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Structure Your Tables

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About this lesson

Add tabular data to your presentation in the form of a table and change the table’s appearance.

Lesson versions

Multiple versions of this lesson are available, choose the appropriate version for you:

2010, 2013, 2016, 2019/365.

Exercise files

Download the ‘before’ and ‘after’ PowerPoint presentations from the video tutorial and try the lesson yourself.

Structure Your Tables.pptx
45.3 KB
Structure Your Tables - Solution.pptx
48.4 KB

Quick reference

Structure Your Tables

Working with tables.

When to use

To insert an array of data in tabular format on a slide.

Instructions

To insert a table

  • On the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click the arrow below the Table button, and:
    • use the pointer to select the appropriate number of rows and columns, or
    • select the Insert Table menu item, or
    • select the Draw Table menu item, or
    • select the Excel Spreadsheet menu item.
  • Click an Insert Table icon within a content placeholder.

To format a table

  • With the table selected, click the Design tab, and then use the options in the Table Style options Group.
  • Options include a formatted:
    • Header row
    • Total row
    • Banded rows
    • First column
    • Last column
    • Banded columns
  • A preset format can be applied to a table by selecting the table, clicking the Design tab, and then selecting a table style from the Table Styles group.

Also note:

Right-clicking a table provides options to merge or split cells, etc. These options are also available on the Layout tab on the ribbon. Options are also available on the Mini Ribbon when you right click on the table.

