BUS612: Data-Driven Communications

Learning Objectives

• Modify PowerPoint custom template presentation.
• Create PowerPoint slide with integrated Excel table.
• Create PowerPoint slide with integrated Excel chart.
  

PowerPoint is the primary computer application used for business presentations. Knowing how to integrate a variety of charts, images, clip art, and so on is important to fill out a presentation and have it efficiently communicate to your desired audience.

Over time, your experience with PowerPoint with increase and you will discover other ways to integrate things into your presentations. They can be live, recorded, timed, and easily emailed to interested parties, so good PowerPoint skills is essential to business. PowerPoint integration skills will assist you to powerfully communicate whatever business information you are trying to get across. To accomplish this, let's look at an example scenario in which PowerPoint integration is helpful.

Rowan Retail is planning to increase store sales in all three of its branches in the third quarter of this year. In order to coordinate the sales campaign, Cameron is creating the sales campaign presentation for the company's next regional meeting. He has all the information he needs and is ready to create his sales presentation.

As Cameron will discover, each presentation can be a mix of both new and existing content. There are many ways to incorporate a variety of things into PowerPoint. Frequently creating and editing a presentation is a back-and-forth process. Presentations must not only be filled with appropriate information, but also must be visually dynamic for an audience.

Create PowerPoint from Template

As a first step, Cameron first opens the PowerPoint application and creates a new presentation using the company sales campaign presentation template - RR Sales Campaign. He finds the exact template he wants and selects it by clicking on it.

A Microsoft Powerpoint backstage view is open. A green arrow is pointing at a previously made powerpoint. This is the template for the sales report and the first change Cameron needs to make is to change the title and subtitle.

Cameron clicks on the title and subtitle areas and changes them. He titles the slide Q3 (for third quarter) Sales Campaign. He misspelled one of the words, so he right-clicks and selects the correct spelling for promotions.

Now that the first slide's content is done, Cameron wants to change the presentation theme and customize this report more.

Customize Presentation Template

The first change Cameron makes is to change the theme of the template. He changes the theme by clicking on the Design Tab and selects the Theme changing the slides to a green color instead of purple.

New Slide

Next, Cameron adds in a new slide between the first and second slide. First, he places the cursor between the two slides. Next, he clicks on the Home tab and the New Slide button. This drops down a visual menu of the types of slides to choose from. He selects the 3 Picture Column slide.

With the new slide open, Cameron now begins to edit the title. He will then click on the image and text boxes to add content.

Cameron inserts pictures of the three stores.

1. Select Picture Icon. Cameron clicks in a picture box and a file window appears.
2. Select Picture File. He navigates to the folder with the pictures for the presentation and selects one by clicking once.
3. Open/Insert Picture. He then selects the Open button to insert the picture into the presentation slide (he can also double-click on the picture and it is imported into the slide).
   

Now with two of the store pictures in place, Cameron needs to grab a photo of the third store from a Word document. These are the steps he takes to accomplish that action:

1. Open Word. Cameron opens the Word document next to the PowerPoint presentation window.
2. Find Picture. He scrolls through the document and finds the picture he needs and right-clicks on it.
3. Copy Picture. He selects the Copy option in the pop-up menu and now navigates back to the PowerPoint presentation slide (he can also use the toggle keys Alt+Tab to get back to the PowerPoint window). Cameron could also use the Ctrl+C keys to copy the picture as well.
   

1. Select PowerPoint. Cameron is back in the slide presentation and moves his cursor to the last picture box.
2. Select Picture Location. Cameron navigates to the final picture area, then right-clicks on it. A menu appears.
3. Paste Picture. He selects the Paste option and the picture is inserted into the presentation slide. Cameron could also use the Ctrl+V keys to paste the picture. The image will automatically be sized to fit the image box size.
   

Now Cameron clicks in the text boxes and types in the appropriate titles and goals for each store.

Cameron is now finished with this slide. He can now move on to the next slide, which he will use to show an Excel table.

Excel Table in PowerPoint

Cameron has an Excel file with a pertinent table for the sales presentation. He selects slide 3, types in a slide title, and then follows these steps to insert the Excel table into PowerPoint.

Option 1 for Table Integration

In the text box, Cameron hovers over the icons in the middle and clicks on the Insert Table icon.

He doesn't have an Excel table in a file to copy into his PowerPoint presentation, so he creates one through the following steps:

1. Insert Table Box. This box appears where Cameron decides the size of his table.
2. Number of Columns. Clicks the down arrow until the number is 4 columns.
3. Number of Rows. Clicks the up arrow until the number is 6 rows.
4. OK Button. This button creates a little Excel table within Cameron's PowerPoint presentation slide.
   

The Excel table is now in his PowerPoint presentation and ready for data to be entered. Cameron now enters his information into the table.

Note: If at any time Cameron wants to change the color of the table he can click on the Table styles in the bar above.

