Have you ever stopped briefly a presentation to talk with your audience, but discovered them distracted by what was still on screen? You can black out (or white out) a presentation anytime you want with a simple keystroke.

Part of being a good workplace professional is offering presentations that do not bore your audience to death however also don’t distract them from the message you’re providing. In some cases you want the audience to concentrate on you and what you’re stating– or watch an useful demonstration. Or possibly you’re just taking a break in the middle of a long session. Whatever the factor, sometimes it’s useful to be able to show a blank screen instead of a presentation slide.

PowerPoint lets you do this with either a plain black or plain white display that hides your existing slide up until you’re prepared to show it once again.

You can do this by right-clicking anywhere in the open presentation, indicating the “Screen” menu, and then picking either the “Black Screen” or “White Screen” choice.

To go back to your slide, right-click anywhere in the open presentation, indicate the “Screen” menu, and then choose either the “Unblack Screen” or “Unwhite Screen” alternative.

And naturally, considering that this is an Office application, you’re covered on the keyboard shortcuts as well with not one however two combinations to make this a bit simpler.

Press B or Period to black out your screen revive a currently blacked out screen. Press W or Comma to white out your screen and bring it back.