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PowerPoint's transition and animation effects are similar. When you set transitions, you control how slides move from one another; when you add animation effects, you control how your slide objects move onto the slide.
Add Transitions
Anyone who has watched television news has seen transition effects. For example, when you see the weather map swish from left to right to switch from the temperature map to the precipitation map, you're seeing a transition in action. These effects which used to require incredibly costly video equipment are now common in on-screen presentations because they are easy to add. In PowerPoint, with just a click of a mouse, you can add transition effects to one or all of the slides in your presentation. As with your overall design, when adding effects, consistency is good. Use particular effects only to delineate a special type of slide or a turning point in your presentation.
1 Switch to Slide Sorter View
The easiest way to add transitions is in Slide Sorter view. To switch views, click the Slide Sorter View button at the bottom left corner of the display.
2 Add a Slide Transition
Click a slide to select it. To select multiple slides hold down the Ctrl key and click. To select contiguous slides hold down Shift and click. Click the Slide Transition button and in the Task Pane that appears, click an effect to add a transition. PowerPoint shows you a preview of the transition in the thumbnail. A transition icon also appears below the slide.
3 Set Sound
The Task Pane has more transition options that affect how a slide appears. You can choose the transition type, the speed and how the slide advances. Next to Sound, click the drop down box to choose a sound to accompany the transition. Click Loop until next sound if you want the sound to continue until the next sound begins.
4 Set Timings
In the Slide Transition pane, you also can set slide timings. Click On mouse click to move to the next slide when you click the mouse. Or click Automatically after and specify a time the slide remains on the screen before advancing automatically.
Add Animation
You can animate the text, pictures, charts, to help focus on important points. One way to use animation, for example, is to add bullet points to a slide incrementally as you talk about them and dim the bullet points you've discussed. As with transitions, you have a lot of choices, but you should use animation effects sparingly, judiciously, and only when they will enhance the message you are trying to communicate.
1 Add Preset Animation
The easiest way to add animation is in Normal view. Choose Slide Show|Animation Schemes. In the Task Pane that appears, click to select an animation type. If AutoPreview is selected, you'll see the animation in action.
2 Add Custom Animation
For more control over the animation, choose Slide Show|Custom Animation. In the Task Pane that appears, you see a list of the items on the slide. In this pane, you can change the animation options. You can change what triggers the animation and its speed using the options at the top of the pane. Use the drop-down to the right of the item to access the options for a particular effect.
3 Set Timing
Using the drop-down arrow to the right of the item in the Task Pane, click Timing to change how items animate. Next to Start, click On Click to have objects begin moving when you click the mouse. You also can set the delay, speed, and the number of times it will repeat.
4 Add Animation Effects and Sound
In the Effects tab, you can associate a sound with the animation. You also can change how the text is animated and what happens when the animation is finished.
5 Preview Animation
After you have set up your animations, you can click the Play button to see your settings in action. Often you find an effect (most notably sound) that seemed like a good idea, isn't so appealing after all.
As with anything else there are good uses for animation and not so good uses. One effective way to use animation is to illustrate a process. For example, if you need to show a flow chart, you can animate the AutoShapes that compose the flow chart and bring them in incrementally as you describe the steps in the procedure.
With both transitions and animations, a little goes a long way. When used judiciously, transitions and animations can enhance your presentation. However, always remember that the real focus of the presentation should be the presenter (i.e., you) so don't use so many effects that your audience forgets about you and what you're talking about.
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