You don't have to use PowerPoint to make a PowerPoint anymore. In this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to import and refresh old tired PowerPoints so you can get them a fresh new look for the new year. Without further ado, let's hop in.

I actually had to do some digging on my computer to find an old PowerPoint because I've been using Canva for a very long time to design my presentations. I loved all the different options they had available within their template library. And so as soon as I realized I could do more than just social graphics within the site, I gave up on PowerPoint a long time ago. Now the good news is Canva recently did an update where you can actually import a past Powerpoint file into Canva. It's going to recognize it and allow you to edit it within the Canva Design Editor. So this is a game changer for so many of us. A lot of us are stuck using old slide decks because we have them created forever ago and to recreate them from scratch will be too much work. Now you don't have to worry about it with a Canva Pro account. So if you need access to Canva Pro, utilize my link lashondabrown.com/canva45 to get access to a free 45-day trial. You can use that free trial to import all your PowerPoint and then you will be good to go moving forward to refresh your old designs.

Now importing a design in Canva is not as intuitive as I would like. You actually still click on create a design, but instead of selecting a template, you're going to click on Import File in the bottom right-hand corner, find the file on your computer, and then import it into Canva that way. So once you import your file into Canva you're going to see a little pop-up toward the top and that'll let you know that the process has begun. And then all you need to do is scroll down and you'll see under recent designs You can see it's actually still named as a PowerPoint file name. Go ahead and give it a click and then you are going to see your past design. Oh friends, this is an old PowerPoint. This PowerPoint was from 2012. I actually used to be a summer stock theatre performer at the Prizery in Virginia and we helped raise $25,000 for the theater. And I believe this slide deck was created to talk about some of the results.

Once your file imports into Canva you're going to be asked a couple of questions. How did your graphics start out? How did your text turn out? Score that 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 stars and then share any additional feedback and check the box on the left of I'm happy for you to inspect this file to help improve this product. So this feedback is super helpful because it allows Canva to continue to modify how the important tool works within the Canva Design Editor. So make sure that you give them realistic feedback about your experience. And then simply scroll down and hit Submit when you're done. When you're complete just click on back to main menu and then you should be able to get rid of the pop-up.

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What's wonderful about the import feature into Canva is Canva is actually going to recognize the elements of your design so that you can go back and edit them. So say for instance, if I wanted to change this text, I would still have the ability to change how it looks as if I had typed it directly in Canva. So maybe that font is more on-brand for where things are now. And because I have Canva text effects, can do some really cool things that I couldn't do in PowerPoint. Like say for instance make it neon text and animate the text. I love using the typewriter function. So these types of animations to text, to images, to the entire page, these are just things that aren't available within PowerPoint.

So even if all you do is import your PowerPoint into Canva so that you can just add a bit more flair when you're ready to present, that would be a valid use of this tool. Now in the top right-hand corner, you can actually present and record a PowerPoint within Canva. Now if you just use it to redesign your design, you can click on the top right-hand corner and you can download it but you have a ton of options. So you could click download and you could download it as a PDF and just use it as slides, it wouldn't have any of those fun animations. Click on More and if you scroll down, you can actually save it as a PowerPoint.

If you still wanted to present it in PowerPoint, you could do that. But the other thing you could do is actually present your presentation through Canva itself. So when you click on that present, you can select standard, autoplay, or presenter and so you actually have some of those PowerPoint-esque abilities directly in Canva. So if we leave it on standard, and click present, then you can see your slides there. And so you can present just like you would in PowerPoint.

Now if you want to add little animations to your pages, there's so much that you could do with that. If I select this slide, click on Animate, perhaps I want to do a corporate animation. I could apply that there and then apply to all pages. So I will tell you go slide by slide by slide. More than likely when you created this PowerPoint initially, you were so limited on options. But now within Canva there are tons of things that you can do. You can add in new images, you can change your font, you can add effects, you can add animations. So anything that you can do to make your presentation more compelling, is going to allow you to be more successful when you present. So I really hope that you guys go through your computer, find all of your old PowerPoints and breathe new life into old content.

Thanks so much for reading this post. I'm LaShonda Brown, a Canva Verified Expert from Virginia. If you would like to try Canva Pro free for 45 days, visit lashondabrown.com/canva45. And if you liked this post, you'll definitely want to watch my video about how to get booked for more podcasts. Podcasts are a great way to get booked for more paid speaking gigs. Until next time, tata for now.

Freshen Up Your Old Powerpoints with Canva

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