Pattern Fills for Slide Backgrounds
Patterns in PowerPoint are two-color designs comprising lines, dots, dashes, checks, etc. PowerPoint includes 48 such patterns with names like plaid, weaves, shingle and zigzag. Typically, patterns should work most of the time as slide backgrounds since most patterns are very small, and spread over the entire expanse of a slide, they can add a homogenous look. However some patterns work better than others, and if your slide text is small in size, then reading the text against a patterned background may be a challenge.

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Creating Semi-Circles
PowerPoint 2013 provides so many basic shapes within the Shapes gallery. All of these shapes can be used in many ways, and that in itself works most of the time. Yet there are plenty of other shapes that are not provided within the Shapes gallery but you can easily modify an existing shape a wee bit to end up with something you need. A semi-circle is a perfect example of such a shape.

Set Line Weight for Table Borders
While drawing tables, you might have noticed that the table borders are thin with just 1pt. weight (thickness). And truly speaking, you may not need to change that value most of the time. However, if you do want to change the weight of table borders, you do so in the same way as you change their color or line style. Your table borders can be of any weight starting from 0.25 pt. to 6 pt., and no higher. Even 6 pt. is very thick for a table border, so it does pay to be careful, just to make sure that your table borders don't look too blocky, or even distract from the content within the table.

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Fills and Effects for Tables
With the help of tables in PowerPoint you can make your numerical data or other content look organized, and make it easier for your audiences to quickly comprehend this data. You can make this task even more effective by selecting particular cells in the table, or the entire table, and then using Fill and Effects options -- these options are located within the Tables tab of the Ribbon.

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Callout Shapes
A Callout is a shape that contains some text. But callouts are not just any shape -- most of the time, they are connected to another figure or visual. Callouts also have an attached line, arrow, or another pointer style that identifies them with a certain figure or visual. So in simple terms, callouts are those extra shapes with text that add value to other visuals. On their own, you'll hardly find callouts used anywhere.