How to Select Shapes Using the SmartArt Text Pane in MS Power Point

Select Shapes Using the SmartArt Text Pane in MS Power Point
When editing a SmartArt graphic, you can edit the text directly in the diagram shapes or in the SmartArt text pane. You can also select shapes just by selecting their associated text in the text pane.

To do this, click into your SmartArt graphic. If the text pane does not automatically appear, click the arrow icons that appear on the left edge of the diagram selection frame. Then either click into a bulleted paragraph in the text pane to select the related shape, or drag your insertion point to select text in several bulleted paragraphs in order to select multiple shapes. You can also hold the CTRL key while dragging to select non-contiguous paragraphs.

Note that you can use the text pane to select shapes whether your SmartArt graphic is in the 2007 release of Microsoft Office PowerPoint, Word, or Excel.