is a great way to add descriptive text that can be read by screen reader programs. I wrote a white paper for my publisher that goes into more details on this usage. They will be distributing the white paper to those who create the slides for their introductory textbooks. 3) Handout Guidelines If you print handouts from your slides, you can also set guidelines on how the handouts should be formatted and used. Just like there is a Slide Master for a common look to your slides, there is a Handout Master that can give a common look to your handouts. In a handout master, you can set the header, footer, copyright notice, and page number. You can also specify the number of slides per page -- I use four slides per page to allow space for notes. If you haven't created your own custom professional looking template, I suggest you do so .  Then, think about how you can create a style guide that will speed up slide creation. By making decisions up front on how all of your presentations should look and feel, you are free to focus on the content that your audience needs to hear in each individual presentation. Sign up to receive Presentation Tips every two weeks and get seven ideas to improve the effectiveness of your PowerPoint presentations.