Are PowerPoint Classes Worth It?

The use of PowerPoint is nearly ubiquitous: it is still the industry-standard presentation software across an array of fields, so learning its ins and outs is a great way to get a leg up in the business world. While it’s possible to download the software onto your computer and begin tinkering, this can feel overwhelming for those with little tech savvy. For others, understanding the basics is not enough. To go further with PowerPoint and gain the confidence to use it efficiently and well, a class is the perfect place to start.

Classes require an outlay of time and money, however--so you don’t want to go in blind. Consider your day-to-day needs and whether knowing the fundamentals is enough, or whether learning high-level PowerPoint skills will serve you well. This article will help you determine whether a PowerPoint class is right for you.

Do You Need a PowerPoint Class?

Nine out of ten business presentations are created using PowerPoint, which speaks to its status as the most-used presentation software--but also proves that it can’t be overwhelmingly intimidating to learn. In fact, it’s quite intuitive. For many novices, sitting down and creating a basic presentation without training is completely doable. If you’re looking to use PowerPoint in a volunteer position, to help your elementary-aged child with a school project, or to create a simple photo collage, you likely won’t need training at all. 

One added bonus for complete beginners is that PowerPoint is part of the Microsoft Office suite, so if you’ve ever used Word or Excel, the toolbar and features will look and feel familiar. The Microsoft Support website offers succinct and efficient tutorials for people who need a little help understanding the program. Noble Desktop also offers a free PowerPoint Presentation Design seminar, which is a great option if you want a straightforward introduction to the software without a major commitment of time or money.

For those using PowerPoint in a work setting, it can be helpful to level up. Many in the business world find themselves relying on the software to share information with stockholders, onboard new hires, or communicate with team members both in meetings and asynchronously. In the education sphere, teachers may use PowerPoint to engage students: some find that using visuals in presentations can increase student engagement and learning, while others use the tool to design interactive quizzes or compile self-directed tutorials.

In these instances, the simplest presentations may not be enough. Perhaps you need to incorporate video or animation, or you’d like to balance out text with high-quality graphics. You may want to break up longer presentations into sections, or build out custom shows so that you can incorporate a co-presenter. If you’ve designed a basic slide deck and come to a roadblock, you’ve probably already realized that your skills are not what they need to be in order to take full advantage of PowerPoint.

Consider the Costs

Any live in-person or online class will come with a price tag, so it’s important to consider that when deciding whether to level up with PowerPoint. If you have a simple question about a PowerPoint feature, try searching online to see if there’s a simple answer. You may find that you can learn what you need to know without paying a dime. If the information is not enough to help you solve your problem, it might be time for a class.

The good news: PowerPoint classes cost less than many classes in the tech sphere. The software has been around for nearly four decades and is incredibly widely used, so it stands to reason that you can find a reasonably-priced class--usually no more than a few hundred dollars. It’s also worth noting that a freelancer who built a high-quality slideshow for you could charge anywhere from $35 to $150 an hour. In other words, taking a class might save you or your company in the long run.

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Advantages of a PowerPoint Class

Your Instructors

A good teacher can direct your learning, help build your confidence, and impart all the most important skills in a way that feels exciting rather than scary or hard. Unlike teaching yourself through online tutorials or troubleshooting with your browser search bar, a PowerPoint class will lay out all the information in a straightforward way. The instructor can help you take your skills to the next level, which holds true for both on-demand and live classes--either way, you’ll want to seek out a teacher whose style is dynamic and engaging. 

Your Peers

Though some people thrive on self-directed learning or are content with a self-paced on-demand PowerPoint class, the energy of a live or virtual classroom can be a boon for many students. There is nothing quite like surrounding yourself with other people equally intent on learning the material, who can chat with you as you learn the ropes. This peer-to-peer relationship is different from that of the instructor-student relationship: even the best teacher may initially seem slightly intimidating at first, whereas you’re more likely to feel comfortable with your classmates right away. 

The Order of Things

If you’re simply picking up bits and pieces of PowerPoint knowledge from various online sources, you may be missing out on crucial information that could save you time, energy--and frustration. A class will work sequentially, teaching you what you need to know, in order, so that you can build on your knowledge and skills as you go along. This scaffolding will allow you to gain confidence and truly master the software by the time you’ve finished, meaning you’ll walk away ready to take on the complicated projects you’ve been pushing off. 

Proving (and Improving) Yourself

It may be that you’re interested in learning PowerPoint to help you in your entrepreneurial efforts, volunteer work, or personal life--but for many people, there’s a boss to answer to or clients to impress. Building a skill set in PowerPoint means having the ability to deliver projects that look professional. It also shows that you’re investing in your career. Letting the higher-ups know that you’ve completed a class or mentioning it in a performance review can impress the powers that be, encouraging them to trust you with higher-level projects. Who knows: up-leveling your PowerPoint game could tip the scales and get you that raise or promotion you’ve been hoping for.

