How to Add Animations to PowerPoint Slides

Edited 2 weeks ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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PowerPoint is a robust application that allows users to create impressive presentations using a variety of features. One of those features is the ability to add animations to slides and objects, which can make a presentation more engaging and visually appealing. Animations can help emphasize important points, demonstrate processes, or simply add a dynamic flair to your slides. In this guide, we will explain how to add animations to your PowerPoint slides in a detailed, step-by-step manner.

1. Understanding the basics of PowerPoint animation

Before you start adding animations, it's important to understand what animations are in the context of PowerPoint. Animations in PowerPoint refer to the movement of text, images, charts, or other objects on a slide. They can be subtle, such as a slow fade-in, or dramatic, such as a fly-in or complex motion path.

There are four main types of animation you can apply to your slides:

• Entrance animations: These animations control how objects enter the slide. Examples include fades, fly-ins, and bounces.
• Exit animations: These animations determine how objects exit the slide. These include fade, fly, and dissolve effects.
• Emphasis animations: These animations apply visual effects to emphasize an object without moving it on or off the slide. Examples include pulse, spin, and grow/shrink.
• Motion paths: These animations move objects in a specified path on the slide. You can create the path yourself or choose from predefined paths such as lines, arcs, and loops.

2. Getting started: adding basic animation to objects

To start adding animations to your PowerPoint slides, open your presentation and go to the slide where you want to apply the animation. Follow these steps to add a basic animation:

1. Select the object you want to animate. This can be text, an image, a chart, or any other element on the slide.
2. Click the "Animations" tab in the PowerPoint ribbon. This will open the Animation toolbar.
3. In the Animations tab, you will see the "Add Animation" button. Click on it to see a drop-down menu with the available animations.
4. To add an animation, click one from the list under the Entrance, Emphasis, Exit, or Motion Path categories. As soon as you select an animation, you'll see a preview.
5. After selecting an animation, you can customize its effect using the "Effect Options" button, which offers variations of the chosen animation.

3. Advanced animation settings

PowerPoint provides advanced options that allow you to more precisely control the timing, order, and effects of your animations. To access these settings:

3.1. Animation Pane

The Animation pane gives you a detailed view of all the animations on the current slide and lets you rearrange them, change start options, and adjust timing.

• To access the Animation Pane, click "Animation Pane" in the Animation tab. A side panel will appear on the right, listing all the animations for the selected object.
• Clicking on an animation in the panel lets you modify the sequence by dragging and dropping, change start options to "On click", "With previous" or "After previous", and set a delay or duration time.

3.2. Time setting

Timing is very important to ensure that animations appear naturally during your presentation. You can correct the timing using the following settings:

• Start: This determines when the animation will start. As mentioned earlier, options include "on click" (when you click the mouse), "with previous" (start simultaneously with the previous animation), and "after previous" (start after the previous animation ends).
• Duration: This determines how long the animation will run. A shorter duration means the animation will run faster, while a longer duration will slow it down.
• Delay: Adds a wait time before the animation starts after the trigger. This can be useful for creating more complex, layered animation effects.

4. Using animation triggers

Triggers provide another layer of interactivity, allowing animations to be triggered by a specific action. For example, you might want the animation to start only when you click on a specific object.

To set up a trigger:

1. Select the object with the animation you want to trigger.
2. In the Animation pane, right-click the animation and select "Timing."
3. Go to the "Triggers" tab and choose the "Start effect on click" option and select the object you want to use as the trigger.

5. Combining multiple animations

You're not limited to just one animation per object. Multiple animations can provide more detailed and rich effects. Here's how to add multiple animations to a single object:

1. After selecting the object, choose the initial animation from the "Animation" menu.
2. To add additional animations, click the "Add Animation" button again and select another animation from the list.
3. You can reorder and manage these multiple animations from the Animations pane, giving you control over how and when each animation plays.

6. Best practices for using animations

While animations can greatly enhance a presentation, it's important to use them wisely. Here are some best practices to consider:

• Consistency: Try to use the same types of animations throughout your presentation to maintain a consistent look.
• Simplicity: Avoid adding too many animations to your slides. Too many effects can distract from the content of your presentation.
• Purposefulness: Make sure there is a reason behind the animation. It should enhance or clarify key points or simply keep the audience engaged.
• Timing: Make sure the animation is timed correctly and is not too long, as this can unnecessarily lengthen the presentation.

7. Troubleshooting and tips

Sometimes animations may not work as expected. Here are general troubleshooting tips:

• Always preview animations in slide show mode to see how they appear to the audience.
• Check the Animations pane to make sure the animations are sequenced correctly and triggered appropriately.
• If an animation isn’t working, check the start, duration, and delay settings, as well as any associated triggers.

8. Conclusion

Animating objects in PowerPoint is a powerful way to make presentations more engaging and dynamic. By understanding how to apply entrance, emphasis, exit animations, and motion paths, you can highlight key points and keep your audience's attention. Advanced settings such as timing, triggers, and combining multiple animations allow for more creativity and control over your slideshow. Remember to use animations strategically to enhance your presentation without overwhelming your message. With practice, these techniques will help you deliver engaging and professional presentations.

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