Slides saves your work for you

As you work in Slides, with each change you make, the presentation's save-status text changes to Saving …. When the save is complete, you see the status All changes saved in Drive.

That's right: With Slides, you never have to worry about saving your work, because Slides takes over the saving duties from here. Every time you make a change to the presentation, you see the saving status change briefly to Saving, followed a second or two later by the anxiety-killing message All changes saved in Drive. Later, after you close and then reopen the presentation, status tells you how long ago you last edited the presentation.

Naming a new presentation

If you've just started a new presentation, one of your earliest tasks should be to give the presentation a descriptive name. Slides launches a new presentation with the too-boring-for-words name Untitled Presentation. Follow these steps to give your presentation a proper name:

1. Select the Untitled Presentation text, which appears near the top-left corner of the page.

   Alternatively, you can choose File ⇒ Rename from the menu bar.

   Either way, Slides opens the filename for editing.

2. Delete the Untitled Presentation text.
3. Enter the name you want to use for the new presentation.

4. Press Enter or Return.

   Slides saves the presentation using the new name.

Opening an existing presentation

To return to a presentation you worked on previously, you need to open it by following these steps:

1. Open the Slides home page.

2. If you see the presentation you want to open in the Recent Presentations area, select it and then skip the rest of these steps. Otherwise, click the Open File Picker button. (Refer to Figure 10-2.)

   Slides displays the Open a File dialog box.

3. Choose the presentation you want to mess with.

4. Click Open.

   Slides opens the file.

Saving a copy of a presentation

One of the secrets of Slides productivity is to never reinvent the wheel. That is, if you have an existing presentation and you need a second presentation that's very similar, don't go to the time and trouble to re-create the original presentation from scratch. Instead, it's not hard to convince Slides to make a copy of the original. With that copy in hand, all you need to do is make whatever changes are needed.

Here's how to make a copy of an existing presentation:

1. Open the presentation you want to copy.

2. Choose File ⇒ Make a Copy ⇒ Entire Presentation from the menu bar.

   Slides opens the Copy Document dialog box. The Name text box shows Copy of, followed by the name of the original presentation.

3. Use the Name text box to give a descriptive name to the copy.

4. Click OK.

   Slides opens a new browser tab and displays the copy you just created.

Applying a presentation theme

When you start a new presentation, Slides opens the Themes pane, as shown in Figure 10-4. A theme is a predefined collection of formatting options that control the colors, fonts, and background used with each slide in the presentation. Slides comes with nearly two dozen ready-to-present themes, and to apply one of them, you can use either of the following techniques:

• If you've just started a new presentation, choose a theme in the Themes pane.
• If the Themes pane isn't visible, you can open it by either choosing Slide ⇒ Change Theme from the menu bar or clicking Theme on the toolbar. Either way, you end up at the Themes pane, where you can choose a theme for your presentation.

If another presentation has a theme you want to reuse, display the Themes pane and then click the Import Theme button. In the Import Theme dialog box, either use the Presentations tab to choose an existing presentation or use the Upload tab to choose a file from your computer.

Adding a slide to the presentation

When you start a new presentation, the resulting file starts off with a single slide (refer to Figure 10-4) that uses a layout called the Title Slide because you normally use it to add a title and subtitle to your presentation. After you've done that, you then add more slides to your presentation so that you can add the content. Thumbnails of the slides appear on the left side of the window in Filmstrip view, and a more-or-less full-size version of the selected slide appears on the right.

Before you get to the specifics of adding a slide, you should understand that all slides contain some combination of the following two elements:

• Title: A text box that you normally use to add a title for the slide
• Text: A text box that you normally use to add text to the slide, which is usually a collection of bullets

In each case, the new slide contains one or more placeholders, and your job is to fill in the placeholder with your text. Each slide uses some combination of Title and Text placeholders, and the arrangement of these placeholders on a slide is called the slide layout.

Adding data to a slide

After you've added one or more slides, the next step is to fill in the slide data. How you do this depends on whether you're filling in an existing slide placeholder or inserting another object, such as an image.

