Getting alignment right (or left), in PowerPoint

Let's face it, it's easy to dump pictures, text and charts on a PowerPoint slide but it can end up looking like the dog's breakfast - at least what I imagine a dog might eat for breakfast.

When you want your slide to look good, you need to have everything aligned neatly on it. To do this, click on the first object to align and Control + click on the second. From the Drawing toolbar choose Draw, Align or Distribute and then an option such as Align left to align both objects so they're lined up along the left edge of the object that is further to the left on the screen.

In a few simple clicks you can restore order to an unruly slide.