Video: Build an org chart using the text pane

Add an org chart to your slide, and see how to use the text pane to do so.

Want more?

Create an org chart in PowerPoint using a template

Create an organization chart

We are going to insert an org chart and we want as much slide space as possible.

So, we’ll right-click the slide, point to Layout, and choose Blank.

To insert the chart, we click INSERT, SmartArt, and choose Hierarchy.

I’ll select the basic organization chart, and click OK.

The chart is inserted with the Text pane displayed.

To close and reopen the pane, I click this arrow, which appears on the selected chart.

I can move the pane by dragging it at the top, and I make it bigger by dragging the two-headed arrow cursor from any side.

When I click away from the chart, so it is not selected, the pane disappears. And when I click the chart to select it, the pane reappears.

Note how the pane relates to the chart: when I click next to the top bullet, the top shape is also selected.

When I click this special indent underneath the top bullet, the next shape is selected, meant for an assistant’s name.

And when I click the first subordinate bullet in the pane, it selects the first shape in the next row.

Let’s type the first name, for the org’s Executive Director. The text in the shape resizes as I type, to fit within the shape.

To add Victoria’s title, I’ll press Shift+Enter to start a new line and type the title.

Note that if I press Enter to get a new line, that creates a second bullet and shape, which I don’t want here. I’ll press the Backspace to delete the bullet and shape.

Next, we’ll fill in the Assistant’s name and title.

And for the next three bullets, we’ll type in the names and titles of the Reporting Directors.

Now, what if I want to reorder the names in this row, so that Naomi Sharp follows Jimmie Wolf. A simple way is to right-click Naomi Sharp’s name and click Move Down. It moves Naomi Sharp to the right.

To add people who report to each Director, I’ll click at the end of the Director’s title and press Enter+Tab.

It inserts a subordinate bullet and shape.

I’ll type the first Senior Manager, Dick Kingsbury.

To add more shapes at the same level, I just keep pressing Enter.

We’ll add the other Manager names that report to Marco Lara.

Now, let’s say Dick Kingsbury has been promoted to Director.

To move his name one level up, I click it and press Shift+Tab.

That moves him up. But given that he is right above Abbi and Silas. Now, they report to him instead of Marco.

To promote Dick Kingsbury without affecting Marco’s other reports, I should do it this way: Select his name and title, right-click, and click Cut.

Click where I want his name on the Director level, let’s say in front of Jimmie Wolf, and press Enter.

Now I click next to the new bullet, right-click, and click Paste.

I’ll type in Dick Kingsbury’s new title: Director, Special Projects.

Now, Dick is on the Directors’ level and Marco’s other reports are unaffected.

You see how much is possible just by using the Text pane.

Up next: We’ll build and design an org chart using SmartArt Tools.