Selecting slides

To work with slides, you must first select one or more. Here are the techniques you can use in the filmstrip:

• To select a single slide, select it from the filmstrip on the left.
• To select multiple, consecutive slides, select the first slide you want in the filmstrip, hold down Shift, and then select the last slide.
• To select multiple, nonconsecutive slides, select the first slide you want in the filmstrip, hold down Ctrl, and then select each of the other slides.
• To select all slides, select any slide in the filmstrip and then press Ctrl+A. (You can also choose Edit and then Select All.)

Rearranging slides

If you need to change the order that your slides appear in the presentation, Slides gives you two different methods, either of which you can use in the filmstrip or in Grid view (choose View ⇒ Grid View from the menu bar to open Grid view):

• Select the slide you want to move, press Ctrl+X, select the slide after which you want the moved slide to appear, and then press Ctrl+V.
• Click-and-drag the slide and drop it below the slide after which you want it to appear.

Changing the layout of a slide

If the original layout you applied to a slide just isn't cutting it for you, you can change the layout by following these steps:

1. Select the slide or slides you want to change.

2. Choose Slide ⇒ Apply Layout from the menu bar.

   You can also click the toolbar's Layout button.

   Slides displays a gallery of slide layouts.

3. Choose the layout you want to use.

Changing the slide background

Most themes offer a solid color background, which is usually a good choice because you don't want your background to interfere with the slide content. However, each theme gives you a choice of background colors and gradients, or you can use an image.

Here are the steps to follow to change the slide background style:

1. If you're applying the background to only certain slides, select the slides.

2. Choose Slide ⇒ Change Background from the menu bar.

   Alternatively, click the toolbar's Background button.

   Slides opens the Background dialog box.

3. Choose the background you want to apply:
   • To apply a color or gradient, use the Color palette.
   • To apply an image, click Choose Image.

4. Click Done.

   Slides applies the new background to the selected slides.

Formatting with fonts

To apply font formatting, select the block of text you want to format. You then choose your font formatting using any one of the following three methods:

• Choose Format ⇒ Text from the menu bar.
• Press a keyboard shortcut.
• Click a toolbar button.

Table 10-2 shows the Text menu commands and their corresponding keyboard shortcuts you can select.

If you do a lot of work with fonts, you'll appreciate the push-button convenience of the font-related buttons on the Slides toolbar. Table 10-3 shows you the available buttons for font-related chores.

Aligning paragraphs

Aligning stuff is about getting your paragraphs dressed up so that they look all prim and proper. Specifically, I'm talking about lining up the left and right ends of your paragraph lines with respect to the left or right margins — or both. Slides offers three alignment methods:

• Choose Format ⇒  Align & Indent from the menu bar.
• Press a keyboard shortcut.
• Click a toolbar button.

Table 10-4 shows the Align & Indent menu commands, their corresponding keyboard shortcuts, and the equivalent toolbar buttons for the four Slides alignment options.

Slide formatting considerations

Slides has many tools and features for tweaking the formatting of your slides. Like any program with a large number of options, the temptation is to try them all to develop a feel for what Slides is capable of. However, trying the formatting features is one thing, but actually using all of them is quite another. If you lay on the formatting too thick, you run the risk of hiding the slide content under too many layers of fonts, colors, images, and effects.

To help you avoid that all-too-common fate, here are a few formatting considerations to keep in mind when working on your slides:

