how to create a powerpoint presentation from an outline

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How to make a powerpoint presentation from an outline.

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Compose your outline, create the powerpoint presentation.

When you plan out your slideshow ahead of time, you might use an outline. This helps determine the content for each slide. In Microsoft PowerPoint, you can pull that outline right into the application and transform it into a presentation.

If you already have an outline, you're one step ahead. If not, you can use an application like Microsoft Word or Notepad for your outline.

Related: How to Create and Work with Multilevel Lists in Microsoft Word

Each line in the outline displays on a separate slide even if you have a multilevel outline .

If you use numbering or bullets in an application like Word , those normally won't carry over to the slides. But with software like Notepad, they may. So, depending on the application you use for the outline, this is something to keep in mind.

You can add the outline to an existing presentation, new blank slideshow, or one with a template . Open PowerPoint and choose the slideshow or make a new one.

Related: How to Create a Custom Template in PowerPoint

On either the Home or Insert tab, select the New Slide drop-down menu. Pick "Slides From Outline."

Browse for the outline file on your computer, select it, and click "Insert."

After a moment, you'll see your outline load into PowerPoint. As mentioned, each line of the outline is its own slide.

From there, you can add text, include images, insert animated charts , and use videos as you normally would.

Creating a PowerPoint slideshow from an outline gives you a good jump-start on your presentation.

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Erin Wright Writing

Writing-Related Software Tutorials

How to Convert a Microsoft Word Outline into PowerPoint Slides

By Erin Wright

This tutorial shows how to convert a Microsoft Word outline into PowerPoint Slides.

Before making the conversion, we first have to format the Word outline levels. For an in-depth look at outlining, please see last week’s tutorial “ How to Use Outline View in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac) .”

Watch all the steps shown here in real time!

Explore more than 250 writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel .

Table of Contents:

• How to Format the Word Outline Levels for Conversion to Slides
• How to Convert a Word Outline to PowerPoint Slides

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365 and PowerPoint for Microsoft 365. These steps also apply to Word 2021, PowerPoint 2021, Word 2019, PowerPoint 2019, Word 2016, and PowerPoint 2016.

Are you on a Mac? Please see “ How to Convert a Microsoft Word Outline into PowerPoint Slides on Mac .”

How to Format the Outline Levels for Conversion to Slides

• Select the File tab followed by Save As to save your Word file under a new name. This is an important step because we will be changing the heading structure of the document.
• Select the View tab.
• Select Outline in the Views group.

• Select the outline items that should appear as slide titles and then select Level 1 in the Outline Level menu.

Pro Tip: Press and Hold the Ctrl key to select multiple items.

• Select the outline items that should appear as first-level bullet points in the slides and then select Level 2 in the Outline Level menu (see figure 2).
• Continue to select items that should appear as lower-level bullet points in the slides and then select the outline level one level lower in the Outline Level menu (see figure 2). For example, select Level 3 to create a second-level bullet point in the slide.
• Save your new Word file and close Word.

How to Convert a Word Outline into PowerPoint Slides

• Open PowerPoint and select Blank Presentation from the Home screen.

• Select the New Slide menu arrow.
• Select Slides from Outline from the drop-down menu.

• Locate and select the Word document in the Insert Outline dialog box and then select the Insert button.

The Word outline should now be converted to PowerPoint slides. This process may take several moments depending upon the length of the outline.

• The first slide will be blank to create a title slide or cover slide. If a title slide is not required, right-click the blank slide and then select Delete Slide from the shortcut menu.

Do you want to convert an entire Word document to PowerPoint slides? If so, see “ How to Convert Microsoft Word Documents to PowerPoint Slides Using Word for the Web .”

Related Resources

How to Create Numbered Lists in PowerPoint (PC & Mac)

How to Insert a Linked PowerPoint Slide in Microsoft Word

How to Convert PDFs to PowerPoint Slides in Adobe Acrobat (PC & Mac)

Updated December 12, 2023

• Microsoft Word Tutorials
• Adobe Acrobat Tutorials
• PowerPoint Tutorials
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• Editing Tips
• Writing-Related Resources

Create and print a presentation in Outline view

Outline view in PowerPoint displays your presentation as an outline made up of the titles and main text from each slide. Each title appears on the left side of the pane that contains the Outline tab, along with a slide icon and slide number. The main text is indented under the slide title. Graphic objects appear only as small notations on the slide icon in Outline view.

Working in Outline view is particularly handy if you want to make global edits, get an overview of your presentation, change the sequence of bullets or slides, or apply formatting changes.

When you're creating your outline, think about how many slides you need. You probably want at least:

A main title slide

An introductory slide that lists the major points or areas in your presentation

One slide for each point or area that is listed on the introductory slide

A summary slide that repeats the list of major points or areas in your presentation

By using this basic structure, if you have three major points or areas to present, you can plan to have a minimum of six slides: a title slide, an introductory slide, one slide for each of the three major points or areas, and a concluding summary slide.

If you have a large amount of information to present in any of your main points or areas, you may want to create a sub-grouping of slides for that material by using the same basic outline structure.

Consider how much time each slide should be visible on the screen during your presentation. A good standard estimate is from two to five minutes per slide.

Create a presentation in Outline view

On the View tab, in the Presentation Views group, click Outline .

In the slide thumbnail pane, place the pointer, and then either paste your content or begin typing text.

The first text you type will be a title, indicated by boldface type. Press ENTER when you've completed the title.

PowerPoint uses the Enter key on the keyboard to start a new line in an outline. The new line is automatically at the same hierarchical level as the one you just typed. To change that hierarchical level:

Press the Tab key on the keyboard to move the current line downward one level in the outline hierarchy.

Press Shift+Tab to move the current line upward one level in the outline hierarchy.

View a presentation in Outline view

Print a presentation in outline view.

Open the presentation that you want to print.

Click File > Print .

In the Print dialog box, under Settings , select the second box (which by default is set to Full Page Slides ) to expand the list of options. Then, under Print Layout , select Outline .

You can choose a page orientation (Portrait or Landscape) in the Printer Properties dialog box.

Click Print .

(For more complete information on printing, see the article Print your PowerPoint slides or handouts .)

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How to create PowerPoint slides from an Outline

However, you can also create sub-points if you want. Once the file is created, save the file in DOCX or TXT format – depending upon which app you are using to create the Outline.

Can you make a PowerPoint from an outline?

How do you create a new slide using the outline pane, sudipmajhi@twc.