Change Shapes within a SmartArt Graphic in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows

The default look of SmartArt graphics works great, and you may not want to change a thing! Yet, it's good to know that you can change your SmartArt graphics to other layouts, change the color of SmartArt graphics, or apply a SmartArt Style to make your SmartArt graphics appear distinct and unique. You can also change the actual shapes within a SmartArt graphic. For instance, you can change some rectangles in your SmartArt graphic to become ovals with a mere click or two!

Follow these steps to change shapes within a SmartArt graphic in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows:

1. Select your existing SmartArt graphic, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. Note that once you select a SmartArt graphic, two contextual tabs activate on the Ribbon. These are the SmartArt Tools Design and the SmartArt Tools Format tabs, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1. Activate the SmartArt Tools Format tab by clicking on it.
3. 
   Figure 1: SmartArt Tools Format tab

Contextual Tabs

The SmartArt Tools Design and SmartArt Tools Format tabs are contextual tabs. These tabs are special tabs in the Ribbon that are not visible all the time. They only make an appearance when you are working with a particular slide object which can be edited using special options.
2. Select any shape within the SmartArt graphic that you want to change. In the example shown in Figure 1, above we selected the rounded rectangle in the middle.
3. Within the SmartArt Tools Format tab, click the Change Shape button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2. Doing so brings up the Change Shapes drop-down gallery, as shown in Figure 2, below.
4. 
   Figure 2: Change Shape drop-down gallery
5. Click upon any shape you like. For this tutorial, we have selected the Oval shape, as shown in Figure 2, above.
4. Figure 3, below, shows the selected rounded rectangle changed to an Oval shape. Note that only the shape is changed and other attributes such as fill color, outline color, and effects, remain the same (compare Figures 1 and 3).
5. 
   Figure 3: Selected rectangle changed to an oval within a SmartArt graphic
5. Similarly, select and change any shape within a SmartArt graphic.
6. Save your presentation often.