You don't have to wait until you've finished entering the contents of your slide show to add color; you can incorporate a template on your first slide.

To begin a new presentation with a design template, use one of the following methods:

• From the opening dialog box, choose Design Template and click OK.
   
• Choose File | New, and then click the Design Templates tab in the New Presentation dialog box.

When the dialog box appears, follow these steps:

1. Click the template's name to select it or to preview its appearance.
    
2. Click OK to apply the selected template.

As soon as you complete step 1, the New Slide dialog box appears.

Select the appropriate AutoLayout for your slide and click OK.

If you are working in Slide or Normal view and you find that after you add a template the colors and artwork are distracting, switch to Outline view to enter or edit your text. This minimizes the effects of all of those colors and helps to keep your attention focused on the presentation's content and not the brightly colored fonts or background art.

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