From middle school projects to CEO-level jobs, there will always be a constant in the way we give out information to large groups. PowerPoint.

PowerPoint at its core is a presentation program used to aid people in giving lectures and displaying information so everyone can understand. The best piece of advice for someone using the program is this, keep it simple. Overloading slides with information, pictures, and words can stress out the audience receiving information and overwhelm the presenter.

Here are some tips to keep your presentations engaging and energetic:

• Share slides with peers to help edit or look over the content before a presentation. PowerPoint, allows users to share within their group. Creators can limit who can view and edit the presentations. Others can leave notes for the owner to look at and adjust.
• Use pre-made templates.
  Yes, users can free-ball it and create their own layouts. However, PowerPoint offers hundreds of templates to use and multiple color pallets for presenters to edit with.
• Embed items into presentations.
  Keep the audience on their toes with videos or excel files embedded into the slides.

In the end, however, the best way for the audience to enjoy a presentation is how you deliver the information. Practice before performing.

UAB students, faculty, and staff can receive Office 365 for free. Check out UAB IT’s website for more information.