What These Are About

They are maintained by Leonid Reyzin. Please contact me if you have comments, suggestions, or additional tips you think should be included.

I found them helpful, which is why I wrote them down on this page. Your mileage may vary.

Machine Independence

• Make sure your file includes fonts. This is accomplished by going to the "File" menu, selecting "Save As," and checking the "Embed TrueType" check box in the dialog box that pops up. Then click "Save." Your file will likely become very large once you do this, and you may need to compress it to get it to fit a single floppy.
• Avoid using Equation Editor/MathType to typeset your math if you at all can. In my experience, it often looks different on different machines, sometimes making your formulas completely unreadable. See below for how to typeset math.

Making Overlays

Typesetting Math

1. Getting it to look good
   • Italicize only what should be italicized. Generally, this means only Roman and Greek variable names (italicizing uppercase Greek is optional). Be sure to not italicize plus and minus signs, function like log and cos, numerals, parentheses, etc. If in doubt about what should be italicized in a particular formula, typeset it in LaTeX and then mimic LaTeX's output in PowerPoint. To toggle italics, just use Ctrl-i.
   • Use Times New Roman or a similar font. Sans serif fonts, such as Helvetica, are not good for math (although they may be good for the rest of your presentation). It's ok to have one font for math and another for the text (the slides class of LaTeX does that, in fact). To change fonts without using the mouse, use Ctrl-Shift-f and arrow keys.
   • Do not use a hyphen for a minus sign. A much better minus sign is an en-dash. Unfortunately, it is a bit hard to get in PowerPoint. See "Inserting non-standard characters" below.
   • When you copy math around, make sure it has the same font size as the surrounding text. PowerPoint will not always automatically get it right.

2. Inserting non-standard characters.
   • To insert Greek letters, simply type the "corresponding" Roman letter (e.g., "a" for alpha, "t" for tau, "q" for theta), and then change its font to Symbol. Same for "sum" and "product" symbols: simply use capital sigma and capital pi.
   • To insert the many special symbols that are available in Microsoft Word (such as en- and em-dashes, ©, etc.), simply open up Microsoft Word, and insert them using the menu "Insert" then "Symbol." The "Special Characters" tab is particularly useful, and contains handy keyboard shortcuts. Once you get it in Microsoft Word, simply select it, copy it, and then paste into your PowerPoint text. Make sure the result has the correct font and size. Then you can copy it around your PowerPoint file whenever you need it.
   • A host of characters is available in the "Character Map" accessory. (Go to the "Start" button, then "Applications," then "Accessories," then "Character Map.") Trying different fonts to find what you need; Symbol font is particularly useful for math. You can select and copy characters, then paste over to PowerPoint. Moreover, if you click on a particular character, you get the "keyboard code" for it displayed at the bottom. Once you learn the keyboard code, you can type it directly in PowerPoint without having to copy and paste. For example, the code for an en-dash (which is good for minus signs) in Times New Roman font is Alt-0150 (hold down Alt, press 0150 on the numeric keypad, then let go of Alt). The code may be different in other fonts.

3. Subscripts and superscripts
   • To make subscripts and superscripts using the menus, select the character you need, then go to "Format" then "Font." Note that you can get double superscripts, subscripts of superscripts, etc., by varying the "offset" amount.
   • It is faster to make standard subscripts and superscripts using the keyboard. Ctrl-= toggles the subscript flag, and Ctrl-+ (same as Ctrl-Shift-=) toggles the superscript flag. For example, to get a_ixⁱ, type "a, Ctrl-=, i, Ctrl-=, x, Ctrl-+, i, Ctrl-+" (don't forget to turn on italics at the beginning by "Ctrl-i").
   • You can also get buttons for making subscripts and superscripts on your toolbar. See "Miscellaneous PowerPoint Tips" below.

4. More complex formulas.
   • Avoid Equation Editor/MathType (see "Machine Independence" above). Use multiple text boxes instead, if you have to. You can move them around to get them in the right positions. Note that large parentheses, brackets, braces, and other useful shapes are available under "AutoShapes" (most likely on your drawing toolbar). Once you get a formula to look right, group all of its components (see "Drawing" below), so you can easily move it around and copy it.

Drawing

• Learn to use "Group," "Ungroup" and "Regroup" in your "Draw" menu (also on your right-click menu). "Regroup" is particularly handy if you need to ungroup to modify something little. You don't have to reselect everything to group it back: simply choose "Regroup."
• To select multiple objects, hold down the Shift key as you click on them with the mouse.
• It is a pain to select text boxes, because when you click inside them, you get to edit text. If that happens, press "escape," and the text box becomes selected. Alternatively, hold down the Shift key as you click.
• It is often easier to nudge objects by selecting them and using arrow keys, rather than by using the mouse.
• Connectors (available under "AutoShapes" on your drawing toolbar) are great when drawing graphs, trees, etc. They can be made to stick to an object, so when you move nodes around, edges adhere to them.

Layout and Design Tips

• You do not have to be stuck with the standard boring slide style. Play around with it by going to the Edit menu, and selecting Master, then Slide Master.
• When giving a talk that will be projected (rather than printed out on transparencies), the color combination that is easiest on the eyes is yellow (or white) on a blue background. (Thanks to Steven Rudich for this tip.)
• To make small caps font style (equivalent to LaTeX's \textsc command), type in all uppercase letters. Then select all the letters you actually want to be in small caps (i.e., not the ones you want to actually be uppercase, such as first letters of sentences), and simply make the font about four points smaller. (Thanks to Amit Sahai for this tip.)
• To start a new line without starting a new paragraph: press "Shift-Enter."

Miscellaneous PowerPoint Tips

• You can customize your toolbars. In particular, it is handy to have buttons for "Format-Subscript," "Format-Superscript," and "Insert-Symbol." Go to the Tools menu, then Customize, then click on the "Commands" tab. Then simply find a command you want by looking at the various categories, and drag it out of the dialog directly onto a toolbar you want. (Thanks to Amit Sahai for this tip.)
• If AutoCorrect annoys you (e.g., you have a variable named "i" and don't want PowerPoint to automatically capitalize it every time), check out the menu "Tools" then "AutoCorrect." If it doesn't annoy you but is just occasionally wrong, you can undo what it just corrected by pressing Ctrl-Z or selecting "Undo" in the "Edit" menu.