Getting started with PPT Productivity add-in for PowerPoint

Welcome to PPT Productivity! This page provides a step by step guide for getting started with PPT Productivity with a Quick Start feature demonstration video, links and information about our training.

If you haven't already done so, download a free 30 day trial of PPT Productivity (no credit card details required to access the trial).

Please note - if you're a corporate customer searching for your company's specific training page, please contact us for assistance.

Getting started Video and step by step guide

The video below is a 10 minute overview of getting started with PPT Productivity's Power Tools. Power Tools is the most full featured product and the product you access during the free trial. You can either watch the video, or scroll down to find a list of the steps to get started.

Steps for Getting Started with PPT Productivity add-in for PowerPoint

1. Download the free trial: If you or your company have already purchased a license, after installing (/install) and entering your license key details, you can skip to step 3. But if you're just discovering PPT Productivity, download a free trial to access all features for 30 days. No credit card details required - it's a genuine free trial.
2. Open PowerPoint and activate: Once you install PPT Productivity and open PowerPoint, you will be prompted to register to access the free trial.
3. Turn on the Toolbars: The PPT Productivity Ribbon and toolbars should automatically display once you activate your license, but if not you can toggle them on or off from the top left hand corner. Your screen should look like the screenshot above. The Format Toolbar will display to the left of your screen (you can also move the Format Toolbar to dock at the top of your screen just beneath the Ribbon). The Slide Library Toolbar and Color Palette Toolbar will display to the right. There is also a Charts Toolbar, but we recommend turning the Chart Toolbar on only when editing charts.
4. Try the features: We created PPT Productivity to make most features super intuitive, so the best way to learn the features is to try them! If you'd like a walk through, you can book a free personalized demo. We recommend trying the features before your demo, as it gives you a chance to ask specific questions about features.
5. Set up your Slide Library: The Slide Library is one of the most powerful features. It lets you:
   • Download standard elements and slides for reuse: PPT Productivity has a downloadable library of ~2200 shapes and slides you can reuse. Watch this quick video to see the steps to download the library of elements and slides for PowerPoint.
   • Save your own slides and shapes for reuse: Take a few minutes to set up your library by saving some of your favorite slides and shapes that you'd like to reuse. Simply select a shape or slide, click 'Save Shape' on the Slide Library toolbar, choose a name for your shape and you're done! Now you can search for your shapes or slides and quickly add them to your presentations (note - deselect the "use source formatting" checkbox if you want the slides or shapes to recolor according to the template you are using).
6. Create a Team Slide Library to share shapes and slides across a team: This feature is a game changer for team leads who want to boost the polish of their teams deliverables! Create a Library of slides and shapes for your team. Note that users can be on different license keys and still access a Team Slide Library - all you need is an active Power Tools license and shared access to a location in your company share drive where your Team library can be hosted (PPT Productivity does not host your Team Slide Library files, so all your company slides and elements stay within your company IT stack).
7. Pin your default template: PPT Productivity's Template Manager feature makes it easy to set your preferred default template in PowerPoint. Plus it lets you view your other templates, irrespective of where they are stored across your laptop or share drive folders. To set your default template, simply click the Template Manager feature, click on your preferred template and check the 'Set as Default Template' checkbox.
8. Customize the Settings: The settings button lets you specify a lot of options that make it faster to create slides according to your preferences. We recommend you take a moment to review/ update the following:
   • Format Title: Specify the font size of your first sentence and your remaining sentences for your title. Great when you typically prefer a larger first line and smaller second line font in your titles.
   • PowerPoint Shortcuts: Confirm that the shortcuts checkbox is enabled. If you're a McKinsey alumni, you probably want to select the McKinsey aligned pre-set shortcuts option. There's also an option to enable F4 or Ctrl+Y (the Redo/ Repeat shortcut) to work for PPT Productivity's commands as well as standard PowerPoint commands.
   • No Fly Zone: If you have additional brand elements on your template you need to avoid or just a preference around the space where text should or shouldn't be, you can specify your 'No fly zone' to make life easy.
   • Status Stamps: Review the status stamps and make any changes based on your default language or terminology preferences. The status stamps are fully customizable.