Inbuilt Laser Pointer [Lesser Known PPT Features]
If you want to draw attention to something on the slide, you generally go to the screen and use your hands. This is fine if you are in a small conference room. If you are smart, you might carry a laser pointer (which now-a-days comes inbuilt in wireless presenters). You can also move your mouse and take the cursor to any part of the screen. But did you know there was a free inbuilt laser pointer in PowerPoint?
If you want to highlight anything on your screen (in Slide Show mode), you can press Control (CTRL) and then left click on the mouse and move it. Instead of the normal cursor arrow you will see a laser pointer symbol. The laser pointer dot of a wireless presenter is small but this pointer is bigger, hence easier to see.
Vivek, this is something Microsoft introduced in PowerPoint 2010 -- so those who use 2007 or 2003 (or any of the PowerPoint for Mac versions) won't be able to see the inbuilt laser pointer. In PowerPoint 2010, you can change the color of the laser pointer -- go to Slide Show | Set Up Slide Show. In the resulting dialog box, you can choose from red, blue, and green laser pointer colors. Choices made are presentation specific, and not machine specific.
ReplyDeleteThanks Geetesh for the information. Have you ever used this feature while presenting?
ReplyDeleteVery rarely, Vivek since I almost always have a real laser pointer that lets me walk around the room -- this virtual pointer restricts me to stay in front of the laptop :)
ReplyDeleteTrue. It can only be used when you are presenting while sitting at your desk. In one-to-one presentations. Carrying a wireless presenter and moving around the room is also my style of presenting.
ReplyDeleteWhat we need is a presenter remote that has a mouse and controllable buttons. We need a button to hold down the control key and the mouse to move the cursor...
ReplyDeleteThere are many wireless presenters out there which have a mouse feature. I have an HP presenter with the same functionality.
ReplyDelete