• When in doubt, opt for simplicity. The most effective presentations are almost always the simplest presentations. This doesn’t mean that your slides must be dull, plain affairs. There’s nothing wrong with formatting, and a judicious use of fonts, colors, effects, and (particularly) images can greatly enhance your message. Simplicity in presentations just means that whatever formatting you add must not interfere with your content and must not overwhelm the senses of your audience.
• Remember your message. Before even opening a new Slides file, think about the overall message you want your presentation to convey. Then, when you format each slide, ask yourself whether each formatting tweak is an enhancement of your message or, at worst, a neutral effect on it. If the answer is No, don’t add the formatting.
• Consider your audience. Some designs suit certain audiences better than others. For example, if you’re presenting to children, a bright, happy design with kid-friendly images will work, whereas a plain, text-heavy design will induce naptime. If, however, you’re presenting to managers or the board of directors, you need a design that gets straight to the point and has little in the way of design frills.
• Preserve your company's image. I mean this in two ways: First and most obviously, if your company has a set color scheme or style, your presentation should reflect it. Second, if your company is known as one that's staid or bold, serious or fun, your presentation should not conflict with that image.
• Be consistent across all slides. This advice means using the same typeface and type size for all your titles, using consistent bullet styles throughout the presentation, using the same or similar background images on all slides, and having the company logo in the same place on each slide. The more consistent you are, the less work your audience has to do to interpret the formatting for each slide, so the more they can concentrate on your content.
• Remember, however, not to use the same layout on every slide. To help keep your audience interested, vary the layout from slide to slide.
• Remember typeface considerations. For the typeface, use sans serif fonts (the ones without the little “feet” at the letter tips), such as Arial, Comic Sans MS, Microsoft Sans Serif, and Verdana. These typefaces are easier to read than serif typefaces (the ones with the little feet) and are much better choices than fancy, decorative typefaces, which are very difficult to decipher from a distance.
• Remember type size considerations. For the type size of your slide content, don't use anything smaller than the default sizes. In particular, never use a type size smaller than 20 points, because it’s nearly impossible for your audience to read. If your audience is older or you're presenting in a large hall, consider using type sizes even larger than the Slides defaults.
• Remember color considerations. For maximum readability, be sure to have significant contrast between the text color and the slide's background color. Dark text on a light background is best for most presentations. Finally, don't use a background image unless it's relatively faint and the text stands out well against it.
• Design slide content. Finally, and perhaps most important, design your slides so that they don't include too much information. Each slide should have, at most, four or five main points; anything more than that and you're guaranteed to lose your audience by making them work too hard.

Learning a few animation guidelines

Before you learn how to apply slide transitions and object animations, it's worth taking a bit of time now to run through a few guidelines for making the best use of slide show animations:

• Enhance your content. The goal of any animation should always be to enhance your presentation, either to emphasize a slide object or to hold your audience’s interest. Resist the temptation to add effects just because you think they're cool or fun, because chances are good that most of your audience won’t see them that way.

• Remember that transitions can be useful. Using some sort of effect to transition from one slide to the next is a good idea because it adds visual interest, gives the audience a short breather, and helps you control the pacing of your presentation.
• Remember that transitions can be distracting. A slide transition is only as useful as it is unremarkable. If everybody leaves your presentation thinking, “Nice transitions!” you have a problem, because they should be thinking about your message. Simple transitions such as fades, wipes, and dissolves add interest but don't get in the way. On the other hand, if you have objects flying in from all corners of the screen, your content will seem like a letdown.
• When it comes to transitions and animations, remember that variety is not the spice of life. Avoid the temptation to use many different transitions and animations in a single presentation. Just as slide text looks awful if you use too many fonts, your presentations will look amateurish if you use too many animated effects.
• Keep up the pace. For transitions, use the Fast setting (or one close to it) to ensure that the transition from one slide to another never takes more than a few seconds. Also, avoid running multiple object animations at the same time, because it can take an awfully long time for the effect to finish, and audiences never like having their time wasted on such things.
• Match your animations to your audience. If you're presenting to sales and marketing types, your entire presentation will be a bit on the flashy side, so you can probably get away with more elaborate animations; in a no-nonsense presentation to board members, animations and transitions should be as simple as possible.

Setting up a slide transition

A slide transition is a special effect that displays the next slide in the presentation. For example, in a fade in transition, the next slide gradually materializes, while in a flip transition, the next slide appears with an effect similar to turning over a card. Slides has seven transition effects, and for each one you can control the transition speed.

Here are the steps to follow to apply a slide transition to one or more slides:

1. If you want to apply the transition to only certain slides, select the slides you want to work with.

2. Choose View ⇒ Motion from the menu bar.

   Alternatively, click the toolbar's Transition button or press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+B (⌘  +Alt+Shift+B on a Mac).

   Slides displays the Motion pane, shown in Figure 10-6.

   

3. In the Slide Transition group, use the drop-down menu to choose the transition effect you want.

4. Use the slider to select the transition speed.

   Drag the slider to the left for a slower transition speed; drag the slider to the right for a faster speed.

