33 PowerPoint Tips in 140 characters or Less

Did you know that PowerPoint is used by over 500 million people worldwide? If you’re one of the many users building a presentation in PowerPoint, there are plenty of shortcuts to reduce headaches and improve overall efficiency. We’ve collected 33 of our favorite tips and tricks and conveniently placed them in Tweetable, social-media-shareable format for you.

Put away the aspirin and ice packs! Your PowerPoint suffering has come to an end.

1. Choose a PowerPoint font that is easy-to-see in full screen. A three-inch letter is readable from 30 feet. @Microsoft http://ethr.ee/1tWzTuj

2. Use sans serif typeface for your PowerPoint text. Arial, Helvetica, or Calibri are the easiest to read. @LifeHackOrg http://ethr.ee/1paaY3o

3. Quickly insert hyperlinks into your PowerPoint by pressing Ctrl and K on the selected text. @KeyRocket http://ethr.ee/1qW0zGO

4. Use cool colors for the background of your PowerPoint and warm colors for objects in the front. @PresentationZen http://ethr.ee/1svkVIZ

5. To open hyperlinks without moving the cursor in front of the audience, press Tab to your link, then Enter. @MsTibbe http://ethr.ee/X1BnWW

6. In order to jump to a slide directly in PowerPoint, press the slide #, then Enter. @TheProspectBlog http://ethr.ee/1ociDPw

7. Hard to read text? Place it on top of a shape in Slide Editor for better visibility on backgrounds. @CreativePastor http://ethr.ee/V1zibq

8. Align all of your PPT objects by hitting Shift while clicking on them, then Arrange in Options, then Align. @Hubspot http://ethr.ee/1ockvrt

9. Layer different transparent images in the background of your slide to create a textured effect. @AlleyWatch http://ethr.ee/1mmeWRN

10. To retain custom fonts when using your PowerPoint on a different computer, convert the deck to PDF. @pptNinja http://ethr.ee/1zTQa3y

11. PowerPoint ‘10 and up can make a video file of your deck. Click File, Save and Send, then Create a Video. @PCMag  http://ethr.ee/1oft5F4

12. Embed music by selecting your song, using Insert on the slide, and then the Fading tool to adjust volume. @LinkedIn http://ethr.ee/XDXp1W

13. To resize a PowerPoint element and maintain proportions, hold down Shift while resizing the object. @ThriveNetworks http://ethr.ee/1pCgSJH

14. Will slides be clear from a distance? Preview with View, then Slide Sorter, then a 66% Zoom. @TheSoftwarePro http://ethr.ee/1vaXEAu

15. Searching for a color theme? Use ColorBlender to create a set of matching colors by moving the sliders. @MakeUseOf http://ethr.ee/1AUKLuB

16. Review your slides for consistency by previewing the thumbnail versions within the Slide Sorter view. @AboutDotCom http://ethr.ee/1qWTNFk

17. Create unique custom shapes by right-clicking the new shape, then hitting Edit Points. @Po_st http://ethr.ee/1oCXmNG

18. Print handouts of slides in Print Preview. Select Print What, then select Handout Layout for 3 slides per page. @CIO http://ethr.ee/V1KBR8

19. Reposition text boxes and images in PowerPoint by clicking them and slowly dragging the grid. @DecodedCo http://ethr.ee/1umJqbw

20. For business presentations, stick to the minimal PowerPoint animations: Appear, Fade, Wipe, and Zoom. @BrenCurnoyer http://ethr.ee/1AUPDjB

21. The Clipboard in PowerPoint can hold 24 copied objects. Choose one in the Quick Access toolbar. @TomKuhlmann http://ethr.ee/1umM3Kx

22. Capitalize or lowercase an entire block of text by selecting the text, then hitting Shift and F3. http://ethr.ee/1pavdOz @Sabrina_Cote10

23. Press the “.” in PowerPoint to make your screen go blank/black. @Ethos3 http://ethr.ee/1vftPij

24. Use the Slide Master feature to create a custom design template which matches font, colors, and background. @NCSLorg http://ethr.ee/1kmSQ6l

25. Pressing Esc, Ctrl + Break, or the Hyphen keys are all ways to end a PowerPoint slideshow. @UofSC http://ethr.ee/1pXoeox

26. Give animations time to complete. If it’s at the end of a slide with 10 seconds of animation, it will be cut off. @AWahl920 http://ethr.ee/UWwA7m

27. Use PowerPoint’s Theme Variant to customize a current theme’s color scheme and background image. @GCFLearnFree http://ethr.ee/1mmBfGO

28. Left or right align your text in PowerPoint rather than center aligning it for easier readability. @nicole_legault http://ethr.ee/1oDaq5H

29. Adjust, crop, and resize within PowerPoint itself using Picture Tools in the Quick Access toolbar. @SlideShare http://ethr.ee/UWAOfr

30. Spice up PowerPoint backgrounds by saving large, high-res images as Slide Masters to reuse. @eLearningArt http://ethr.ee/1pCq5lb

31. Declutter by deleting repeating logo and contact information from the bottom of each slide in your template @Forbes http://ethr.ee/1un3QRI

32. Projector resolution tops out at 1024 x 768. Don’t worry about using images with a higher res than that. @Microsoft http://ethr.ee/XEldmj

33. Quickly make elements in your PowerPoint by pressing F4 or Ctrl + Y to repeat your last action. @EFinkelstein http://ethr.ee/1sw4MTn

If you’re looking for more ways to power-up your PowerPoints, we have tons of tips and tricks at: ethos3.com/blog. Or let us do the heavy lifting! Email us at start@ethos3.com.

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