Shift arrow

Have you ever tried to highlight a word and you just can’t seem to get the exact characters in your highlighting?

I was typing math equations 20(x) + 60(10) = 40(x + 10) and I wanted to highlight just the (x + 10) so I could make it bigger to emphasize a point, but each time I tried to use the mouse to highlight the (x + 10) PowerPoint was bent on including the 40.

Here is the trick. Put the cursor where you want to start.  Hold down the shift key and use the right (or left) arrow to highlight one character at a time.  This will allow you to be very precise with exactly the characters you want to highlight.