IT for Donuts: six PowerPoint shortcuts that’ll make you a presenting pro

IT for Donuts: six PowerPoint shortcuts that’ll make you a presenting pro

IT for Donuts is our regular weekly feature where we explain a tech term or answer a question about business IT.

This week, we reveal six simple PowerPoint shortcuts that can make your presentations super-slick. If you want to become a presenting pro, read on

Useful PowerPoint shortcuts

All these shortcuts will work when you’re actually giving a presentation with PowerPoint, rather than when you’re editing your presentation.

Try them out before you use them in anger, to make sure you’re comfortable and happy with how they work.

During your presentation:

• Press B on your keyboard to temporarily show a blank, black slide.
• Press W to temporarily show a blank, white slide.
• Press CTRL + P to turn the mouse pointer into a pen, so you can draw directly on your slide.
• Press CTRL + E to turn the mouse pointer into an eraser, so you can erase what you’ve drawn.
• Press CTRL + A to turn the mouse pointer into an arrow, so you can point things out on the slide.
• If your slide includes video or audio, press ALT + P to play or pause it.

More on this topic:

• Shortcuts to help you create a PowerPoint presentation
• How to deliver a great PowerPoint presentation
• How to know when PowerPoint isn’t the right tool for the job