What’s the secret of a good presentation or a good presenter? Usually, a good presentation is low on words and high on pictures (could be animations, tables and charts too). It also depends on how well the presenter is able to put his point across through his oratory skills and making use of intelligent highlighting on the slideshow. So, even though it may not be a necessity, having proficiency in using the presentation tool helps.
Mastering the keyboard shortcuts is one way to gain that proficiency. Today we shall take up the best keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft PowerPoint (Windows), the undoubted leader in the world of presentation tools.
Note: These shortcuts are for PowerPoint 2013. However, most of them will work on lower versions as well.
Slide Shortcuts
These shortcuts will help you quickly navigate across slides when the presentation is on.
To Perform this Action | Press this Key |
Start Slideshow | F5, Shift + F5 |
Go to next slide/animation | N, Enter, Page Down, Right Arrow, Down Arrow, Spacebar, Mouse Click |
Return to previous slide/animation | P, Page Up, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, Backspace |
Go to specific slide | (Slide) Number + Enter |
End slideshow | ESC |
Stop/Restart automatic presentation | S |
Go to next hidden slide | H |
Pen and Pointer Shortcuts
You can use the mouse pointer and different presentation pointer tools. These will help you make your presentation more interactive.
To Enable/Disable Pointer Type | Press this Key |
Change to Pen | Ctrl + P |
Change to Laser | Ctrl + L |
Change to Arrow | Ctrl + A |
Hide Pointer | Ctrl + H |
Change to highlighter | Ctrl + I |
Change to Eraser | Ctrl + E |
Link Shortcuts
Your presentation might contain links to websites. Here are the quickest ways to play with them without the use of mouse.
To Perform this Action | Press this Key |
Go to first/next link | TAB |
Go to last/previous link | SHIFT + TAB |
Mouse Click equivalent when link is selected | Enter |
Mouse Over equivalent when link is selected | SHIFT + ENTER |
Zoom Shortcuts
Who does not need to zoom in and zoom out at times on audience demand. Now, you can do it easily.
To Perform this Action | Press this Key |
Zoom out of a slide | Ctrl + ‘-‘ or – |
Zoom in to a slide | Ctrl + ‘+’ or + |
Screen Blackout Shortcuts
Sometimes you need to hide the presentation so the the focus of the audience is on the speaker and not on the presentation. Here’s how to do it.
To Perform this Action | Press this Key |
Display blank black slide | B or Period (.) |
Display blank white slide | W or Comma (,) |
Other Shortcuts
To Perform this Action | Press this Key |
Toggle show/hide Windows taskbar | Ctrl + T |
Display the shortcut menu | Shift + F10 |
Show all slides dialog box | Ctrl + S |
Media Shortcuts
Does your presentation has media embedded onto it? These controls will make the handling easier.
To Perform this Media Action | Press this Key |
Play/Pause Media | Alt + P |
Stop Playback | Alt + Q |
Go to next | Alt + End |
Go to previous | Alt + Home |
Increase volume | Alt + Up Arrow |
Decrease volume | Alt + Down Arrow |
Fast Forward/Backward | Alt + Shift + Right/Left Arrow |
Mute/Unmute media | Alt + U |
Bonus: Touch Gestures
Are you using a touch device? If yes, you will find these gestures really helpful and easy to use.
To Perform this Action | Press this Key |
Go to next slide/animation | Swipe Forward |
Return to previous slide/animation | Swipe Backward |
Zoom out of a slide | Pinch |
Zoom in a slide | Stretch |
Show/Hide navigation buttons | Tap |
Zoom in/out of a slide | Double-Tap |
Conclusion
Will these shortcuts help you present more productively? They definitely helped me. At times, my colleagues started to wonder about the way I used the keyboard during my presentations. It’s your turn to make an impression now.
Photo Credit: .faramarz
Last updated on 02 February, 2022
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