A presentation has two lives: the slideshow you run and the file you hand over. Check them separately, because each can fail in ways the other hides. A short, repeatable checklist for each catches nearly everything.
This is the final lesson of Presentations. It relies on the master from lesson one and the navigation from lesson four. Files and names here are invented practice material.
What should you check in each version?
In slideshow mode (run from slide 1):
- Every slide appears, in the right order.
- Text is readable from a distance and nothing overflows.
- Diagrams and arrows are aligned and labelled.
- Slide numbers are correct.
- Every link and button works, with a way back.
- Any animation or transition is helping, not distracting, and the slide is still understandable without it.
In the exported file (open it in a viewer, not the editor):
- The file opens, and the type is what the brief asks for.
- The page count matches the number of slides you meant to include.
- Fonts, pictures and colours look as designed.
- No text has moved or been cut off.
- Links still work, if the format supports links.
- The filename is clear, has no stray spaces or symbols, and ends with the right extension.
Some features, such as animation, may not exist in an exported document. That is normal, so the slide must make sense in its final state.
Worked example
Invented task: export the eight-slide beach club deck as a fixed-layout document to send to the club leader.
Step 1, slideshow pass: run from slide 1. All eight slides appear. The contents links work. On slide 5 an arrow label overlaps a box.
Step 2, fix and re-run: shorten the label, run slides 4 to 6 again. Now clean.
Step 3, export: use the export or save-as option, choose the fixed-layout format and name the file beach_club_talk_v1, with the extension the program adds.
Step 4, open the export in a viewer. It has 8 pages, matching 8 slides. Page 3 uses a substituted font and a line has wrapped.
Step 5, fix the cause: return to the deck, use a common font family on the master, re-export and recheck pages 3 and 5.
Step 6, record evidence: note the checks done and keep the screenshot of the final export open at page 5, showing the corrected label.
The slideshow check found a layout problem and the export check found a font problem. Neither check would have found both.
The mistake to watch for
Mistaken approach: the student sees the deck working in the editing view, renames
talk.pptxtotalk.pdfand submits it.The file will not open as a document, because renaming did not convert it.
The correction is to use the export option, then open the result. Treat the exported file as new work that must be checked, even if you have only just checked the slides.
Check yourself
1. A deck has 12 slides. The export has 14 pages. What do you check?
Show answer
Look for slides that overflowed onto a second page, hidden slides that were included, or notes pages that were added. Fix the cause and re-export.
2. An animation does not appear in the exported file. Is that a fault?
Show answer
Not necessarily. Many fixed-layout formats do not carry animation. Check that the slide still makes sense in its final state.
3. Why open the export in a viewer rather than the editing program?
Show answer
The editor may show the original fonts and layout. A viewer shows what another person will see.
Where this leads next
You have now covered all five skills in Presentations. Test them together with the mixed practice set, then run a finished task through the ICT practical task and evidence checker.
If you want a teacher to watch a full build and export from start to finish, see our online one-to-one ICT tuition.