How to Add and Customize Animations in Microsoft PowerPoint

Edited 2 weeks ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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Microsoft PowerPoint is a powerful tool for creating presentations that are not only informative but also engaging. One way to make your presentations more engaging is to use animations. Animations can help emphasize certain points, smooth transitions, and keep your audience's attention focused on the key parts of your presentation. This lengthy guide will walk you through the steps to add animations to Microsoft PowerPoint and customize them.

Understanding animation

Before we learn how to add animations and customize them, it's important to understand what animations are in the context of PowerPoint. Animations are visual effects that can be applied to objects on your slides, such as text boxes, shapes, and images. These effects can make these elements appear, disappear, move, change size, or rotate. Animations are different from transitions, which are effects that occur when you move from one slide to another.

Types of animation

PowerPoint offers four main types of animations:

• Entrance animations: These animations determine how an object enters the slide. Common effects include appear, fade, and fly-by.
• Exit animations: These determine how an object exits the slide. Examples include fade out, fly out, and disappear.
• Emphasis animations: These add emphasis to an object already on the slide. Spin, grow/shrink, and color pulse are some examples.
• Motion path animations: These animations move an object along a predefined path on your slide, such as a line, curve, or custom path.

Adding animation

Let's first understand how to add animations to objects in your presentations.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Select an object: Open your PowerPoint presentation and go to the slide where you want to add the animation. Click the object you want to animate. This can be a text box, image, shape, chart, etc.
2. Go to the Animations tab: With your object selected, go to the "Animations" tab on the ribbon. This tab has several different animations you can apply.
3. Select an animation: In the "Animation" group, you'll see a selection of common animations. To see additional animations, click the "More" button, represented by a small downward arrow with a line through it.
4. Apply animation: Click on an animation effect to apply it to your selected object. Once applied, you'll see a small number next to the object indicating the animation order.
5. Preview the animation: To see the animation in action, click the Preview button in the Animations tab.

Customizing the animation

Once you've added animations, you may want to customize them to suit your presentation needs.

Using the Animation Pane

The Animation Pane is a useful tool for managing and customizing animations. To open the Animation Pane, go to the "Animations" tab and click "Animation Pane."

The Animation Pane will show a list of all animations currently applied to the slide. You can use it as follows:

• Reorder animations: Drag animations up or down in the Animations pane to change the order in which they occur.
• Modify timing: Click the dropdown menu next to an animation in the Animations pane to access options for timing. Here, you can specify the start time (on click, with previous, or after previous), duration, and delay.
• Accessing effect options: Click the dropdown next to the animation in the Animation pane and select “Effect Options” to modify specific settings, such as direction or specific properties (e.g., bouncing, fading, etc.) for the selected animation effect.

Using the Effects Options

Effects options can provide additional customization depending on the type of animation you select.

1. Modify direction and sequence: For some animations, you can change the direction (e.g., left, right, up, down) or the sequence (e.g., together, by letter, by word).
2. Change sound and text animation: You can add sound to your animation or adjust the way the text animation appears.
3. Adjust timing: In addition to sequencing, the effect options allow for detailed timing adjustments, such as changing the speed (faster, slower) or setting start/delay times.

Combining animations

You can apply multiple animations to one object to create a more dynamic effect. To do this, select the object, apply the first animation, and then click "Add Animation" in the Animations tab before selecting subsequent animations. Keep an eye on the Animations pane to manage these animations effectively.

Tips for using animation effectively

Although animations can enhance a presentation, they should be used wisely:

• Keep it simple: Avoid using too much animation, which can distract or annoy your audience.
• Be consistent: Use a consistent type or style of animation to give your presentation a professional feel.
• Emphasize key points: Use animations strategically to highlight important parts of your presentation to help guide the audience through your content.
• Test and revise: Always preview animations to make sure they work well as part of your overall presentation design.

Practical examples of animation use

Consider the following scenarios in terms of how animations can be used effectively:

• Display steps sequentially: Use entrance animations (such as appear or fade) to sequentially present each step in a process-oriented presentation.
• Highlighting key figures: Use emphasis animations, such as a pulse or color change, to highlight important numbers.
• Visual storytelling: Use motion path animations to take your audience on a journey across a map or timeline.

Conclusion

Animations are highly effective tools in Microsoft PowerPoint when used properly. By controlling the entrance, emphasis, and exit of elements on your slides through careful animation choices, you can create engaging and informative presentations. Through practice and deliberate application, animations will enhance your communication and audience engagement, leading to more successful presentations.

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