When asked about the name of the program for creating presentations, most people will undoubtedly associate with the famous PowerPoint program from Microsoft. It is designed to create materials of various shapes that can be presented to the target audience using a projector.
Main characteristics
The program for creating PowerPoint presentations can create the accompaniment of a report in both information and commercial areas. Slides can be used in the presentation using various templates, color text, drawings, illustrations, tables, graphs, diagrams, videos, links to web pages, as well as various spectacular transitions between slides. In addition to this, it is also possible to create animated captions and add sound. And this is not a complete list of features that this program has for creating presentations.
Windows is the main operating system that is designed to use this product, but today PowerPoint can also be used on other operating systems.
Basic functions
As for the name of the program for creating presentations, in most cases we are talking about PowerPoint, and this is not surprising, since over the long years of its existence, this program managed to gain recognition around the world. Not least of all, this is explained by the ease of use and intuitive interface, which even a not very experienced user can understand.
The program allows you to create fully automated presentations using various multimedia elements, while not having any programming knowledge.
Characteristics
The level of demonstration of information directly depends on which presentation program was used. PowerPoint in this regard has a number of characteristic features:
- All slides in the program are numbered, which makes it easy to edit the presentation.
- If necessary, the program provides functions that allow the presentation to be printed on paper, sent by mail or easily connected to a standard projector.
- Each slide has additional editing options: background, font color, structure, etc.
How to run the program?
Even without knowing the name of the program for creating presentations, it can be easily found on almost every personal computer, since in most cases the Microsoft office suite comes with a PC. To do this, you just need to find the program either using the shortcuts that are on the desktop, or through the Start menu. If the user has already used Word, then PowerPoint is probably somewhere nearby, since both programs are provided by Microsoft.
The program for creating presentations after launch will offer you to select the desired mode of operation, which will depend on the purpose for which the presentation is being prepared.
Principle of operation
After starting, the program will launch a dialog box in which the following operating modes will be presented:
- Using standard templates. Allows you to choose a ready-made workpiece for work, which includes a specific slide design, its structure, as well as font size and color.
- Auto content wizard. This option provides the ability to select a presentation using a standard structure. Using this method, you can easily prepare a draft presentation, in which you can then add all the necessary elements.
- Blank presentation. In this mode, there are no blanks, and the final result will depend only on the imagination and skill of the author.
Program modes
For your convenience, PowerPoint has an intuitive interface consisting of the most basic elements that a presentation program should have. Microsoft offers two operating modes:
- The “Slides” mode, in which the main part of the window is occupied by a slide that the user is working on, and in the left corner, reduced versions of all others are displayed.
- Structure mode. In this embodiment, the user can work with the hierarchical structure of the presentation, where headers, slide texts and other similar elements will be visible.
Program structure
PowerPoint has the following structure:
- The workspace where the slide is located, on which the user is currently working.
- Notes area. Located below the workspace, its entries are visible only to the user and are not displayed at the general presentation.
- The area of the slide structure. Here are thumbnails of all presentation slides.
- Menu. Allows you to work with all important program commands.
- Toolbar. As the name implies, this element includes all the necessary commands that can be performed with the presentation.
- Browse button. Allows you to start the slide show in the form in which it will be presented to the audience.
Alternative presentation software
In addition to the offer from the Microsoft Office suite, there are other options for creating presentations:
- Google Docs. The application is fast and very easy to learn. In order to get started, you just need to register in Gmail, log in to your account and select the "Drive" menu, which, in addition to a text editor, offers an excellent program for creating presentations. Unlike many other utilities, Google Docs works with different presentation formats, including PPT and PPTX, which Microsoft also supports. This allows you to easily edit presentations created in other programs. The presentation created by the user is stored on a special server of Google Corporation. Thus, you can access it from virtually any computer that is connected to the World Wide Web.
- SlideRocket. This program is paid, but it also offers a free option using less volume per presentation. Unlike the previous service, it has much more additional functions and various effects. Allows you to use different types of multimedia in the presentation and combine them in interesting ways
- Prezi. One of the most unusual and original programs for creating presentations. Unlike previous applications that use slides, in this version, all information is as if placed on one large sheet. Thanks to the zoom effect, various movements and flips, the virtual presentation window jumps from one element to another with amazing transitions. Today, about 50 million people use this service. In Europe, this is by far the most popular presentation program. It is used in government agencies, large corporations and in educational institutions of various types.
As soon as the question arises as to what the program for creating presentations is called, many come to mind the well-known Microsoft PowerPoint application. Despite this, today there are other resources that perform this function. They allow you to quickly and efficiently create a presentation using different styles, effects and multimedia. In the presentation, you can use text, drawings, graphs, charts, videos and much more.