I am currently attending a course called Dynamic Presentation Skills and learned a cool trick today regarding functions in Microsoft Powerpoint. Yup, all you slaves of Microsoft pay close attention and I will guarantee you that your presentation will never be the same again.

First and foremost is turning the slides into a completely blank black or white screen without turning your machine off. This is necessary for various reasons such as you want the audience to pay attention on the presenter instead of the slides or to pause for some other activities. It can be done by a single click of the “B? key for a black screen or “W? for white while your presentation is running in full screen. Simply click any key to bring your presentation back to life.

The other cool trick is to hide your cursor or mouse pointer. Just click on “A? or “=? to hide it and to bring it back. You can also turn it into a pen where you can scribble on your presentation slides and then erase it. This trick will be good for speakers to emphasize on a point or highlight something important. Just click on the CTRL key and P at the same time to get the pen. Click on your mouse and drag to start drawing and scribble on your slides. Click E to erase what you have added on screen or just proceed to the next slide. Please note that no change will be done to your existing slides. Key in CTRL + A to bring back the mouse cursor.

You may also schedule your slides to run on a preset time. This will require more reading and configuration on your part for it. There are simple keys available for you to rehearse your presentation.

For other cool tricks for Microsoft Powerpoint, click F1 and a small window will pop up above your presentation indicating the keys and functions available.

Please do share your tips on other cool tricks in other common applications.

Here is to a better and cooler presentation for everyone!

Benny Ong