Microsoft's PowerPoint software is used to create professional-looking slideshows that can be displayed on projectors or big-screen TVs. The product of this software is called a presentation. Usually, a presenter speaks to the audience and uses the PowerPoint presentation for visuals to hold the listeners' attention and add visual information. However, some presentations are created and recorded to provide a digital-only experience.
PowerPoint is an easy-to-learn program that is used worldwide for presentations in businesses and classrooms. PowerPoint presentations are equally suitable for huge audiences and small groups where they can be used for marketing, training, educational, and other purposes.
If you're using PowerPoint 2013 or a newer version, just connect the monitors and PowerPoint automatically sets up Presenter View for you. In Presenter view, you can see your notes as you present, while the audience sees only your slides.
The information in this article addresses PowerPoint 2016, PowerPoint for Office365, PowerPoint 2016, and PowerPoint Online.
Customizing PowerPoint Presentations
PowerPoint presentations can be made into photo albums complete with music or narrations to distribute on CDs or DVDs. If you are in the sales field, just a few simple clicks add an illustrative chart of data or an organizational chart of your company's structure. Make your presentation into a web page for emailing purposes or as a promotion displayed on your company's website.
It is easy to customize presentations with your company logo and to dazzle your audience by using one of the many design templates that come with the program. Many more free add-ins and templates are available online from Microsoft and other websites. In addition to an on-screen slideshow, PowerPoint features printing options that allow the presenter to provide handouts and outlines for the audience as well as notes pages for the speaker to refer to during the presentation.
Uses for PowerPoint Presentations
There is no shortage of uses for PowerPoint presentations:
Employee training sessions
Product launches
Sales meetings
Trade show demos
Club meetings
Public appearances
Digital portfolios
Photo slideshows
Marketing strategies
Quarterly-earning presentations
Business plans
Where to Find PowerPoint
PowerPoint is part of the Microsoft Office package and is also available as:
A standalone program for Windows computers and Macs
Part of an Office 365 subscription
PowerPoint Online
PowerPoint apps for Android and iOS mobile devices
How to Use PowerPoint
PowerPoint comes with many templates that set the tone of a presentation — from casual to formal to off the wall.
As a new PowerPoint user, you select a template and replace the placeholder text and images with your own to customize the presentation. Add additional slides in the same template format as you need them and add text, images, and graphics. As you learn, add special effects, transitions between slides, music, charts, and animations — all built into the software — to enrich the experience for the audience.
Collaborating With PowerPoint
Although PowerPoint is often used by an individual, it is also structured for use by a group to collaborate on a presentation.
In this case, the presentation is saved online on Microsoft OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint. When you're ready to share, you send your collaborators or co-workers a link to the PowerPoint file and assign them either viewing or editing permissions. Comments on the presentation are visible to all the collaborators.
If you use the free PowerPoint Online, you work and collaborate using your favorite desktop browser. You and your team can work on the same presentation at the same time from anywhere. You just need a Microsoft account.
PowerPoint Competitors
PowerPoint is by far the most popular presentation software program available. Approximately 30 million presentations are created daily in the software. Although it has several competitors, they lack the familiarity and global reach of PowerPoint. Apple's Keynote software is similar and ships free on all Macs, but it has only a small share of the presentation software user base.
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Two PowerPoints may truly be better than one in some cases. When you want to proof an employee’s changes to a training document, it can be a hassle to try to open one presentation, review it, close it, open another and then try to compare. Having two presentations open in separate windows also lets you transfer details – and even entire slides – from one to the other with both open at the same time. Opening multiple PowerPoint presentations in separate windows works the same way as opening a single slideshow.
1.
Launch PowerPoint from the icon on your desktop or network. The software opens with a blank presentation started.
2.
Click the “File” tab, click “Open,” browse to the first presentation and double-click its file name, which opens it in the window. If you are working on dual monitors, drag this presentation to the other screen.
3.
Double-click the PowerPoint icon again. Note the bar at the top of the screen shows “Presentation2,” meaning it’s the second of the two open presentations.
4.
Click the “File” tab, click “Open,” browse to the second presentation and double-click its file name, which opens it in the window. If you would rather this presentation be on the secondary monitor, where applicable, drag it to that screen, then re-drag the first presentation to your primary monitor.
5.
Edit the presentations as desired. Click the “File” tab on each and follow through with the saving process. To overwrite each older presentation, click the “Save” option. To save new versions of each PowerPoint, click the “Save As” button, rename each file, then click “Save.”
Tip
Where possible, avoid opening the same PowerPoint presentation in separate windows. While PowerPoint will open one in “read only” status, you may lose valuable changes and edits on one of the versions of the slideshow.
Warning
These instructions apply to Microsoft PowerPoint 2010. Earlier versions of PowerPoint may operate differently or not allow two iterations of the software to open in separate windows.
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About the Author
Fionia LeChat is a technical writer whose major skill sets include the MS Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher), Photoshop, Paint, desktop publishing, design and graphics. LeChat has a Master of Science in technical writing, a Master of Arts in public relations and communications and a Bachelor of Arts in writing/English.
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LeChat, Filonia. 'How to Open Two Powerpoint Presentations in Separate Windows.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/open-two-powerpoint-presentations-separate-windows-56717.html. Accessed 21 June 2019.
LeChat, Filonia. (n.d.). How to Open Two Powerpoint Presentations in Separate Windows. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/open-two-powerpoint-presentations-separate-windows-56717.html
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