowerPoint is interactive, animation can be incorporated into the presentation. Text can be animated as it enters the slide, as well as graphic images. Certain design templates in PowerPoint also have animation embedded in them (e.g., High Voltage, Pulse, Cactus).

To indicate a change of topic, slide transitions are often used. These are special effects applied between slides. So, as one slide leaves the presentation, the other enters with a transitional effect (e.g., wipe, blinds horiztonal, fade).

There are many more terms that need to be defined. However, these will be covered in their own sections of this tutorial.