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ATHANAS INSPIRES · POWERPOINT SESSION 1

Session 1 Learning Notes.

PowerPoint for Absolute Beginners | Start Here. Understand the tools, follow the three-slide demonstration, and learn how to communicate ideas clearly. Read at your own pace, explore the explanations, and check your understanding.

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Watch the full Session 1 video

Follow the video and return here whenever you want a clearer explanation or a quick revision. Topic navigation below follows the lesson's teaching order.

▶ Watch on YouTube ↗Topic timestamps will be added when the video chapter times are verified.
PART 00

Why PowerPoint matters

Clear communication comes before decoration.

Imagine that you have an important idea but your audience struggles to understand it. The difficulty may not be the idea itself. It may be the way the idea is communicated.

PowerPoint helps presenters organise and support their ideas visually. It can support school projects, classroom lessons, workplace reports, meetings, business presentations, church messages and training sessions.

THE BIG IDEAPowerPoint is not mainly about slides. It is about communicating ideas clearly.
Who can use this skill?

A student presenting a project, a teacher explaining a difficult idea, a business owner sharing an opportunity, an employee reporting results, a church leader teaching, or a trainer helping others understand.

PART 01

Your Session 1 learning journey

Build the foundation one practical step at a time.

In this session, you travel from opening PowerPoint for the first time to reopening a presentation you saved. You do not need to learn every button today.

  1. Understand what PowerPoint, presentations and slides mean.
  2. Open PowerPoint and explore its main workspace.
  3. Understand the first slide, its layout and placeholders.
  4. Create a simple three-slide About Me presentation.
  5. Duplicate, move and delete slides.
  6. Run a presentation in Slide Show view.
  7. Save, close, locate and reopen your work.
Remember

You do not need everything today. Just the next step.

PART 02

PowerPoint, presentation and slide

Three related words. Three different meanings.

THE TOOL

PowerPoint

The computer program used to build presentations. Think of it as the toolbox.

THE PROJECT

Presentation

The complete project you build using PowerPoint, containing one or more slides.

THE WORKSPACE

Slide

One visual page or workspace where part of your message appears.

Book analogy: The presentation is like a book, each slide is like one page, and PowerPoint is the tool used to build the book.

COMMUNICATION MODELPresenter + Slides → Audience Understanding

Slides are visual support. They do not replace the speaker.

Why shouldn't I put everything on my slides?

Because the presenter provides the explanation. Slides should contain the ideas and visual support the audience needs to follow along, rather than reproducing every word you plan to say.

PART 03

Open Microsoft PowerPoint

Start with a blank presentation so you understand the basics.

  1. On a Windows computer, click the Search box on the taskbar.
  2. Type PowerPoint and find the app under Best match.
  3. Click PowerPoint to open it.
  4. On the start screen, find Blank Presentation, themes and recent files.
  5. Select Blank Presentation to begin from the beginning.
Another way

If you already have a PowerPoint shortcut on your desktop, you can double-click it. If PowerPoint is not installed, watch the steps first and practise later.

What if my screen looks different?

Different PowerPoint versions may display slightly different colours or layouts. Focus on the same underlying ideas: opening the app, choosing a blank presentation, then exploring the workspace.

PART 04

Know the PowerPoint workspace

Each area of the screen has a specific job.

This is a simplified interface diagram for learning the main parts. It is an illustration, not an actual PowerPoint screenshot.

Title Bar

Shows the name of the presentation you are working on.

Tabs and Ribbon

Click a tab, such as Home or Insert, to change which commands the Ribbon displays.

Slides Pane

Shows small previews of your slides, making it easier to select and rearrange them.

Slide Workspace

The large editing area where you build the currently selected slide.

Notes Area

A place to keep notes connected to the slide.

Status Bar and Zoom

Provide presentation information and controls for how large the slide looks on screen.

Important

Changing Zoom changes the slide's appearance on your screen, not its actual size.

PART 05

Layouts and placeholders

PowerPoint helps organise your first slide before you type.

A new blank presentation often begins with a Title Slide layout containing two prepared text areas.

Click to add title
Click to add subtitle
Illustration of a title-slide layout
STRUCTURE

Layout

A prepared arrangement of content areas on a slide. Think of it like a floor plan.

READY-MADE SPACE

Placeholder

An area set aside for particular content, such as a title or subtitle.

What is the difference between layout and placeholder?

The layout describes the overall arrangement. A placeholder is one prepared area within that arrangement. On the first slide, PowerPoint provides a title placeholder and a subtitle placeholder.

PART 06

Create the three-slide “About Me” presentation

The guided demonstration from Session 1, not an assignment.

Follow the same example used in the video. You can replace the sample information with your own details when practising.

