Most of PowerPoint users often spend lots of their precious time in inputting the textdraw content directly into the final visual slides. This creates a cumbersome process because they never see all of their content at once like when they work at preparing a report, or an outline, or a summary for a speech.
Although inputting text into individual slides is the spontaneous approach that most users take, due to the above reasons, it is not the most efficient one.
An easier approach is offered by PowerPoint thanks to the so-called “Outline View” which can help you decrease dramatically your presentation-making times.
What is the Outline View?
The Outline View is a PowerPoint mode that allows you to view a text summary of all the titles and bulleted points contained into your PowerPoint presentation, no need to visualize graphics, clipart, images or photograph. You can just see the overall text content and edit it like if you were in a word processor and you can expand or collapse the overall outlines where you can work first in creating an overall solid content structure and then, once that is completed and satisfactory, go out to design and optimize the look of your presentation.
How to use the Outline View
Once you have a new presentation opened:
- Go to the Outline View from the Normal View Mode, clicking on the Outline Tab
on the left of your screen (for PowerPoint 2000, 2002 and 2003) or click the Outline View button in the lower left-hand corner of the PowerPoint window for PowerPoint 97
- Type the title for your slide number one
- Press ENTER whenever you need a new slide
- Press CTRL + ENTER to enter the bulleted list mode (make sure to previously type the title, otherwise this function won't be available)
- Press ENTER to add further bullet points (only when you are already in the bulleted list mode)
- Press CTRL + ENTER to exit the bulleted list mode and have a new slide
The final result will be that PowerPoint will display only the text of your presentation, allowing you to edit it without getting distracted by other items in the slide (i.e. graphics). Therefore if you need to work on the content of your presentation and you want to have a textual overview of the whole presentation the Outline View is the right place for you.
Written by Chiara Monetti