Cameron types in the sales figures from the three different stores, and wants to make additional changes. He has already bolded the title rows (using the Bold button in the Home Tab), but the type is difficult to read from a distance.

1. He selects the table title.
2. He right-clicks to bring up the font size and selects size 40.
3. He selects the remaining rows and uses the upper font bar to change the font size to 20pt.
4. He decides to change the title by clicking within the title box, then typing in a new title.
   

Cameron steps back and looks at the table. He notices the table is not centered on the slide, so he clicks on the table and moves his cursor to the edge of the table until he sees the four arrow symbol. 

He drags the whole table to the center of the slide.

He now makes a note under the table by clicking on the Insert tab and the Text Box button.

He puts his cursor under the table and begins to type his note into the slide. This step is now complete.

Cameron reads through the slide to make sure it is clear and decides to change the table title. He clicks in the table title and retypes the words to say "Q3 Campaign". Now the slide is complete, and he is ready for another slide.

Option 2 for Table Integration

What if Cameron has an existing sales campaign Excel table he can use? With this scenario, he copies it directly into his PowerPoint presentation so there's no need to make his own table. Here is how Cameron inserts an existing Excel file table:

1. Open Excel application. Cameron has the RR Sales Campaign Excel file open on his computer.
2. Select the table. Cameron selects the entire table and clicks with the right mouse button.
3. Copy the Excel table. Next, Cameron opens the selects the Copy function. Cameron can also use the Ctrl+C keys to copy the table.
   

1. Select PowerPoint. Cameron clicks on the PowerPoint window to bring it forward (he could also toggle Alt+Tab if the window is behind the Excel window).
2. Select table area. Cameron clicks with the right mouse button in the Table box.
3. Paste Excel table. Cameron selects the Paste function in the menu and the table is placed in the slide (He can also use the Ctrl+V keys to paste in the table).
   

He can now resize, move, center, bold, add the text note, and change the font of the table like in the Option 1 example to optimally display the table on the slide. The table slide is now set, and Cameron is ready for an additional slide with a chart indicating the campaign funding divisions between stores.

Excel Chart in PowerPoint

Option 1 for Chart Integration

The next slide in the presentation is the budget distribution chart. Cameron will create a chart from scratch in a new slide. He opens the New Slide options and selects Content with Caption, then types in the title in the box. He moves the cursor over the large box and clicks on the Insert Chart icon and decides on the type of chart.

For this slide, he selects a 3-D Pie chart. A small Excel spreadsheet pops up above the pie chart for Cameron to enter the data for the chart.

Cameron begins to type in the data by double-clicking on a cell and replacing the text or numbers in it. He changes the numbers cells to percentages. There is an extra row he doesn't need, so he selects it, right-clicks, and selects the Delete Row from the menu. Cameron now clicks the X in the small window and closes it.

Cameron decides to show the budget present age on the chart and needs to modify a few other aspects about the chart to make it easier to see.

He takes the following steps:

1. Chart Elements Button. This + button allows Cameron to change aspects of the chart.
2. Elements List. Cameron clicks the Data Labels box to change the labels.
3. Arrow Button. Cameron clicks the small right arrow, and a new menu appears.
4. Data Label List. Cameron moves the chart numbers to the center of their respective areas.
   

Next, Cameron changes the area numbers to percentages and increases the font size of the chart text and the Store label sizes.

The chart is now too close to the store labels. Cameron clicks on the chart and hovers over the border until the four-arrow cursor appears. He drags the chart up, closer to the title. This centers the chart and makes it easier to read the labels.

Option 2 for Chart Integration

What if Cameron had an existing sales budget chart? He could copy and paste the chart into his presentation. First he opens the Excel file with the chart in it. Since he has learned to copy and paste from the previous table, he puts the PowerPoint and Excel windows side by side then takes the following steps:

1. Select Excel. Cameron makes sure Excel is the current window and opens the chart file.
2. Select Chart. Cameron selects the chart in the Excel file by right-clicking on the chart.
3. Select Copy. Cameron sees a menu appear and selects the Copy choice. He can also use Ctrl+C to copy the chart.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. PowerPoint Presentation Paste Chart. With the desired chart copied, Cameron moves over to his PowerPoint presentation and places the curser in the correct spot and right-clicks again to bring up the menu. In the menu he selects the Paste option and the chart is placed in the presentation. He can also use the Ctrl+V keys to paste the chart.
5. Resize Chart. Cameron now grabs one of the chart border area spots and moves it to the desired size in the presentation.
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Change Chart. If Cameron needs to change something about the chart, such as the type of chart, the data in the chart, the labels, and so on, he can right-click on the chart itself. A menu will appear that allows him to change aspects of that chart. Any changes made will not affect the original Excel file chart.
   

Source: Lumen Learning, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-compapp/chapter/using-powerpoint-with-excel/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.