Check marks are a useful way to indicate completion, correctness, or achievement in a PowerPoint presentation. Adding check marks to your slides can help emphasize key points, highlight completed tasks, and make your presentation more visually engaging.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn multiple methods for inserting check marks in PowerPoint, along with tips for customizing them to match your presentation’s design.

Why Use Check Marks in PowerPoint

Before diving into the how-to steps, let’s look at some of the reasons you may want to add check marks to your PowerPoint slides:

Indicate Completion or Achievement: Use check marks to show tasks, steps, or goals that have been completed or achieved. This is especially helpful for progress tracking or milestone reporting.
Emphasize Key Points: Place check marks next to important points or takeaways to make them stand out. The visual cue draws the audience’s attention.
Create Checklists or To-Do Lists: Use check marks to create interactive checklists that engage your audience. Reveal each check mark as you present to simulate checking items off a list.

Show Correct Responses: For quizzes, tests, or other assessment activities, use check marks to indicate correct answers.

Method 1: Insert Check Mark Symbol

The easiest way to add a basic check mark symbol is by using PowerPoint’s Symbol menu:

Step 1: On the Insert tab, click Symbol.

Step 2: Select the Wingdings font.

Step 3: Scroll down and select the check mark icon, then click Insert.

This method gives you a simple, black check mark that you can then format like regular text, changing the size, color, etc.

Method 2: Use Check Mark Bullets

To create check mark bullet points:

Step 1: Select the text you want to bullet.

Step 2: On the Home tab, open the Bullets menu.

Step 3: Choose the bullet style with check marks.

Use this method to quickly bullet lists or steps with check mark icons.

Method 3: Insert Check Box Shape

For an interactive check box you can click to check/uncheck:

Step 1: On the Insert tab, click Shapes.

Step 2: Select the check box shape from the menu.

Step 3: Draw the check box onto your slide.

This shape has the built-in check/uncheck functionality, allowing you to toggle it on/off.

Method 4: Add Check Mark Icons

The Icons menu contains selections of check mark icons you can use:

Step 1: On the Insert tab, click Icons.

Step 2: Search for “check mark” in the search bar.

Step 3: Choose an icon to insert.

Browse the available check mark icons to find one that matches your presentation’s visual theme.

Customizing Check Marks in PowerPoint

Once inserted, most check marks can be formatted using these options:

Size: Scale the check mark icon larger or smaller as needed
Color: Change the color to coordinate with other design elements

Emphasis: Bold, italicize, or underline check marks for added impact
Alignment: Align left, right, or center depending on placement
Rotation: Rotate the icon to a 45° angle or flip vertically/horizontally

Opacity: Fade the check mark to reduce emphasis
Animate: Add entrance/exit animations for more dynamic slides

Take advantage of these formatting options to seamlessly integrate check marks into your presentation.

Using Check Marks for Interactivity

Check marks can also facilitate audience interaction when presenting:

Reveal Check Marks Sequentially

Add check marks to a list one-by-one to simulate a process:

Start with bullets but no check marks

Animate the first check mark to appear on click
Advance to reveal each subsequent check mark on clicks

Toggle Check Boxes On/Off

Insert check box shapes and toggle them between checked/unchecked states:

Click to check the box
Click again to uncheck
Use as a visual aid when describing state changes

Create Clickable Quizzes

Prepare quiz slides with answer choices and reveal check marks upon clicking to indicate correct responses. Use hyperlinks or triggers to power the interactivity.

Tips for Using Check Marks

Keep these best practices in mind when adding check marks:

Use a consistent check mark icon/style throughout your presentation

Only use 1-2 check mark variations within a single presentation
Avoid overusing check marks, which can become repetitive visually
Make sure check marks clearly relate to accompanying content

Consider audience visibility if check marks are small in size
Use bold, color-coded check marks to emphasize importance

By following the insertion methods and customization tips outlined in this guide, you can seamlessly integrate check marks to enhance engagement, clarity, and aesthetics in your PowerPoint presentations.