5. If you want to use the transition for all slides in the presentation, click Apply to All Slides.

   If you don’t choose this option, the transition applies to only the selected slides.

6. To see how the transition looks, click Play.
7. Click Close (X) in the top right corner of the Motion pane.

Slides indicates that a slide has an applied transition by adding the Animation icon (three overlapping circles) below the slide number in Filmstrip view.

Animating slide objects

Whereas a slide transition is a visual effect that plays during the switch from one slide to another, an object animation is a visual effect applied to a specific slide element, such as the slide title or bullet text or an image.

Here are the steps to follow to apply an animation to a slide object:

1. Select the slide object.

   If you want to apply the same animation to multiple objects, go ahead and select them.

2. Choose View ⇒ Motion from the menu bar.

   Alternatively, click the toolbar's Animate button or press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+B (⌘  +Alt+Shift+B on a Mac).

   Slides displays the Motion pane.

3. In the Object Animations group, click Add Animation.
4. Use the Animation Type drop-down menu to choose the animation effect you want.
5. Use the Start Condition drop-down menu to choose how you want the animation to start:
   • On Click: The animation starts when you click the mouse.
   • After Previous: The animation starts immediately after the previous animation is complete.
   • With Previous: The animation starts at the same time as the previous animation.

6. To animate bullet points individually, select the By Paragraph check box.

   If you deselect By Paragraph, Slides animates the entire list.

7. Use the slider to select the animation speed.

   Drag the slider to the left for a slower animation speed; drag the slider to the right for a faster speed.

8. If you want to apply multiple animations (easy now), select Add Animation and then repeat Steps 3–6 to configure the new animation.
9. To see how the animation looks, click Play.
10. Click Close (X) in the top right corner of the Motion pane.

Slides indicates that a slide has an applied animation by adding the Animation icon (three overlapping circles) below the slide number in Filmstrip view.

Starting the slide show

Slides gives you two ways to launch a slide show:

• To start the slide show from the first slide, click the Start Presentation button (refer to Figure 10-3) and then choose Present from Beginning from the menu that appears. You can also press Ctrl+Shift+F5.
• To start the slide show from a particular slide, select that slide and then click the Start Presentation button. You can also press Ctrl+F5.

Navigating slides

With your slide show running, you now need to navigate from one slide to the next. By far the easiest way to do so is to use the mouse, and Slides gives you two choices:

• Click the mouse to advance to the next slide.
• Turn the mouse wheel forward to advance to the next slide.

If you have animations defined in a slide, clicking the mouse or turning the wheel forward also initiates those animations in the order you defined.

For other navigation techniques and slide show controls, click anywhere in the slide show to view a toolbar with the following controls (see Figure 10-7):

• Next: Moves to the next slide in the presentation.
• Previous: Moves to the previous slide in the presentation. (You can also turn the mouse wheel backward.)

• Play: Runs the slide show automatically.

  To set the duration that Slides uses for each slide when you click Play, click Options, choose Auto-Advance from the menu that appears, and then choose a time interval. You can also click Loop to have Slides automatically start over when it reaches the end.

• Go to Slide: Displays a menu of the slides in the presentation. Select the slide you want to view.
• Q & A: Opens the Presenter View window with the Audience Tools tab displayed. You can then click Start New to accept questions from your audience. (Slides displays a web address that audience members can use to submit their questions.)
• Notes: Opens the Presenter View window with the Speaker Notes tab displayed, which shows you your speaker notes for each slide.
• Pointer: Toggles the laser pointer on and off.

  

• Captions: Turns on closed captions.
• Tips: Displays a list of keyboard shortcuts.
• Full screen: Toggles Full-Screen mode on and off.
• Options: Displays the slide show options.
• Exit: Stops the slide show.

Navigating the slide show from the keyboard

Slides gives you quite a few keyboard alternatives for navigating and controlling the slide show. These are useful alternatives because displaying the toolbar can look unprofessional, and pressing a key or key combination is also usually faster. Table 10-5 lists the available keyboard shortcuts for navigating a slide show.