WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:11.429 --> 00:00:15.259 Using regular text to create your slides is fine in most cases. 00:00:15.259 --> 00:00:20.250 But for something that requires more organization, you might want to try a table instead. 00:00:20.250 --> 00:00:25.630 This will let you enter your text in columns and rows, instead of lines or paragraphs. 00:00:25.630 --> 00:00:32.250 To create a table, go to the Insert tab… click the Table command… then mouse over 00:00:32.250 --> 00:00:34.989 the grid to select the number of cells you want. 00:00:34.989 --> 00:00:41.820 My table's going to be pretty big: 6 rows… by 6 columns. 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:46.000 Now click… and that's all it takes. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:49.530 You might need to move your table to get it in the right place on the slide. 00:00:49.530 --> 00:00:52.329 You can also resize it if you need to. 00:00:52.329 --> 00:00:58.760 Just place your cursor on the edge… click, hold, and drag… and then let go. 00:00:58.760 --> 00:01:05.430 To change the size, use the sizing handles here. 00:01:05.430 --> 00:01:08.030 Now we can enter some of our text. 00:01:08.030 --> 00:01:13.150 All you have to do is click the cell you want… then go ahead and start typing. 00:01:13.150 --> 00:01:17.130 You can also use the tab key or the arrow keys to navigate. 00:01:17.130 --> 00:01:25.030 Right now, I'm using the down arrow to make my way down this first column. 00:01:25.030 --> 00:01:28.170 Adding more columns or rows to a table is easy. 00:01:28.170 --> 00:01:33.040 I'd like to try inserting one under the row that starts with Mystery. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:38.350 To do this, go up to the Layout tab… then look to the options in the Rows & Columns 00:01:38.350 --> 00:01:39.650 group. 00:01:39.650 --> 00:01:44.189 Here you can insert a row above or below your current position, or a column to the left 00:01:44.189 --> 00:01:49.939 or the right. 00:01:49.939 --> 00:01:53.040 To delete a row or column, the steps are fairly similar. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:02:01.090 First, place your cursor in one of your cells… then click the command that says Delete. 00:02:01.090 --> 00:02:06.119 In this example, we're going to delete the row. 00:02:06.119 --> 00:02:08.790 Let's fast forward to the finished table. 00:02:08.790 --> 00:02:12.750 Now that the data's filled in, I thought we'd take a closer look at the Layout tab, which 00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:15.950 appears anytime you have your table selected. 00:02:15.950 --> 00:02:19.310 The first thing I'd like to do is make the table a little bigger. 00:02:19.310 --> 00:02:23.260 But instead of relying on the sizing handles, I'm going to adjust the height of my current 00:02:23.260 --> 00:02:29.239 cell here… then click Distribute Rows to make the rows even again. 00:02:29.239 --> 00:02:35.000 Next, we're going to click the edge of the table to select the entire thing… and then 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.019 change the text alignment using the commands in the Alignment group. 00:02:39.019 --> 00:02:41.629 I think centered looks the best. 00:02:41.629 --> 00:02:48.019 Finally, I'd like to combine these two cells into one, also known as merging. 00:02:48.019 --> 00:02:53.549 This option is useful if your table has data that spans several different columns or rows. 00:02:53.549 --> 00:03:02.579 All you have to do is select the cells you want… then click the Merge Cells command. 00:03:02.579 --> 00:03:04.689 So this is looking pretty good. 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:09.519 I think I'd like to change some of the formatting now, including the colors and the borders. 00:03:09.519 --> 00:03:14.109 We can do that using the options on the Design tab. 00:03:14.109 --> 00:03:18.400 Notice how the table has a yellow color scheme that matches the text on the slide? 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:19.579 That's no accident. 00:03:19.579 --> 00:03:24.230 Basically, the table is already using a table style that's designed to go with our current 00:03:24.230 --> 00:03:25.230 theme. 00:03:25.230 --> 00:03:30.559 To check out the other styles, open the drop-down menu… then mouse over the thumbnails for 00:03:30.559 --> 00:03:32.139 a preview. 00:03:32.139 --> 00:03:39.060 I'm looking for something with a nice contrasting color scheme. 00:03:39.060 --> 00:03:43.299 You can also customize the way your table is laid out using the Table Style Options 00:03:43.299 --> 00:03:44.680 here. 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:49.609 These let you control things like special formatting in the first column… and also 00:03:49.609 --> 00:03:51.989 the header row. 00:03:51.989 --> 00:03:55.819 These will all have a different effect depending on your current table style, so you might 00:03:55.819 --> 00:04:00.349 need to experiment to get the look you want. 00:04:00.349 --> 00:04:04.609 You may have noticed that this table doesn't have borders between most of the cells. 00:04:04.609 --> 00:04:10.419 To add or change the border, just select the cells you want to modify… then look to the 00:04:10.419 --> 00:04:12.779 Draw Borders group. 00:04:12.779 --> 00:04:25.740 Here you can select a line style… line weight… and also a color for your border. 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:30.400 When you're ready, click the drop-down arrow next to the Borders command… then choose 00:04:30.400 --> 00:04:32.240 where you want the border to go. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:40.479 I want mine to go on the inside, which will place the border between the cells. 00:04:40.479 --> 00:04:45.180 As you can see, there are lots of ways to use and customize tables in PowerPoint. 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:49.580 They can make your data easier to understand, and also add a little extra something to your 00:04:49.580 --> 00:04:50.330 presentation.