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  • 00:05 There are many ways to display information in PowerPoint,
  • 00:07 whether it's by charts, pictures, or various diagrams.
  • 00:10 And this video is one of those ways, and its tables,
  • 00:13 that is getting them into a PowerPoint slide,
  • 00:15 getting them designed very efficiently, and generally, working with them.
  • 00:19 Because sooner or later, whether it's financial or scientific data,
  • 00:22 you'll probably need a table.
  • 00:24 So there's a number of ways that we can insert a table.
  • 00:27 First, we'll go to the Insert tab of the ribbon.
  • 00:29 The Table drop down button, and that gives us four different options.
  • 00:33 We can insert a table by selecting from these predefined rows and column ranges.
  • 00:37 And as I move my mouse over the cells, the highlight changes, and
  • 00:41 that shows us what we're going to select.
  • 00:45 And notice also that the preview of the table on the slide
  • 00:47 updates as I move my mouse around.
  • 00:50 And when I select a particular range, I would click on that bounding cell, and
  • 00:55 the table would be dropped onto our slide.
  • 00:58 But alternatively,
  • 00:58 we can click the Insert table menu item that gives us a dialogue box to type into.
  • 01:04 Or we can use the spinner to select a specific number of columns and rows.
  • 01:08 Now, notice that the default is five columns and two rows.
  • 01:13 So I cancel that, we can draw a table with our mouse, and
  • 01:16 our mouse cursor turns into a pencil.
  • 01:19 But note, this is really only about drawing the outside boundary
  • 01:22 box of the table.
  • 01:23 And we need to, then, populate our table with rows and columns,
  • 01:26 in order to get the cells that we need.
  • 01:28 And also, we can insert a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
  • 01:32 Now, this option is not so much about browsing to an existing file, but
  • 01:36 embedding the Excel application within our slide to work within.
  • 01:39 Clicking outside of the application returns us to PowerPoint, while double
  • 01:44 clicking the Excel table- like icon takes us back into the Excel application.
  • 01:50 In addition to commands on the ribbon,
  • 01:52 we can also insert a table from within a content placeholder on a slide.
  • 01:56 Notice this insert table icon, and that also gives us the same
  • 02:01 dialog box that we saw before with the default five columns and two rows.
  • 02:07 Now, content placeholders are really the subject of another video.
  • 02:11 And I'll just click OK, but also, we can of course copy a range of cells from
  • 02:15 within, say, Excel, and then switch to PowerPoint and paste them in.
  • 02:20 And we would use the smart tag to select our paste options, such as whether we
  • 02:24 wanna use the destination style, or keep the source formatting, and so on.
  • 02:30 And you can explore these options when you have time.
  • 02:33 Now, within this range of cells on the slide, I'm going to paste in some tabular,
  • 02:37 or table type information that I already have on the clipboard.
  • 02:40 So Ctrl+V and there's our information.
  • 02:45 Now if I go to the very last cell, and that is the last column, and
  • 02:49 the last row, which is really the last available cell.
  • 02:53 Notice if I press Enter, I got a new line.
  • 02:57 So backspace to take that new line out, but if I press Tab on the keyboard,
  • 03:01 I get a new row, and that's a very simple way to add new rows, so
  • 03:05 that you can put your information in the table.
  • 03:08 So in the table style option group, we can highlight the Header Row,
  • 03:13 the Total Row, and rows to contrast the rows between each other.
  • 03:18 Or we can highlight the first or last column,
  • 03:21 as well as bin the columns to highlight the difference between the columns.
  • 03:25 And so that's mostly about options to give you contrast in your table
  • 03:29 to increase the clarity of it when you present.
  • 03:32 Notice also the various types of table styles.
  • 03:36 They help enormously with the formatting and
  • 03:38 to a certain extent, the style of your table.
  • 03:41 The table styles that you will see will differ from theme to theme, so
  • 03:46 once you change the theme, your table styles will also change.
  • 03:50 So I can select from a range of styles that are available, such as best match for
  • 03:55 the document, or light, medium, or dark.
  • 03:57 So I'm just simply going to select a particular style, and
  • 04:00 that works quite well.
  • 04:02 Notice also options to change shading, borders, and various effects of the table.
  • 04:08 And of course, these options, particularly,
  • 04:09 the effects options, are not as extensive as working with shapes.
  • 04:14 There are also options to draw a table, as well as an eraser,
  • 04:18 which will help you remove cell lines, which is equivalent to merging cells.
  • 04:22 So Ctrl+Z to undo that, or this little Undo button on the Quick Access Toolbar.
  • 04:29 Another tab worth exploring is the Layout tab,
  • 04:32 which is all about manipulating the table itself.
  • 04:36 So you can view the grid lines if they are available, you can delete rows and
  • 04:40 columns, as well as the entire table itself.
  • 04:44 You could insert rows above, or below, or columns to the left and right.
  • 04:48 Notice how the information in the current table moves
  • 04:51 based on which option I select.
  • 04:54 We can merge cells or split them, as well as ways to distribute rows, and
  • 04:58 cell borders, and manipulate the alignment, and the table size, and so on.
  • 05:04 There are various keyboard shortcuts that also work with text in a table.
  • 05:09 If I tap into the cell cities, and then, use the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl+E,
  • 05:14 which is to center text, it's immediately applied to the text within that cell.
  • 05:20 Other keyboard shortcuts are well worth your time to explore, and
  • 05:23 you'll get some experience with those over time.
  • 05:26 And of course, there are some options that are available if you right-click on
  • 05:29 various parts of a table.
  • 05:30 So in summary, there's numerous ways to insert a table.
  • 05:33 You can use the insert tab on the ribbon on the little drop down item.
  • 05:38 A content placeholder, or even use another application, such as Microsoft Excel.
  • 05:42 On the Design tab, you get table style options,
  • 05:45 as well as the table styles themselves, and various formatting effects, and
  • 05:48 the ability to draw or erase parts of a table.
  • 05:53 The Layout tab is about working with a table itself, such as rows and columns,
  • 05:57 merging cells, or changing alignment and size, and so on.
  • 06:02 Naturally you don't need to use tables, but they're an important option to use
  • 06:06 is part of a suite of text, diagrams, pictures, and charts.
  • 06:10 And you can draw upon tables to use to effectively present your presentation.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.

Advanced Chart Options
07m:10s
Adding Audio
05m:46s
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