When the PowerPoint window opens, you see the first slide of your chosen theme in the main slide pane(see Figure 16-1). PowerPoint’s three-pane Normal view lets you concentrate on one slide at a time, yet lets you quickly navigate through your slides or add notes. The largest pane shows you exactly what your audience will see (apart from animations and other special effects). The pane on the left gives you an overview of the entire presentation in thumbnail or outline format. Since this presentation is brand-new, it shows only one slide. As you add more slides to the presentation they appear in the outline pane—where you can reorder them by dragging the thumbnails.

Figure 16-1. Topped by the toolbar (A), and the Elements Gallery (B), the PowerPoint window displays three panes. The slide you’re editing occupies center stage on the slide pane (C). Here you can edit the slide’s text; add pictures, charts, and other objects; change backgrounds; and so on. The Outline pane (D) displays thumbnail images of each slide in the presentation (when in Slides view) or an outline of your slides’ text when in (Outline view). You can enter random notes to yourself or your presentation script in the Notes pane (E). If you use an external monitor or projector to present your show, PowerPoint can display these notes on your screen and hide them from the audience. Adjust the size of the panes by dragging the divider bars (F).

The third pane, below the slide, is never going to be seen by the audience—it’s for your own notes, visible on your computer display during your presentation—while the audience sees only your slide on the room’s main screen. The Notes pane is also handy as you’re creating your presentation for “notes to self” about the slide you’re creating—for example, to remind yourself to double-check a fact or replace a product photo with a new version. Although the slide area is the biggest when you start a new presentation, you can resize the panes by dragging their dividers. In fact, you can hide the outline and notes panes by dragging the dividers all the way to the edges of the window.

At the top of the window you’ll find the familiar Standard toolbar and Elements Gallery. Click the toolbar’s Gallery button or just click one of the gallery tabs to reveal slide themes, slide layouts, transitions, table styles, and so on (see Figure 16-2).

Figure 16-2. Top: Click the Elements Gallery’s Slide Themes tab to view PowerPoint’s collection of pre-designed templates. As you click from one thumbnail to another, PowerPoint displays the new design in its slide pane—and converts any slide you’ve already created to the new theme. Bottom: Every slide theme contains a set of layouts, available via the Elements Gallery’s Slide Layouts tab. Layouts fix the arrangement of text boxes and graphic objects on the slide, allowing consistent positioning from slide to slide.