Change the Title of a PowerPoint Slide

We'll now change the titles of each slide, so that they make more sense for our presentation. The seven titles we have at the moment, which you can see in the Outline view, are as follows:

1. AutoContent wizard
2. Introduction
3. Topic One
4. Topic Two
5. Topic Three
6. Real Life
7. Conclusion

We want them changed to these:

1. AutoContent wizard
2. Introduction
3. AutoContent wizard – Step One
4. AutoContent wizard – Step Two
5. AutoContent wizard – Step Three
6. AutoContent wizard – Step Four
7. Conclusion

As you can see, the first two are the same. So we only need to change five titles. To change a title, click a slide icon in Outline view. Click on slide number three to highlight just this slide, as in the following image:

Notice the title (Topic One) on the main stage, and how it matches the heading in the Outline view. We'll be changing the bulleted list shortly. But to change the title to "AutoContent wizard - Step One", click inside of the text Topic One on the main stage. You'll see a text box surround your text:

The text box tells you that you are in Edit mode, and that changes can be made. Delete the text "Topic One", and type "AutoContent wizard - Step One" in its place (without the quote marks). Your screen will then look like this:

The text we've chosen is a bit too long for the textbox, so it's continued on a second line. We can cure this by reducing the font size.

Changing the Font Size

To change the size of the font, highlight just the text "Step One":

On the toolbar at the top, locate the Font tools:

(If you can't see these, click View from the menu bar. Then click Toolbars > Formatting.) The font itself is Arial Narrow, and the size is 48. Bold is also selected. Change the size from 48 to 28. You title will then look like this:

It's still running on to two lines, though. So highlight the rest of the text:

And now change the font size from 48 to 36. Your title should now fit on one line:

Now that you've successfully changed the title of one slide, go ahead and change the rest of the titles. But don't forget what your Font sizes are! What you don't want is titles with abrupt changes to the size of the font (or the type of font used) because it will look very jarring to your audience.
But when you're done, your screen should look like this:

Notice how the Outline View still has the title on two lines, but that in the slide itself it's on one line. This is just because of the width of the Outline view. You change the width of the Outline View. Hold your mouse over the dividing line until your mouse pointer changes shape:

Now hold down your left mouse button and drag left or right. Let go when you're happy with the size. But your Outline view should look like this, with all 7 titles showing:

Click on each one in turn, and then notice the main screen, and what your slide looks like. But we can now do something about all those bullets, and change them to suit our own presentation. We'll do that in the next part.