Adding a Diagram to Your Presentation

To add a diagram, choose one of the five diagram styles in the Diagram Gallery and click OK. If you find that the diagram type doesn't suit your needs, you can change it later.

Can't find the right diagram ? See the " Troubleshooting " section near the end of this chapter.

NOTE

Remember that diagrams are only one way to visually present information in PowerPoint. You can also create flowcharts and other illustrations, for example, to convey similar information using PowerPoint's AutoShapes.

To learn how to use AutoShapes to create flowcharts or other diagrams, see "Adding AutoShapes" in Chapter 14, "Creating and Formatting Objects," p. 288 .

PowerPoint inserts the diagram in your presentation and opens the Diagram and Drawing toolbars . The Diagram toolbar includes the following options:

• Insert Shape ” Inserts an additional shape in your diagram. For example, if you have a pyramid diagram with four levels, clicking Insert Shape adds a fifth level.

  For more information on using the Drawing toolbar, see "Using the Drawing Toolbar to Create Objects" in Chapter 14, p. 282 .

  
  

• Move Shape Backward ” Moves the selected shape backward.

• Move Shape Forward ” Moves the selected shape forward.

• Reverse Diagram ” Reverses the positioning of the selected diagram.

  • Layout ” Displays a menu with the following options:

    • Fit Diagram to Contents ” Resizes the diagram to fit the allotted space.

    • Expand Diagram ” Expands a smaller diagram to fit the allotted space.

    • Scale Diagram ” Rescales the diagram proportionally to the allotted space.

    • AutoLayout ” Applies an AutoLayout.

  • AutoFormat ” Opens the Diagram Style Gallery, where you can choose from many different styles for your diagram. The box to the right previews the style you select. Click Apply when you find the style that suits your presentation. Figure 12.6 illustrates this style gallery.

    Figure 12.6. Choose from a variety of style options for your diagram.

    

    CAUTION

    The Diagram Style Gallery is a useful tool that provides a lot of flexibility and creativity in terms of style options. Be sure, however, that your choice still makes your diagram readable and matches your overall presentation tone before choosing something too unique.

    
    

  • Change To ” Displays a menu of other diagram styles, so you can quickly modify your diagram if your original choice (which is dimmed on the menu) wasn't quite right. Options include Cycle, Radial, Pyramid, Venn, and Target.

Adding Text to Your Diagram

You can add text to radial, pyramid, and Venn diagrams by clicking a Click to Add Text placeholder or by right-clicking the placeholder and choosing Edit Text from the menu that appears. The temporary text disappears and a cursor appears so that you can type your text. You can format the text in this box as you would any other text, applying boldface, a new font, and so on.

Even if you chose a diagram that doesn't support adding text in this manner, you can add text in the form of a text box. To add a text box, click the Text Box button on the Drawing toolbar, click where you want the text box to appear, and type your text.

For more information on using the Drawing toolbar to create a text box, see "Using the Drawing Toolbar to Create Objects" in Chapter 14, p. 282 .

Formatting Your Diagram

You can format a diagram just as you format any other PowerPoint object. For example, you can reposition your diagram, change its colors, modify fonts, and so on. Formatting your diagram can not only make it more visually appealing, but also make it better match your presentation's design scheme. You'll primarily handle formatting tasks in the Format dialog box or by using the Drawing toolbar.

For more information about the Format dialog box and the Drawing toolbar, see Chapter 14, p. 281 .

You can also animate a diagram to add additional emphasis during a presentation. For example, you could animate a pyramid diagram by having each level of the pyramid display one at time on your slide. Using the Custom Animation task pane, you can easily apply sophisticated animations like this to the parts of your diagrams.

To learn more about animating diagrams, see Chapter 15, "Working with Animation," p. 319 .

Deleting a Diagram

To delete a diagram, select it and press the Delete key. The content palette or placeholder appears, depending on which slide layout you chose. If you want to create another diagram, you can start over from here, accessing the Diagram Gallery by clicking the placeholder or the Insert Diagram or Organization Chart button on the palette. If you want to delete the diagram entirely, select the frame around the palette or placeholder and press the Delete key again.

NOTE

If you delete a diagram and a content palette or placeholder does not appear, you created the diagram by choosing Insert, Diagram.