Originally Posted by macropod

PowerPoint does not and never has had a mailmerge function. Indeed, I can't think of any reason why anyone would want one - it's not as if there's a recognised need to produce multiple presentations for display via a data projector in the way that a mailmerge in Word is used for producing multiple letters, emails or labels.

Your reference to issuing certificates suggests you're trying to use the wrong tool. You should consider using Word or Publisher instead - both of which support mailmerge.