In this lesson
Make two status slides whose labels remain clear in colour and in a monochrome printout.
Example
Readiness status
The pilot has three workstreams: Attendance — Ready — 24 confirmed; Equipment — At risk — 3 laptops pending; Welcome session — Ready — 45 minutes scheduled. Create a light-background slide that makes the equipment risk easy to identify without treating its three pending laptops as three missing employees. The quantities describe different measures and must keep their labels.
How it works
A theme supplies coordinated colours, fonts and effects. Choosing a theme accent rather than an unrelated fixed colour lets later theme changes update the intended design; local overrides can break that consistency.
Use position, size and wording to help people read the important message first. Colour can reinforce it. Keep Ready and At risk in the labels so a monochrome printout still explains each status.
Steps
Create a Title and Content slide titled Three pending laptops threaten the start date. Choose a restrained theme from Design › Themes before applying individual formatting.
Enter the three workstreams and their exact status/quantity pairs in separate labelled blocks. Use the title as the conclusion and keep the 24 employees, 3 laptops and 45-minute session distinguishable.
Apply one theme accent to Equipment and a neutral theme colour to the other two blocks. Add the text At risk beside the equipment value; do not rely on red alone.
Set the title to about 32 pt and the main labels to about 24 pt as a starting point. Use the same font family for all blocks and remove shadows that compete with the message.
Choose Design › Format Background and select a plain light fill for this slide. Check text contrast; avoid placing dark text over a busy photograph even if it looks stylish at editing zoom.
Duplicate the slide and try another theme variant. Inspect every text block and chart element for unexpected local overrides, then view the slide in grayscale or print preview to confirm the statuses remain interpretable.
Try it yourself
- Change the equipment figure to 0 laptops pending and its status to Ready. Rewrite the copied slide title to All three workstreams are ready; update colour only after the words are correct.
- Create a monochrome export or preview of the revised slide. Ask a reader to identify each workstream status from the text without seeing the accent colour.
Show expected result
- Original slide clearly identifies Equipment as At risk with 3 laptops pending.
- Revised slide shows 0 laptops pending and three Ready labels; the title no longer warns about an unresolved equipment risk.
If something goes wrong
- Changing the theme does not update one object.
- Select the object and check whether it uses a fixed colour or font. Reapply the theme colour or layout style if you want it to follow theme changes. Keep a local override only when it serves a clear purpose.
- The grey version loses the risk signal.
- Put Ready or At risk beside the value. You can add a labelled symbol as well. Check the monochrome version again to see whether the equipment risk is still easy to find.
Quick check
Try these questions after the exercise. Check the result in your app before marking the lesson complete.
Choose an answer for all 3 questions to check your understanding.
Optional: try it with Copilot
If you have Copilot, try this after the exercise. Keep the original file and compare its suggestions with your own result.
Rewrite a slide title for Attendance Ready, Equipment At risk with 3 laptops pending, and Welcome session Ready. Do not confuse laptop counts with participant counts.
More from Microsoft
These Microsoft guides cover the tools used in this lesson.
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