Understanding Tables in PowerPoint
You've probably created tables in other applications such as Word, or maybe even in a previous version of PowerPoint, and discovered what a valuable way to communicate information they offer. A table is essentially an object that conveys related information in columns and rows. In addition to making information easier to understand, tables do so using a minimum amount of space. For example, rather than creating three separate bullet list slides, each listing the five most important features of your three main products, you could summarize all of this information in a table on a single slide. You could still present information on individual slides and then summarize everything at the end of the presentation in a table. In PowerPoint, tables offer both convenience and flexibility.
You can include a table in a PowerPoint presentation in one of two ways:
Insert a table in PowerPoint PowerPoint's basic table insertion feature places a table into a PowerPoint slide based on the number of rows and columns you specify. You can then format, customize, and add data into this table.
Draw a table in PowerPoint This option is most useful if PowerPoint's regular table insertion feature doesn't meet your needs. It takes longer to draw your own table, so use this option only if what you want to create is too complex for the automated table feature.
Note
You can also integrate existing tables you create in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access with PowerPoint. To do this, choose Insert, Object to open the Insert Object dialog box. Select the Create from File option and browse to the file that contains the table you want to import.
→ To learn more about using Word, Excel, and Access within PowerPoint, see Chapter 19, “Integrating with Office XP.”