On the Insert tab, click the Table button in the Tables group. In the drop-down menu, select the small boxes that represent columns and rows and select how many rows and columns you want in your table ...

PowerPoint 2003 adds shading to table cells using the Format menu, which fills cells with a pattern or a solid color. This shading might simply decorate the table or it can make cell text more visible ...

"Presenters are usually guilty of including too much data in their on-screen charts," says Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen. It's not that charts are bad in a PowerPoint presentation, but ...