Add special characters to text

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In newer versions of PowerPoint, you can choose Insert, Symbol, choose the font you want to use (or leave it as Normal Text to use whatever font your PowerPoint text is in) then doubleclick the character you want to insert.

PowerPoint 97 doesn't have this feature, but you can use Windows Character Map instead. Click Start, Programs, Accessories and look for Character Map. It might be in Accessories or in one of the sub-menus.

Note that both methods show you a "Keystroke: Alt + xxx" in the lower right corner. If you have to use a particular character often, take note of its Keystroke number.

When you want to insert the character again, you don't need to use Insert, Symbol or Character Map. Just hold down the ALT key, type the number on the numeric keypad, then let go of the ALT key. The character's inserted for you.

If you have a hyphenated word that you don't want PowerPoint to break across lines, use a non-breaking hyphen instead of a regular one with Alt + 0173.

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