One of the most frustrating things about creating a presentation can be determining the layout of each slide. “Where will the text go?” “How about that chart?” “What about this picture?” These are all questions that can cross your mind as you build your presentation. Fortunately, Microsoft PowerPoint provides a selection of basic layouts that figure this out for you in the form of the Slide Layout Menu.

To invoke the Slide Layout Menu, perform the following steps:

1. Click on Format.
2. Click on Slide Layout…

The following menu will be opened on the right side of your screen.

(Note: This screenshot has been cropped, this is only part of the menu, but it gives you the general idea.)

The Slide Layout Menu is broken into the following four sections:

• Text Layouts - These are layouts for slides that will be purely text based.
• Content Layouts - These are layouts for slides that don’t have text, but have pictures, charts, ect.
• Text and Content Layouts - These layouts are a mix of both text and possibly charts, graphs, ect.
• Other Layouts - Personally, I don’t think that this section is really necessary as I think the layouts here could be incorporated into the Text And Content Layouts section. In this section, they add the additional functionality of media clips, diagrams, and generally more advanced content.

There is also a check box at the bottom of this menu, labeled Show when inserting new slides. If checked, when you add a new slide to your presentation the Slide Layout Menu will automatically be displayed.

To use one of the layouts on your slide, simply highlight the slide or slides that you want to apply the layout to. Then, click on the layout in the Slide Layout Menu. Your slide will then have the layout you have selected.

Also, if you highlight a layout, you’ll see an arrow on the right side of the layout. If you click on it, the following menu is displayed:

This menu is pretty self-explanatory, but here is a quick overview:

• The Apply to Selected Slides option works just like clicking on the layout itself. It will apply that layout to any slides you have selected.
• The Reapply Layout option will apply the layout to your selected slides (much like the first option).
• The Insert New Slide option will insert a new slide into your presentation with that layout.

The Slide Layout Menu is a great tool for the beginning Microsoft PowerPoint user, or when you need to get a presentation done in a hurry. Play with the different layouts to find the one that best suits your needs.