You can significantly reduce the file size of your PowerPoint .PPT files (in some cases by up to 50%) by using the Compress Pictures button.  However, if your images have been created from .PNG files, it can still leave you with large file sizes. You can save even more space by changing them to .GIF or .JPG formats. (Note: We suggest that you keep the .PNG formatted files, since this format is more flexible than the other file formats, and flattening to .JPG or .GIF reduces your editing options.)

Here’s how to reduce your PowerPoint 2007 file size by changing the image formats:

1. Save your PowerPoint file as HTML, which creates an .htm file and a folder with the same name as the original file. This folder will contain the HTML code, as well as all the images from the presentation.
2. Open the folder and sort it by size to reveal which image files are the largest.
3. Locate the largest images in your presentation. Since it's possible that they may have been scaled, they could look smaller than the saved image.
4. In PowerPoint, check to see if the image is grouped.  If it is, Ungroup it.
5. Select the image.
6. On the Picture Tools menu, in the Adjust section, click Compress Pictures.
7. Right-click the image, and then click Save as Picture.
8. From the Save as Type menu, select .JPG or .GIF, and then save the image.
9. Delete the original image from your presentation, and reload the saved image at its original place.
10. Regroup the images if necessary.

Another way to compress the images is to use image editing tools like Adobe Fireworks or Microsoft Digital Image Suite. These tools give you more image compression options and can save you yet more space.

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PowerPoint 2007 has a powerful set of templates to get you started illustrating common business presentation graphic patterns and diagrams. In PowerPoint 2007 you can get started with these illustrations by using SmartArt under the Insert tab.

To get a head start with your customized graphics, do the following:

• Open the PowerPoint presentation to the Slide that you want to insert SmartArt for custom bullets,
• From the Insert Menu select SmartArt,
• From the dropdown menu you will be able to select the style of SmartArt that you want to use for the graphics in your Slide,
• A  frame will appear in the SmartArt format you selected and now you can start customizing the look and feel of your graphic slide.
• Save your Presentation Slide and test the slide for accuracy, aesthetics, and desired effect.

Including a video in your PowerPoint presentation will make it more appealing.  It will also break up the monotony of static slides on a long presentation.  To insert a Macromedia Flash movie into a PowerPoint presentation, do the following: .

• Open the presentation into which you wish to insert the Flash movie .
• From the View menu, Select Toolbars.
• From the Toolbars submenu, choose Control Toolbox.
• Click the Other Controls icon, which is the last button and looks like this: . 
• When you see the dropdown menu, scroll down and select Shockwave Flash Object.  If you don't see this option, verify that the Flash Player is installed on your computer.
• Now the cursor will look like crosshairs; draw a box on the slide to the desired size and position for the Flash movie.
• A box with diagonal lines will appear; right-click on it and select Properties. 
• Click on the field labeled (Custom) at the top of the Properties dialog box, and then click on the ellipsis (…), at the right end of the line.
• A dialog box will appear, prompting you to enter the parameters for the Flash movie. Enter the parameters for your Flash movie, such as Quality, Scale, and Window Mode, which are based on the Flash Player options.
• Save your presentation file and test the movie by running it in Presentation view and navigating to the proper slide.

In some cases it may be necessary for you to show different subsets of a slide show, or a reordered version to different audiences. In a PowerPoint 2007 presentation, Custom Shows are subsets of the presentation slides that are saved within the same file. Custom Slide Shows may contain only some slides, or rearrangement of the order of the slides.

To create Custom Slide Show, follow these steps:

1)  Click Slide Show>Custom Slide Show>New.

2)  Select a PowerPoint 2007 slide show from Slide Presentation list, and click Add.  To edit a slide show, click Slide Show>Custom Slide Show>Edit.

3)   A Define Custom Show dialog box will appear.  You may add, remove or rearrange the slides from it.

4)  If you want to remove a slide, click on the slide in Slides In Custom Show>Remove. 

5) To run a slide show, select Slide Show>Custom Slide Show>name of the show. Press Escape to stop the slide show.

There are circumstances that may require the removal of hidden sensitive data such as comments or revisions in a PowerPoint document.  For example, if we need to send the presentation to a client or business partner, we'd want to make sure that we don't inadvertently send them information that they should not be privvy to.

Document Inspector is a feature in [tag]PowerPoint 2007[/tag] that will allow you to search for undesirable data and remove it before saving the file as a new version.  To remove hidden or irrelevant data with Document Inspector follow these steps:

1) Save a backup copy of the presentation; data deleted by Document Inspector cannot be restored.

2) Go to Office button menu Prepare > Inspect Document.

3) Define the criteria Document Inspector is going to search for, then click Inspector.

Depending on the presentation size, it may take some time to go through the inspection process. As the inspection is completed, a Results window appears. If you click the Remove All button there, PowerPoint 2007 will delete the selected data. When you reopen the file, the data will not be there anymore, and your presentation will be safe to share with external parties.