Output, Export, and Delivery Formats
Domain focus: picking the right container for the audience and making sure it survives the venue's machine.
Format choices
.pptx stays editable; .ppsx opens straight into show mode and resists accidental editing. PDF fixes layout and typography for distribution and can be exported as PDF/A for archival; fonts are embedded according to the export options. Video export produces MP4 (up to 1080p) and bakes in recorded narration and timings. Images export per slide as PNG or JPEG. Handouts come from the Handout Master or Create Handouts in Word, and Package Presentation for CD gathers media and fonts into one folder.
Delivery controls
Presenter View gives notes, next slide and timer on a second display. Rehearse Timings records slide durations; Set Up Slide Show offers Browsed by an individual, Presented by a speaker, and Browsed at a kiosk (full screen, looping). Custom Shows and Hide Slide manage variants. Embed fonts when the venue may lack your typefaces, accepting the file-size cost and the TrueType-only limitation.
Worked example
A conference laptop may not run your PowerPoint version. Ship three artefacts: the .pptx with fonts embedded, a .ppsx to skip the editor, and a PDF as the fallback. Reasoning: each covers a different failure - missing fonts, an unfamiliar UI, or a machine without Office - and the PDF preserves layout when nothing else will.
Traps that cost marks
Emailing a deck with linked video; exporting a PDF and expecting speaker notes on the slide pages; treating Mark as Final as protection; forgetting to test on the venue's resolution; assuming embedded fonts work with OpenType.