Preview Slide Show Effects

While editing a presentation, hold down the CTRL key while clicking the slide show view button; this will open a tiny preview window showing that slide in slide show mode.
Using Ctrl-Drag to Copy

You can quickly make a copy of any object by holding down the CTRL key while you drag on the object.  You will then "drag off" a new copy.
Save Your Fonts with Your Presentation

If you're preparing a presentation that you plan to distribute to others, be sure that you check this option by clicking on the Tools button in the File/Save As dialog box.  This will work for most TrueType fonts on the Windows platform.
Using Different Backgrounds within one Presentation

 Users of PowerPoint 2000 and lower will only have two background designs automatically supplied with the Masters (counting both the Slide Master and the Title Master).  However, you can have any design you want on any slide. From the Format menu, select Background. Check the box that says "omit background items" and this will make the slide ignore the Slide Master's design. You are now free to add whatever design you want to this slide. If you want to do this to many slides at once, go to the Slide Sorter, select the slides, and then use the Format menu command. Remember though that if you choose to do something like put a photographic background on many of your slides instead of doing it once on the Master, that your file size may increase dramatically.

PowerPoint 2002 supports multiple background masters.
Easily Changing from Caps to Lower Case (or Vice Versa)

 If you have text that is in the wrong case, select the text, and then click Shift+F3 until it changes to the case style that you like. Clicking Shift+F3 toggles the text case between ALL CAPS, lower case, and Initial Capital styles. You'll be surprised how often you use this once you get the hang of it!
Selecting Small Objects

Hit the ESCAPE key to insure that nothing is current selected, then repeatedly hit the TAB key, which will toggle you through a selection of all of the objects on a slide. This is useful for selecting very small objects, or objects that are covered up by other larger objects.

How to Add a Menu Button to Your Slide Show

How to insert an email address into a PowerPoint slide?    
   
To insert an email address into a PowerPoint slide:
  1. Open your PowerPoint presentation.
  2. Select the object, text, or shape that you wish to assign the email link to.
  3. Right-click the object and Select "Action Settings" from the pop-up menu.
  4. The Action Settings dialog box appears. Click "Hyperlink to:"
  5. Select "URL..." from the drop-down list box.
  6. Enter your email address into the text box using this format: mailto:your_email_address@yourdomain.com. Replacing your_email_address with the actual email address, and yourdomain.com with the domain name of the email address.
How to play different music or sound tracks across different slides in the same PowerPoint 2002, 2003, or 2004 presentation?    
   
To play different music or sound tracks across different slides in the same PowerPoint 2002, 2003, or 2004 presentation:
  1. Choose "Movies and Sounds" from the Insert main menu option.
  2. Depending on your preference, select "Sound From Clip Organizer", or "Sound From File", or "Play CD Audio Track", or "Record Sound".
  3. Locate the Sound file that you wish to play across any number of your slides.
  4. Insert the sound.
  5. If you don't want the sound icon to appear in the presentation, drag it off the slide.
  6. If you are asked Do you want the sound to play automatically? Select "YES".
  7. Right click the sound's icon and select "Custom Animation" from the popup menu. The Custom Animation dialog box will open and your sound file should be listed.
  8. Click the arrow directly to the right of the sound icon to pull down various options.
  9. Select "Effect Options", and on the Effects tab, Select the radio button beside "Stop Playing after XXX slides". Select the number of slides that you would like the music to continue to play through. If you want the sound to continue through the end of the presentation, enter a very large number, for example 999.
  10. Select the Timing tab. To play automatically, the timing should be set to Start After Previous with a 0 second delay.
  11. Click OK to close the dialog box.
  12. Go the slide where you want your next music or sound track to begin playing.
  13. Repeat steps 1 - 11 for your next music or sound track.
  14. Repeat steps 1 -12 for every new music or sound track you wish to add to your presentation.
Applying Transition Effects
• You can apply transitions and build effects to multiple slides in Slide Sorter view.
• You can click the picture in the Transition dialog to preview the selected transition. From the Tools menu, choose Transition.
• You can preview all of your transitions in Slide Sorter view by clicking the transition icon beneath each slide.
• You can adjust the speed of your transition. From the Tools menu, choose Transition.