Section Five: Teaching Technologies
Creating handouts Also consider using the Export to Microsoft Word feature to give more general control over the look and content of your handouts e.g. by going to Office – Publish – Create Handouts in Microsoft Word you can choose from several Page Layout options:
Notes next to slides
Blank lines next to slides
Notes below slides
Blank lines below slides.
As the handouts are now in Word format, you have greater editorial control to make any other changes you wish.
Raising your game: advanced tips
On the PowerPoint Insert tab, have a look at the SmartArt options, which offer a wide range of pre-set graphical formats. There are templates for lists, hierarchies, cycles and matrices, and you can dress up your data as a series of colourful interlocking gear wheels.
Try using Microsoft templates to make your PowerPoint presentations look a bit different. You can access them at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT010336615.aspx If you download a template you‟ll find instructions for customising it included in the „Notes‟ pane of the PowerPoint file. Be warned however – some are really top-notch; others may be best left where you found them!
Be flashy: use a remote control USB wireless presenter to move through your presentation while away from the PC / lectern.
If you haven‟t got a remote control USB wireless presenter, there are a number of more conventional ways you can control your slides:
o
If you are not already in live presentation view, pressing F5 will start your presentation from the beginning
o
Hitting the letter „B‟ will replace your presentation with a „black screen‟. Use this when you want the audience to focus 100% on you, or on another task you are setting them. Pressing „B‟ again will restore your presentation at the point where you left off. Similarly, you can use the „W‟ key for a white screen.
o
Type the number of a specific slide to manoeuvre around a presentation out of sequence if appropriate (see previous tip 6)
o
Use the Alt and Tab keys to switch between applications, for example between PowerPoint and a web page / database, for a smoother, more professional transition.
Use a laser pointer (sparingly) to highlight specific text or any on-screen features to which you refer during your presentation.
Handbook for Information Literacy Teaching: August 2011 update
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