How to Learn PowerPoint

PowerPoint is the most commonly used professional presentation design program. Anyone who wants to persuade audiences, condense information, or communicate essential ideas effectively in an office or professional setting will benefit from learning PowerPoint. The number of options for learning PowerPoint might be overwhelming at first glance. There are books, video tutorials, classes, and more to choose from; it all depends on your learning style and personal preferences. 

Here, we’ll discuss the various methods of learning PowerPoint so you can decide how you’d like to start.

What is PowerPoint?

Microsoft PowerPoint is the most commonly used presentation software across almost all professional industries. PowerPoint is one of the most important parts of Microsoft’s Office 365 programs, alongside Word and Excel. PowerPoint lets users easily create vibrant and memorable presentations that quickly communicate meaning in a professional setting. Users can add animations, transitions, graphics, and other imagery to their slides, ensuring they produce both communicative and impressive presentations for their audience.

PowerPoint is a slideshow editing tool built to give users the tools they need to organize information, communicate effectively, and produce presentations to deliver through live address or without a presenter. PowerPoint makes the job easier and more efficient, whether you manage important information in advance of a meeting, prepare a sales pitch to a potential client, or compile important workplace policies and procedures in a single place. This versatility has made PowerPoint an industry-standard tool in almost all professional contexts.

Read more about what PowerPoint is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with PowerPoint?

PowerPoint allows users to create vibrant and memorable visual presentations that can serve a wide variety of purposes. PowerPoint’s advanced features let users integrate dynamic animations and 3D modeled graphics into their designs, allowing them to create more complex presentations than simple text projected onto a screen. Whether you are attempting to keep an audience engaged during a critical seminar or make a sales pitch as memorable as possible, PowerPoint gives you the tools to wow your audience.

Some users will use PowerPoint to create informative slideshows that condense complicated information into a single, easy-to-digest presentation. This makes the program ideal for both instructors and professionals looking to host informational seminars regularly. In fact, many online classes you take will use PowerPoint to provide students with the main takeaways from a lecture. Some users, who need to persuade audiences, such as entrepreneurs meeting with potential investors, will use PowerPoint to create memorable and persuasive presentations that convince their audience to invest in their product.

In-Person PowerPoint Training

Students looking to learn PowerPoint skills may consider enrolling in an in-person training course. These courses allow students to work directly with a like-minded cohort of students and receive one-on-one instruction from trained professionals. These courses provide students with hands-on experience working with PowerPoint, ensuring they will leave the course with an understanding of the application. The main issue with these courses is that most training providers teach at only a few locations, which can restrict a student’s options for in-person training, mainly if they don’t live near a major city.

All of Noble Desktop’s PowerPoint courses are available in person at their Manhattan location. Students who commute to New York City can receive expert instruction from professional teachers in Noble’s on-site computer labs. These courses are ideal for students hoping to learn how to design professional quality presentations using PowerPoint. For students outside the travel time of Manhattan, there are service providers located in other cities, such as Training Connection in LA and Chicago or Digital Workshop Center in Denver. To compare the in-person PowerPoint training sessions available in your area, consult Noble’s Classes Near Me Tool.

Live Online PowerPoint Training

For some students, learning PowerPoint in person may not be an option. They may be too far away from a training center, or they may be unable to commute. For these students, live online training classes are available to provide them with professional instruction from the comfort of their own homes. These courses provide students with many of the same perks as an in-person training session, mainly by letting them interact directly with live instructors who are prepared to answer their questions and guide them through a PowerPoint education. The downside to these courses is that students won’t have access to any hardware or software and may need to acquire PowerPoint independently.

Noble Desktop offers all of its in-person PowerPoint courses as live online seminars. These courses come with Noble’s free retake option, expanding students’ ability to get even more hands-on experience with PowerPoint. Even in a live online course, class sizes remain small, ensuring students can work directly with Noble’s professional instructors. Online training providers such as Coursera and Udemy also offer PowerPoint training in a live online format. Students can compare their options for live online PowerPoint classes using Noble’s Classes Near Me tool.

Free Online Courses & Tutorials

For students who aren’t ready to enroll in a PowerPoint bootcamp or who just want to learn the basics of the program, free introductory resources may be an ideal place to start. Noble Desktop provides students with a free PowerPoint Presentation Design seminar in which students will learn the fundamental theories of design that go into creating evocative and memorable presentations. No one wants their presentations to bore audiences, and this seminar is designed to ensure that students have the skills required to keep audiences engaged.

Other service providers, such as Udemy and Coursera, offer additional free introductory courses teaching students how to use PowerPoint to design presentations. These courses won’t provide comprehensive skills training, but they are ideal places to start learning the basics of PowerPoint. In addition, Microsoft offers students with free training tutorials on subjects ranging from PowerPoint templates to using 3D models in a presentation.

Read about more free PowerPoint videos and online tutorials.

On-Demand PowerPoint Classes

Some students may find that their schedule doesn’t allow them to enroll in a live training program. On-demand training options may be ideal for students with these work or family commitments who still want to learn PowerPoint. These classes, which vary in form and content, give students greater flexibility over the pace and structure of their instruction. Rather than working on an existing schedule, students can learn and practice when it is convenient for them, which can be necessary for some students. The drawback to these courses is that because they lack a live instructor, it can be easy to get stuck on complex concepts with no source of feedback.

