PowerPoint is a software program that allows you to make professional-looking slides using a variety of templates. Once you have prepared your slides, you can arrange them in a logical order, and present your product as a slide show. To produce slides:

1. When you first open PowerPoint, create your new presentation using Blank presentation.
2. Select the type of slide you would like to construct from the Auto Layout options. There is a variety to choose from; see types of Slides list below. (NOTE: As soon as you make your first slide, be sure to go to File and save your work on a disk or hard drive!)
3. Type the words you would like to display on your slide.
4. Under Format, choose a font, the font size, and alignment you would like to use. Make sure your font is large enough to view as a slide presentation.
5. Under Format, apply background design. Keep your background simple! The Contemporary background is often used because it is uncluttered and visually appealing. Make sure you have good contrast between your font and background (dark background = light font; light background = dark font). When you find a background that you like, click Apply.
6. Once you have finished constructing your slide, you can make a second slide in your series by clicking on Insert and then New slide.
7. You can view all of your slides on your screen at the same time by clicking on View and then Slide sorter.
8. You can see your slide show by clicking on View and then Slide show.
9. If you would like to go beyond these basics, you can apply extras, and try out Slide transition, Sounds, and Auto advance. Under Insert, you can add Hyperlinks, Movies, and Sound. Have fun, be creative, but I strongly suggest you KISS (Keep it Simple, Scientists!) for your first slide show.

• Title slide; good for your first slide. You can insert the title of your presentation and your name.
• Bulleted list; you can make a list of points you would like to present to your audience.
• Two column text; you can enter information in column format.
• Table; appropriate for data or a list of words.
• Text and chart (or chart and text); you can have both words and a graph on the same slide.
• Organization chart; you can make a web of information.
• Chart; you can add a graph to your presentation.
• Text and clip art; you can insert clip art from another source.
• Title only; you can have a title with no subheadings.
• Blank; you can start with a clean slate.