Microsoft PowerPoint Geek Tip:

Save Your Fonts with Your Presentation

If you're preparing a presentation that you plan to distribute to others, be sure that you check this option by clicking on the Tools button in the File/Save As dialog box. This will work for most TrueType fonts on the Windows platform.

Microsoft PowerPoint Geek Tip:

Saving Your Toolbar Configurations

If you like to customize your UI, move toolbars around, configure toolbars, etc, then you'll want to know that all this information is stored in c:\windows\application data\microsoft\powerpoint\ppt.pcb

By copying this file, you can move your customizations to other machines.

Microsoft PowerPoint Geek Tip:

Getting Rid of Tri-Pane View

Unfortunately there is no way to permanently avoid this improvement, but you can quickly get rid of it by holding down the CTRL key when you click on the Slide View button.

Microsoft PowerPoint Geek Tip:

Preview Slide Show Effects

While editing a presentation, hold down the CTRL key while clicking the slide show view button; this will open a tiny preview window showing that slide in slide show mode.

Microsoft PowerPoint Geek Tip:

Setting the Default Text Style

If you want to change the style of the text that appears when you type things that aren't the title or the slide body, do the following: Make sure no objects are selected. From the Format menu, select Font. Make all the changes that you want there, and click OK. From that point on, new text will be created in that style.
To Set the formatting for the title or slide body objects, go to the Slide Master and format these objects on the master.

Microsoft PowerPoint Geek Tip:

Using More than One Guide

If you like using guides, but wish there were more, you can create additional Guides by simply holding down the CTRL key while dragging on an existing Guide. This will create a new guide. To get rid of guides, just drag them off the edge of the slide.

Microsoft PowerPoint Geek Tip:

Using Guides to Measure

Make the Guides visible by using View/Guides. Then, hold down the SHIFT key while you click-and-hold a guide; the tooltip for the guide will display 0:00. As you move the guide, the distance the guide covers from the beginning of the drag will be displayed in the units of your ruler. In this way you can measure distances between objects, place guides at specific places, etc.

Microsoft PowerPoint Geek Tip:

Easily Changing from Caps to Lower Case (or Vice Versa)

If you have text that is in the wrong case, select the text, and then click Shift+F3 until it changes to the case style that you like. Clicking Shift+F3 toggles the text case between ALL CAPS, lower case, and Initial Capital styles. You'll be surprised how often you use this once you get the hang of it!