A wide variety of on-demand PowerPoint courses are available to students, and Noble Desktop can help students find the one that is right for them. Some of these courses are free, while others require students to pay a flat fee or enroll in a subscription service. Some of the courses are pre-recorded lectures that allow students to work at their own pace. Other courses are individual modules that students must progress through in a particular order. Each model has advantages and disadvantages, so students should carefully consider their options before enrolling in an on-demand course.

Which Learning Method is Right for Me?

Students may find that the number of different options they have for learning PowerPoint can be intimidating. The options can be overwhelming between concerns about where they will learn PowerPoint and how they will learn it. Students must consider their needs and limitations when deciding what course to pursue.

The primary form of PowerPoint training is through live instruction, either in-person or online. These courses will let students interact directly with live instructors who are ready and available to provide students with feedback and assistance. Many students find these courses the best way to learn professional skills like PowerPoint.

In-person instruction will let students receive immediate feedback from instructors, and they will be able to collaborate with like-minded colleagues in their classrooms. In addition, they are likely to have access to a service provider’s computer equipment. However, they will need to commute to a campus, adding both time and cost to what is already the most expensive and time-consuming option for learning PowerPoint.

Live online courses address the need to be in a certain location for training. These courses let students learn from expert instructors without having to leave their own homes. However, they may need to provide their own hardware and software, which can be a barrier for some students, and they will lose out on the advantages offered by working close to other students.

For students who can’t attend a live training session, on-demand PowerPoint classes provide students with an alternative option. These courses give students greater flexibility over the pace and style of their training, making them perfect for students who need control over when and where their training takes place. These courses lack live instructors, so students who become lost in the material need to find other means of assistance, which can be time- and labor-intensive.

Why Learn PowerPoint?

PowerPoint is a useful application to learn for workers in almost any professional business setting. Learning PowerPoint will help professionals communicate information in practical and manageable ways, freeing them up to put their energy into more pressing concerns. PowerPoint is an incredibly versatile tool, so its uses will vary depending on a user’s individual needs. Still, almost anyone who needs to communicate with large groups of people will benefit from learning how to use PowerPoint.

For some users, PowerPoint will complement live presentations by condensing important information they may miss. Many audience members may find it challenging to follow a presenter who is only speaking aloud. Knowing how to use PowerPoint will let users ensure that their most important information is understood. For other users, PowerPoint will let them condense vital information to be easily understood and accessed even without a live presenter. This is ideal for compiling stylesheets, company policies, important links, phone numbers, or other information someone may need to reference in a professional setting.

Read more about why you should learn PowerPoint.

Level of Difficulty, Prerequisites, & Cost 

PowerPoint is a relatively lightweight program that is easy to understand and use. New users can pick up the basic functionalities of the program relatively easily. However, more advanced program features, such as integrating tables and Excel data or importing multimedia content into a PowerPoint presentation, can be more challenging to learn. Students learning PowerPoint will also likely want design and composition training, which some students find more challenging than learning technical skills.

There are no set prerequisites for learning PowerPoint. Students will need basic knowledge of computers, and they will need to have a system that can run PowerPoint. For more advanced PowerPoint skills training, students may need to learn how to use Microsoft Excel.

While there are several professional and educational routes to acquiring Microsoft Office 365 for free, new PowerPoint users may need to obtain the Office suite. There is a free trial of the program available, though once it has expired, new users can expect to need to purchase a full license. There is currently no way to purchase PowerPoint separately from the other Microsoft 365 programs. Users will either need to pay a monthly subscription fee of about seven dollars to access the program's premium version or a one-time purchase fee of about 150 dollars to access the classic Office programs. 

Read about how difficult it is to learn PowerPoint.

Learn PowerPoint with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Professionals looking to learn PowerPoint may consider skills development training through Noble Desktop. These courses, available in person at Noble’s Manhattan campus and through live online instruction, will give students hands-on training in designing and organizing information using PowerPoint. These courses, which expert instructors teach, will provide students with the experience needed to build evocative and memorable presentations. Even in online courses, class sizes are kept small, so students can interface directly with their instructor to receive assistance and feedback. Plus, Noble offers free retakes on all its courses, giving students more opportunities to practice building presentations in a professional environment.

Noble offers a PowerPoint Bootcamp, which teaches students, even those without prior PowerPoint experience, how to design compelling and evocative presentations. In this certificate-granting program, students will learn how to work with PowerPoint layouts, add animations and graphics, and work with layers, charts, graphs, and other objects. Then, students will receive advanced skills training, such as creating reusable PowerPoint templates, utilizing multimedia features in a presentation, and recording a presentation for later use. These skills will take students from novices to PowerPoint experts and prepare them to use the program professionally.

Since PowerPoint is a design program, Noble also offers students a PowerPoint Presentation Design course. This class focuses on the rhetorical and theoretical side of communicating through PowerPoint. In this class, students will learn design principles related to color, typography, graphic images, and other visual design elements. Whereas a bootcamp course teaches students how to use the tool to build presentations, this course will teach students how to design them, giving them the composition and design theories they need to make their presentations memorable and effective.

Key Insights

• PowerPoint is the most commonly used presentation design software currently on the market. Anyone working in a professional environment can benefit from learning some PowerPoint skills.
• There are many options available to students seeking to learn how to use PowerPoint, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Students should consider looking at the options before finalizing a course selection.
• Students can consider in-person training, live online instruction, or on-demand training courses. Students should consider whether or not they can travel to in-person classes and whether or not they can devote the time necessary to live online instruction.
• No matter how a student wants to study PowerPoint, Noble Desktop is there to help them locate the right course for them, including comprehensive PowerPoint training courses available live online and in person.