Albums | Why PowerPoint and Microsoft Office Still Matter (and How to Use Them Without Losing Your Mind)

Posted by Spice on March 19, 2025

Whoa! I know, slide decks make a lot of people groan. But hear me out. PowerPoint and the wider Microsoft Office suite still run most of the world’s meetings, classrooms, and pitches—so ignoring them is like refusing to learn how to drive in a car-centric town. My instinct said this a long time ago; then I started teaching teams to actually use the tools and, well, opinions changed. Initially I thought templates were the answer, but then I realized workflow beats aesthetics almost every time.

Here’s the thing. You can spend hours polishing fonts and transitions and still lose an audience. Or you can structure content so the visuals do the heavy lifting, freeing you to tell the story. Seriously? Yes. Story first. Design second. Delivery third. On one hand that sounds obvious, though actually it’s surprising how many people reverse those priorities—design, then content, then cram in notes at the last minute. That part bugs me.

Start with the audience. Who are they? What problem do they need solved? If you skip that step, the slides become noise. My first try teaching this to a marketing team failed pretty spectacularly (I thought they’d be into bold graphics; they needed simple metrics). I adjusted. We re-ran the session. It worked better. Small wins matter.

Practical workflows that actually save time

Okay, so check this out—simpler workflows beat fancy tricks. Use Slide Master and a small set of approved layouts. That’s not glamorous, but it reduces redo time by a lot. Use consistent spacing and a font stack that scales across devices; if something looks wrong on a different screen, your credibility slides with it. (Oh, and by the way: set your slide size early—switching late can be a nightmare.)

Collaboration is where Office shines if you set it up right. Share a single deck on OneDrive or Teams, not five versions attached to emails. My instinct said that people hate shared editing, though when you put guardrails in place—clear names for sections, a single owner for final checks—it works. Initially I thought version control would be overkill, but then a last-minute edit erased a whole slide deck in one meeting and I switched teams to a strict check-in model. It saved hours later.

Speaker notes are underrated. Use them to capture the thread of your talk, not a script you’ll read verbatim. Presenter View is your friend—practice with it so you’re not squinting at tiny notes while fumbling through the slides. Practice. Again. The tech can fail, though good rehearsal reduces panic when somethin’ goes sideways.

Design tips that don’t feel like design school

Contrast matters. Big heading, smaller subheadings, one key visual per slide. Avoid dense bullet lists—if you need bullets, aim for three to five items max. Color? Pick two primary colors and an accent. That’s it. My biased preference: neutral background, high-contrast text, and a single accent color for calls to action. It reads clean, and people seem to nod more.

Images should back up points, not decorate them. Use clear charts and label axes (very very important). If a chart takes longer to explain than the point it supports, simplify the data or move it to a handout. Accessibility is no longer optional; add alt text to images and use readable fonts. People remember accessible presentations. You’re not doing favors—you’re widening the audience.

PowerPoint features people ignore

Animations are fine if used with intent. Entrance and exit animations that guide attention are useful; spinning everything in is not. Slide Zoom and Morph can create cinematic effects for transitions between sections, though they also tempt you to overproduce. On one hand those features add polish; on the other hand they can distract from the message. Balance, pal—balance.

Try templates that enforce content, not just look. Create a slide outline template with placeholders: Problem, Evidence, Insight, Next Steps. Force the deck to tell a story. This approach helped a nonprofit I worked with move from meandering updates to tight decision-focused briefings. It took two sessions to get everyone on board. Worth it.

Where to get the software (and how to stay safe)

If you need to install or reinstall Office, use trusted sources. I’m biased toward official channels because the last thing you want is a dodgy installer. You can find options to download by searching Microsoft’s official site, or check with your organization’s IT. Some people ask about alternative download pages—if you choose that route, please be cautious and verify legitimacy first. For a commonly requested option, here’s a link that some folks use: microsoft office download. I’m not endorsing every source out there, though I do want you to be able to get going without wasting time.