The PowerPoint environment is easier to learn if you understand the ways that the PowerPoint program "thinks" about the slides. The following definitions will give you some help with this. 

Templates 

Backgrounds and color combinations that you can choose from that set the mood for your presentation. Find out how to choose a template in Part 2: Opening PowerPoint.

 

Views 

Different ways you can look at your presentation. You can choose slide view, outline view, slide sorter view, note page view, or slide show. Slide views are discussed in Part 4: The Many Views of Your PowerPoint Presentation.

 

Masters

Places to set the standard look and feel of entire presentations by adding your own logo, special clip art, the date, and/or page numbers. For example, whatever you place on a slide master will be shown on every slide, whatever you place on a handout master will be on every handout page, etc. See Part 7: Making Global Changes to Your PowerPoint Presentation Using the Master Pages Feature.

 

Layouts 

The guides for each individual slide, and include layouts for inserting graphs, charts, tables, clip art, and columns, among others. See Part 3: Creating Slides - New Layouts.

 

Objects 

The actual things that you want to place on a slide such as clip art, WordArt, pictures, sound, movies, graphs, charts, and tables. 

 

Transitions and Effects 

Transitions are the movements from one slide to another. Effects are the movements that give you control over the content flow on each individual slide in your presentation. See Part 6: Building Transitions and Effects on Your Slides.

 

Output

Besides the electronic output and viewer, you can print your slides as overhead transparencies. Other options include printing to paper as notes to yourself, as handouts to your class, or just as an outline.