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The previous
tutorial introduced some of the basic steps in preparing a PowerPoint
presentation. This
tutorial will continue on, and take you through the steps in
adding sound and customizing the effects and
transitions.
Click here
to see the previous tutorial.
*Windows & MAC versions of
PowerPoint vary slightly. I have included images from both where
needed. |
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Slide Transitions
PowerPoint includes default settings for
transitions. The Slide Transition controls the visual effect as each
slide advances to the next.
This is probably one of the first default
settings you might want to change.
Go to Slide Show
Slide Transitions.
The Slide Show Transition options appear in the Task Pane to the
right. |
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 There are over
fifty to choose from. I chose Uncover Left.
The first four slides of my presentation are
shown in the example to the right.
This might be a good time to mention that the
behaviour of the transitions and effects should reflect the nature
of your message. A serious message should have a more subtle style,
whereas a more humorous or less serious message might have a more
flamboyant effect.
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Go to Slide Show
Slide
Transitions.Click on the drop-down
arrow to select from one of many transitions, You can choose
to have the slides advance when you click the mouse or automatically
after a given number of seconds.
If you want every slide in the presentation to
have the same transition click the Apply to All button. |
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Animation Schemes
The Animation Schemes refer to the appearance and
behaviour of the text and images in each of the slides.
Go to Slide Show
Animation Schemes.
Appearing in the Task Pane, there are over thirty
animation schemes to choose
from. Again, make sure that the behaviour/appearance of
the animation matches the nature of your presentation. |
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With a text or image object
selected go to Slide Show
Preset Animations and select one of the presets. |
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You can
apply a preset animation to one object, or go to Edit
Select All on the Main Menu Bar to apply the preset to all objects in the slide. |
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Customizing Effects
Although a default setting might add life to the
presentation, it may not be the most suitable for your specific
needs.
Have a look at the bulleted list in the example to
the right. If a speaker wanted to have an opportunity to elaborate on any
of these three points, it might be better to pause on each of them to
allow time for the message to 'sink in' before advancing to the next
point. |
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If you were presenting in person you could rely
on manually advancing each frame or bullet using the mouse button,
but it might be more convenient to set the timing to advance
automatically.
A good 'rule of thumb' in
setting text transition speed and pause time is to time yourself as you read
each caption, then multiply by 3. The reasoning here is that very few
people will remain riveted to your presentation, no matter how fascinating
it is. People tend to glance around, blink, or otherwise get
distracted. You don't want your most important point to whiz by when
a viewer is looking away. The 3X rule is a good formula. A
faster pace, and you risk your audience missing key information, while a
slower pace might become boring. |
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Under Slide Show
select Custom Animations.
The Custom Animation
tools appear in the Task Pane on the right. |
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 For this particular slide I want the
presentation to pause on each of the bulleted lines to give the
speaker, or voice-over, a chance to re-enforce each point of the
message.
In the main slide are you will
notice a small symbol
beside each line of text. Select this symbol, or select the text in
the Task Pane.
Click the drop-down arrow to bring up the
editable features. The Start After Previous
button will prevent the selected text from appearing until after the
previous text has completely appeared.
I f you choose this setting for each line, you
will get the sequential effect in the example to the right. |
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The above settings allow
the text to display sequentially, but we still haven't allowed time for
the speaker to talk about each point individually. |
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Select the Timing
button. A Fade window will appear in the main panel. Here you can
set a variety of behaviours for this line of text.
- Start: When effect takes place in relation
to previous text, or set to react to Mouse-click.
- Delay: How long to wait after previous
event
- Speed: How long it takes to appear
completely
- Rewind... Text effect will repeat before
next event
- Repeat: Returns object to original position
after animation
- Triggers: You can set the animation to
begin after clicking on a trigger (other text, button)
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The other Tab on the
Fade window allows you to further customize the appearance of
the text. The set the text to dim to a grey color at the end of the
animation, and the text to appear gradually. |
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Select the slide that you want to
add a custom animation to. Go to Slide Show
Custom
Animation. In the Custom Animation window you will see any items in the
slide that currently have an effect applied to them. |
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You can add effects to any item by selecting
the Add Effect button. Select the text or object
that you want to add an effect to and select the
Effect Options button.
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Effect Options: |
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You can associate a sound effect
with an object . (More details on sound effects in
next tutorial).
Another visual effect you can apply is to have a
line of text dim after entry. For example, if you wanted to
highlight each point in a list of bulleted text you could have the
preceding line dim to a lighter color when the next line of text
enters the screen. (See example at bottom of page). |
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You can precisely control the
action of the effect. On Click, With
Previous, and After Previous will determine if the effect will take
place manually or automatically.
The speed will control the time it takes to
complete the effect. |
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You can have the animation effect
apply to the entire line of text at once, or sequentially by letter. |
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There are an infinite number of transition and
effect possibilities available. I have presented only a few of
them. The important thing to remember is that the purpose of
the effects and transitions is to make your presentation more
interesting and effective, not to dazzle the audience with
technology.
As with most forms of communication, you will
be trying to do one or more of the following: |
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To
Inform, Convince, Persuade, or Entertain |
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