Creating Better Presentations with Animation & Transitions

Everyone has a different style and idea of what makes a great presentation: from using short phrases to images and charts, to using animations and transitions, to presenting with enthusiasm. All of these things help make a great presentation. Additionally, animation and transitions can enhance a presentation when used reasonably. At first glance, PowerPoint transitions and animations options look the same, but they are in fact quite different.

Creating Better Presentations with Animations & Transitions

Transitions
Transitions and animations each have a place in presentations and when used correctly can enhance graphics, statistics and important points. Transitions are effects that can be added to each slide individually or all slides, and change the way new slides appear as you go through a presentation. 

Choosing a slide transition: 

To add a transition to a slide:

• Click on the slide.
• Click on the "Transitions" tab.
• Select different transition effects until the desired one is found.
• To add the transition to all slides, click the "Apply to All" button.
  
  
  


• To modify the transition duration, increase or decrease the default time for the selected transition next to "Duration".
• Apply a sound by selecting a sound from the drop-down menu next to "Sound".
• Preview the slide show to verify the desired transition effects work as expected.

Animations
Animations incorporate some of the same effects, but they are applied to portions of data within slides. Animations can be applied to images, charts, videos, text or any other object within a slide. This granular control allows you to advance to new slides while holding back certain information, graphics and more. 

To add animations to elements of a slide:

• Select a slide to add animation.
• Select or highlight the element or text of the slide to animate.
• Click on the "Animations" tab and select the animation effect.
  
  
  


• Continue selecting elements to animate in the order of their animation until the appropriate elements have animation assigned to them.
• Animations will occur in the order they are created and as labeled by the numbers next to them that appear as they are created.
• If desired, change the animation trigger by selecting from the drop-down menu next to "Start". The default is "On Click".
• If desired, modify the time next to "Duration" to increase or decrease the speed of the animation.
• Preview the slide to verify the animations are ordered correctly.
• If any of the elements are out of order, correct them by clicking on the animation number next to the content and select "Move Earlier" or "Move Later" under the "Reorder Animation" section.

Building a presentation can be creative and the best ones incorporate some of your personality, as this authenticity helps you connect with your audience. Transitions and animations are a great way to add style to a presentation but it is important to keep them at a reasonable level. Too few effects in a presentation can be boring while too many can overwhelm your audience and distract from the presentation. Also, as with any presentation, it is critical to run through the slide show ahead of time to verify all slides are in the desired order, and any applied transitions and animations operate as expected.

As always, it is fulfilling to know how to get the most out of an application while taking advantage of the integrated tech!

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