Getting started with PPT Productivity add-in for PowerPoint

Welcome to PPT Productivity add-in for PowerPoint! This page provides a step by step guide for getting started with PPT Productivity's Power Tools. Power Tools is PPT Productivity's full featured product version (Power Tools is the version available if you do the free trial).

This page includes a Quick Start feature demonstration video, links and information about the training resources available to you.

If you haven't already done so, download a free 30 day trial of PPT Productivity Power Tools. Note that you do not need to provide credit card details in order to access the free 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 add-in for PowerPoint. We recommend watching the video, or scroll down to find a list of the steps to get started.

If you would like a more in-depth walkthrough of features, there is also a 45 minute PPT Productivity training video . We recommend watching the more detailed video after you have started to use the features.

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

1. Download the PPT Productivity Power Tools free trial: If you or your company have already purchased a license, after installing (/install) and entering your license key details, 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 Power Tools license. If not, you can toggle them on or off from the top left hand corner. Your screen should look like the screenshot above.
   • PPT Productivity's 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.
   • The Proofing Tools Toolbar launches by clicking the Inspect button in the Toolbars group on the PPT Productivity Ribbon
   • The Slide Builder Toolbar launches by clicking the Build button in the Toolbars group at the left of the PPT Productivity Ribbon
   • The Charts Toolbar launches by clicking the Chart button on the top left of the PPT Productivity Ribbon (we recommend only launching the Chart Toolbar 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! You can also watch a pre-recorded training session or book a free personalized demo with one of our team. We recommend trying the features before booking a demo, as it gives you a chance to ask any specific questions about features.
5. Set up your Slide Library: PPT Productivity's Slide Library is one of the most powerful features. The Slide Library lets you:
   • Download an extensive standard elements and slides ready to use: PPT Productivity has a downloadable library of ~2200 shapes and slides. These are royalty-free and when you add them to a presentation, they will automatically recolor to match your presentation's template colors. Watch this quick video to see the steps to download the library of elements and slides for PowerPoint.
   • Save slides and shapes for reuse: Take a few minutes to set up your Slide Library by saving some slides and shapes that you'd like to reuse. Simply select a shape or slide, click 'Save Shape' on the Slide Library toolbar and enter a name for the shape. That's it. From the Slide Library Toolbar you can search for your shapes or slides and quickly add them to your presentations (note - if you deselect the "use source formatting" checkbox, the slides or shapes from the library will automatically recolor when added to a presentation, to match 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 teams seeking to make reuse of slides easy. Learn more about how to create a Library of slides and shapes for your team. Note that users can be a shared team license key, or they can be on individual 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. Note that when using the Team Slide Library feature, all of the slides and elements that you save into the Library remain stored within your company IT stack or on your local machine - you retain full control of your work product.
7. Pin your default template: PPT Productivity's Template Manager feature makes it easy to set your preferred default template in PowerPoint. But it also lets you view and easily access 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 your preferred template and check the 'Set as Default Template' checkbox.
8. Customize the Settings: PPT Productivity's settings button on the Ribbon 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 font size of your first sentence and 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 the shortcuts checkbox is enabled. If you're a McKinsey alumni, you probably want to select the McKinsey aligned pre-set shortcuts option and Bain alumni will love the Bain aligned pre-set shortcuts. 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 a preference around the space where text should or shouldn't be, 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. All status stamps are fully customizable.
9. Customize the Proofing Tools Settings: Proofing Tools has a detailed set of options you can configure to streamline reviews of PowerPoint presentations. You can nominate what you would like to check for when reviewing - for example consistency of line weights, whether or not periods should be used at the end of bullet points, consistency of bullet point styles, sentence spacing and much more. There is also an option to sync your settings to your template, so that Proofing Tools matches any font styles, sizes, colors and bullet styles from your template. Proofing Tools settings don't need to be set up immediately.

We hope you enjoy using PPT Productivity. Our friendly support team is happy to help along the way if you need any assistance - please contact us with any questions. You might also find the feature videos on our website helpful - each feature has a feature page with a brief overview video and there is a search bar at the top to help you navigate.