SLIDE 1 · TITLE SLIDE
Athanas ChrisAbout Me

Type Athanas Chris in the title placeholder and About Me in the subtitle. In the lesson, the font is Constantia: name at size 80, subtitle at 32.

SLIDE 2 · TITLE AND CONTENT
WHAT I DO• Teacher
• Mentor
• Inspirational Speaker

Choose New Slide → Title and Content. Set the title to Constantia, bold, size 54, and the content to Constantia, size 32.

SLIDE 3 · TITLE AND CONTENT
MY GOAL• Inspire people to learn, believe, grow and build.
• Help people move from confusion to clarity.

Choose Title and Content again. Use the same title style (Constantia, bold, 54) and content style (Constantia, 32).

VISUAL HIERARCHYWhat is most important should usually be easier to notice.

Larger titles guide attention. Consistent fonts and styles make your three slides feel like one connected project.

Can I use my own name, activities and goals?

Yes. The example reflects Athanas's life. Your first slide can show your own name, your second slide what you do, and your third slide a goal that matters to you. The purpose is to practise the technique, not copy someone else's story.

PART 07

Duplicate, move and delete slides

Manage slides that already exist.

MAKE A COPY

Duplicate

Right-click Slide 3 in the Slides Pane and choose Duplicate Slide. This creates a fourth slide.

CHANGE POSITION

Move

Click and hold the duplicated slide in the Slides Pane, then drag it to a new position.

REMOVE EXTRA

Delete

Select the duplicate, right-click and choose Delete Slide to return to three slides.

When is duplication useful?

When slides need the same structure but different information, such as Mathematics and Science results or two months of business reports.

PART 08

Run the presentation

See your slides the way an audience sees them.

  1. Open your three-slide presentation in editing view.
  2. Click the Slide Show tab.
  3. Choose From Beginning.
  4. Use the Right Arrow key or a click to move to the next slide.
  5. Press Esc to leave the Slide Show and return to editing view.
YOUR ROLE AS PRESENTERSlides support the speaker. They do not replace the speaker.

The slides give key points. You provide context, explanation and examples.

Should I read every word on a slide?

Not necessarily. In the lesson, the first slide introduces Athanas, the second identifies his roles, and the third introduces his goals. He explains what these mean rather than relying on the slide to speak for him.

PART 09

Save, close and reopen your presentation

Protect the work you have created.

  1. In PowerPoint, click the File tab.
  2. Select Save As, then Browse if necessary.
  3. Choose the Desktop and open the folder About Me Presentation used in the lesson.
  4. Name the file About Me Presentation and click Save.
  5. Close PowerPoint using the window's close button.
  6. On the desktop, open the folder and find About Me Presentation.
  7. Double-click the saved file to reopen it. Check that all three slides and their formatting are still there.
Keep your work easy to find

A meaningful file name and a remembered save location are as important as clicking Save. If you use a different folder, remember its location.

What is the difference between Save As and reopening?

Save As gives a file a name and location. Reopening means finding that saved file later and opening it again so you can continue working.

PART 10

Look what you have achieved

You started as a beginner. Now you have a foundation.

  • Understood PowerPoint, presentations and slides.
  • Opened the program and explored the main interface.
  • Recognised layouts and placeholders.
  • Created a three-slide presentation.
  • Duplicated, moved and deleted slides.
  • Ran a Slide Show.
  • Saved, closed, located and reopened the presentation.
THE NEXT STEPDon't decorate. Communicate.

Session 2 will move beyond simple text to explore how PowerPoint can communicate more visually. For now, appreciate the foundation you have built.

It is possible. Keep moving!

TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING

A quick check before you go

Choose an answer to see instant feedback. These are informal self-check questions. There is no score, no submission and no Session 1 assignment.

1. What is the main purpose of slides?

Answer: To support the speaker. Slides provide visual support; the presenter still explains the idea.

2. What is a PowerPoint presentation?

Answer: The complete project made of slides. A presentation is the overall project; its individual visual pages are slides.

3. Which area shows small previews of your slides?

Answer: Slides Pane. The Slides Pane holds the thumbnails used to select or arrange slides.

4. What is a placeholder?

Answer: A ready-made space for content. A placeholder is a prepared area for content, such as a title or subtitle.

5. What does Duplicate Slide do?

Answer: Makes a copy of an existing slide. Duplicating creates an additional copy without rebuilding the content.

6. How do you exit a full-screen Slide Show in this lesson?

Answer: Press Esc. Press Esc to return to editing view.

7. Why is naming a saved presentation clearly useful?

Answer: It helps you find the file again. A meaningful file name helps you recognise and reopen your work.

Keep learning. Keep building. It is possible, keep moving!

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