Hot keys allow us to quickly execute a computer task without having to go through multiple steps to receive the same outcome. A hot key, also known as a shortcut, can be many different combinations of keyboard or mouse strokes pressed at the same time to trigger the paticular command. Most people are already very familiar with shortcut commands like ctrl+c (copy) or ctrl+v (paste) and ctrl+s (save) but I’m surprised how many people do not use these wonderful shortcuts in their every day life. Many of my clients are public speakers who give presentations for a living and I usually try to provide them with these same quick shortcuts to use with PowerPoint. The below shortcuts are for Windows PC only. The Apple Mac equivalents are slightly different but most Mac users will know which key to substitute in the hot-key combination.

• Ctrl+Z: Undo the last action

• Ctrl+E: Centers the text in the selected shape

• F5: Starts presentation from beginning

• Shift+F5: Starts the presentation from the current  slide

• B: Blacks the screen (while presenting)