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You are here: Home / Design / Charts, tables & diagrams / Create quick, professional diagrams with SmartArt in PowerPoint

Create quick, professional diagrams with SmartArt in PowerPoint

December 8, 2011 by Ellen Finkelstein 3 Comments

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SmartArt was a new feature of PowerPoint 2007 and is a way to quickly create professional-looking diagrams from bulleted text. In the Tell ‘n’ ShowSM method, you put a meaning title that tells the point on the slide. Then you add an image, graph/chart, or diagram that shows the point.

Just like the boy’s picture book. One side tells the story and the other side shows it, with a BIG picture. (If you’ve heard me present, you’ve probably seen this slide and heard my explanation of it. It’s my signature slide.)

powerpoint_tips-create-professional-diagrams-with-smartart

But a photo is not always appropriate. SmartArt helps you when you need a diagram. Some categories of diagrams that PowerPoint includes are:

  • List
  • Process
  • Cycle
  • Hierarchy
  • Relationship
  • Matrix
  • Pyramid
  • Picture

Sometimes, a SmartArt diagram is just a way to make bulleted text look pretty, but even then it’s an improvement. By making your text more graphical, people are more likely to remember what you’re saying. The best use of SmartArt is to show relationships, while bulleted text shows none.

Here’s a simple before and after example:

powerpoint_tips-create-professional-diagrams-with-smartart     powerpoint_tips-create-professional-diagrams-with-smartart

The arrows show that there is an order: first you develop content, then you design slides, and finally you deliver the presentation. The bulleted text doesn’t indicate the relationship as clearly, even though the words are in the same order.

Some of the SmartArt choices let you insert pictures and I use these a lot as icons. I take an image of another slide and use it as an icon. Here’s an example of a simple agenda slide for a webinar I gave:

powerpoint_tips-create-professional-diagrams-with-smartart

When I get to each topic, people see the same image, so they remember that I’m staring one of the 3 major topics of the presentation.

Here’s a video tutorial, showing how to convert bulleted text to a SmartArt diagram

https://s3.amazonaws.com/ellenfinkelstein.com/website+video+tutorials/convert+text+to+smartart.mp4

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READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

Related posts:

  1. Easily create flexible diagrams that look professional
  2. Compare options with the Balance SmartArt layout
  3. 6 steps to create a quick PowerPoint makeover
  4. Shortcut to complex shapes with SmartArt in PowerPoint 2007 and 2010

Filed Under: Charts, tables & diagrams Tagged With: diagrams, SmartArt

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Arlo Moehlenpah
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Arlo Moehlenpah

After doing this how does one animate showing “content” first, “design” second and “delivery” next?

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11 years ago
Ellen
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Ellen

You can animate SmartArt. Select it and add an animation. In the Animation pane, click the animation and choose Effect Options. In the dialog box that opens, click the SmartArt Animation tab and use the drop-down list to choose an option. Alternatively, you can ungroup the SmartArt twice (do that after you’ve finalized it) and animate the objects like any other objects.

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11 years ago
Mike
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Mike

Thanks! It was very helpful.

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10 years ago
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