Live Instruction vs. On-Demand

For some people, on-demand PowerPoint classes are the way to go. They are flexible, which means that even students with full-time jobs and a busy home life can sneak in some video watching on a lunch break or after putting their children to bed. They’re also self-paced: total novices and slower learners can spend as much time as they need on a module or subject, while those with some background in PowerPoint can race through the material they already know. Lastly, they tend to be less expensive than in-person or live online classes, which can be a relief for those looking to improve their skills who don’t have a lot of room in the budget.

There are disadvantages to on-demand classes, one of which, ironically, is directly related to their low cost. The psychological principle of “sunken cost” encourages people to stick with something if they’ve invested time and/or money into it--and it’s a very real phenomenon. This can mean that free or inexpensive products and services are more likely to be abandoned than those that require some initial outlay of money. (It’s similar to the argument that explains why you’re more likely to go to the gym if you’ve already paid for the membership than if you have to pay each time you go.) If you’re the type of person who can’t imagine quitting a class halfway through--but who might lose interest after a few hours of tutorials--a live class will be better for you.

Another reason why live in-person or online classes tend to work better for many people is the ability to get immediate feedback from the teacher and the other students. An on-demand class can feel like working in a vacuum: you learn the skill, you implement it, and you move on. The encouragement of your classmates and instructor can go a long way toward building your confidence and inspiring you to keep going.

What You’ll Learn

In a PowerPoint class, students will start by learning the basics of working with slides, including formatting, copying and pasting, adding slides, and editing. Presentation design will also be an important component of any class, since a well-designed presentation is an effective one. Mastering graphics dovetails with presentation design: a PowerPoint that is too text-heavy won’t hold the attention of viewers, so 2D and 3D illustrations can take a slideshow to the next level. The point of any presentation is to convey information, so the delivery of the material matters. A PowerPoint class will help students present their data or their ideas persuasively, using all available tools to create an interactive and visually pleasing presentation.

Some presentations follow the 5-5-5 rule: no more than five lines of text per slide, no more than five words per line, and no more than five minutes when presenting the slideshow orally. This is the golden rule for PowerPoints in many contexts and students will be given the tools to create concise presentations that pack a punch. Sometimes, though, 5-5-5 isn’t enough. Students in an upper-level PowerPoint class can learn how to manage larger presentations using such tools as sections and custom shows. Sections make it easy to organize and navigate slides in a large presentation. Custom shows, meanwhile, act as a sort of playlist--allowing you to adapt the presentation for differing audiences, share only part of the presentation, or hyperlink a group of slides for intentional use independent of the original slideshow.

Depending on the kind of material being shared, presenters may find they need to build data-driven slideshows--and a class will help students learn those skills. Learning such specifics as custom themes and animations and how to create flowcharts and graphs can lead to a highly specialized PowerPoint presentation.

PowerPoint can be a helpful tool in a marketing and branding context, and can be used to create logos, style guides, and content, including social media videos. Finding a class that covers these basics is a good idea for those in the digital media marketing world. Students may learn such advanced features and Add-Ins as Pexels, PowerPoint Labs, or Office Timeline--all of which have a specific purpose that may be exactly what you need to use PowerPoint as efficiently as possible. 

So… Is It Worth It?

As you search for a class, keep in mind your individual needs--and the opportunity for return on your investment. Are you a hobbyist in a volunteer role who can get by with a few free tutorials? Or do you see PowerPoint as a gateway to better client engagement, improved branding, an increase in sales, or a way to move up the ranks in your company? 

As humans, we rely on stories--PowerPoint can act as a tool to get those stories out there. Finding the right class can mean learning how to share that very human experience with the people in your own world. 

Learn PowerPoint with Noble Desktop

You’ll want to start with a class that meets you where you are. Noble Desktop's PowerPoint Level I class provides you with all the fundamentals so you can build dynamic slide decks by adding text, images and shapes, tables and charts, SmartArt, and transitions, along with higher-level skills that will help students with a PowerPoint background to improve their skillset. Available in-person at Noble Desktop’s New York City campus or live online, the one-day class means you won’t have to take a lot of time out of your life to see a marked improvement in your use of PowerPoint. You’ll also have lifetime access to a suite of customized videos that will help you review material long after you’ve completed the class. 

Noble Desktop's PowerPoint Level II class introduces the use of SlideMaster to control the design of an entire slide deck, as well as theme colors and theme fonts, and customizing slide layout and backgrounds. In this one-day class, you’ll also learn how to incorporate animation and use morph transitions, both of which can make your presentations pop. With classes live online or in-person in New York City, Noble Desktop offers free retakes within a year so that you can refresh your skills as needed. 

While the Level I and Level II classes focus on the how-to of PowerPoint, Noble Desktop's PowerPoint Presentation Design class is all about gaining the skills to make your presentation look good. Built around the idea that a presentation needs to tell a story, the class will cover such topics as focusing on the message, using typography, color, and visuals to create cohesion, working with photos and animation, and paying attention to detail. If you miss any of the day’s sessions, you’ll have the option to review the class recordings for up to a month after the end of the class--and you’ll still have the opportunity for an optional retake within one year if you’d like a refresher course.