PowerPoint 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual

Checking Spelling

Spelling errors are never a good thing. At best, they can give your audience the impression that you don't pay attention to details. At worst, they can actually prevent your audience from understanding what you're talking about. And make no mistake about it: the typo that no one but the former English teacher noticed when it appeared on a hard-copy handout is obvious to everyone when it's four feet high and splashed across a projector screen.

Note

Spell checkers' suggestions aren't always right, and they can miss errors, too. What's more, studies suggest that some folks actually make more mistakes when they use spell checkers than when they don't because they rely on the tool instead of their own proofreading skills. A spell checker can be a timesaver, but it's no substitute for carefully reading through your presentation.

PowerPoint gives you two choices when it comes to spell checking your presentation. You can check as you go, automatically, or wait until you're finished with your presentation and then run the check manually.

Setting up spelling

Whether you choose automatic spell checking or manual, you want to give PowerPoint a heads-up on what kinds of special words to look out for—words like company-specific acronyms, passwords, or other non-words that you want PowerPoint to skip during a spell check. To set spelling options:

1. Select Office button → PowerPoint Options.

   The PowerPoint Options window appears.

2. On the left side of the PowerPoint Options window, click ...