If it is just ( ' ) that your replacing, I would go through my document and replace all the instances that include a space behind the character with the appropriate Alt+character and a space. then replace all the remaining ( ' ) characters with whichever Alt+character you want.

 If your replacing (") then Do Step One, then Two.

 If your replacing ( ' ) then use either Alt+0145 ( ' ) or Alt+0146 ( ' ) depending on which way you want the tail to go. there is no (space) required in this step.

 --
   Michael Koerner
 MS MVP - PowerPoint

   "news" <fred@dial.pipex.com> wrote in message news:cQT1j.12789$Ew3.7029@newsfe7-gui.ntli.net...
   I can't get this to work in PP2007. Most of the text in the ppt is using a single straight quote for all quoted speech, plus a single straight quote for apostrophes too. So, if I do Find (') and Replace (Alt+0146) then it replaces all the straight quotes with left-facing (end) single smart quotes. So far so good for step I. Then, if I do Find (space)Alt+0146 and Replace (space)Alt+0145 to correct the beginning single quotes marks, it simply comes up with an error message saying the search item wasn't found.

   Am I misunderstanding your 'space' -- I'm taking it to mean pressing the spacebar once before entering the Alt character. I'm not sure how this works anyway, because if the single quote mark is at the beginning of a sentence, at the start of the first paragraph, there is no space for it to find?

   Fred
     "Michael Koerner" <iamnot@home.com> wrote in message news:udwAycgLIHA.3940@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
     Because I'm VBA challenged, I use the following two step method which I got from the CorelDraw NG a year or so ago. Alt+number means hold down the Alt key, and press the numbers using the numeric keypad.

     Step One: Use the Find ("), Replace Alt+0148, This gives you end quotes in every instance.

     Step Two: Find (space)Alt+0148, replace with (Space)Alt+0147

     Also works if you have apostrophes that come through as a straight instead of typographic: Find (') Replace Alt+0146

     --
       Michael Koerner
     MS MVP - PowerPoint

       "news" <fred@dial.pipex.com> wrote in message news:%7C1j.19321$7k5.7132@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...
       In Word, you can do a global change on straight quotes to smart quotes
       simply by putting a straight quote into both the 'find' and 'replace' boxes,
       and it'll automatically replace them with the appropriate smart quotes, left
       or right versions.

       Why won't this work in even the latest Powerpoint? If I put a straight quote
       in the 'find' box and 'replace' box using the standard keyboard key for an
       apostrophe, it simply does nothing. If I try to put an ALT character for a
       smart quote in the 'replace' box, it replaces all the straight quotes, but
       fails to reverse them around a word -- in other words, they all end up
       facing the same way at the beginning and end of a word.

       Is there a workaround for this? I'm not talking here about replacing
       straight quotes with smart quotes as you type...I'm talking about a PPT that
       has already been created with pasted text that had straight quotes in it.

       I scoured the web to find an answer but no luck. Can't believe that MVPs,
       etc., haven't pointed out this shortcoming in Powerpoint.

       Cheers
       Fred