Art of Presentations

Slide Transitions in PowerPoint [A Beginner’s Guide!]

By: Author Shrot Katewa

Slide Transitions in PowerPoint [A Beginner’s Guide!]

PowerPoint presentations can sometimes be boring looking especially if you simply have a lot of text on your slides. You may need to add some pizzazz to it! And, the best way to jazz it up without being obtrusive is to use slide transitions in PowerPoint!

Slide transition in PowerPoint is the visual effect applied to an individual slide. The effect is visible when one slide changes or transitions into another. PowerPoint allows you to customize and control speed, sound, and other effects for certain transitions using the “Transitions” ribbon.

In this article, we will understand more about transitions and their types. Then, we shall also learn more about how to apply transitions in PowerPoint.

Plus, I’ll also show you some advanced techniques such as applying delay or changing the duration of slide transition. That, and much more! So, let’s get started!

1. What are Slide Transitions in PowerPoint? 

Let’s start with the basics – what are slide transitions in PowerPoint?

As described before, transitions are basically animation-type visual effects that are applied to slides (instead of the elements on the slides) in PowerPoint. Using slide transition can make a subtle but huge impact in making your presentation feel engaging.

There are different types of slide transitions (we shall learn more about them in the next section). Additionally, you can further control certain aspects of the slide transition.

You can also add sound during the transition of slides although I highly advise against doing so. But, I’m sharing this just to show the level of customization of transitions offered by PowerPoint!

In the subsequent sections, we will learn more about the types of transitions and how to apply and customize them in PowerPoint!

2. Different Types of Transitions in PowerPoint?

In PowerPoint, slide transitions are divided into 3 categories. These categories are divided according to the type of transitions that are contained in each section.

The effects in each category are divided in a way that they are similar to each other in terms of visual intensity. The difference between the three categories is how much the transitions affect the overall tone of the presentation on a visual level while changing the slides.

The three categories of the slide transitions are –

1. Subtle: The effects in this category are, as the name suggests, very subtle. The transitions are minimal in effect and require very little time to transition from one slide to the next. These transitions are best used for simple effects. There are a total of 12 effects in this category.

2. Exciting: This category contains effects that are a bit more flashy than the effects in the “ Subtle ” category. The effects in this category are more visually prominent and are fairly noticeable. This category has the highest number of effects with a total of 29 different options.

3. Dynamic Content: This category contains strong transitions. These effects are even more vibrant than the effects in the “ Exciting ” category. This category has the least number of effects with a total of 7 different options.

2b. List of Transition Effects in PowerPoint 

A list of the 48 different effects that are divided into 3 categories, provided in PowerPoint, is given below.

  • Random Bars
  • Checkerboard
  •  Honeycomb
  • Ferris Wheel
  • Fly Through

3. How to Apply Slide Transitions in PowerPoint? 

Here’s how to add a slide transition in PowerPoint –

  • Select the slide from the slide thumbnail view on the left.
  • Click on the “Transitions” tab.
  • Choose a transition as per your preference.
  • Use the “Transition Effects” option to customize (if necessary)
  • Preview the transition.

I’ve described the complete process in a step-by-step manner with visual aids below –

Step-1: Select the slide and go to the “Transitions” tab

powerpoint slide show effects

The first step of the process is to select the slide that you want to add the transition to. You can do so by clicking on the slide in the slide thumbnail view on the left part of the screen.

Then, go to the “ Transitions ” tab in the ribbon of your PowerPoint presentation. It is the 5 th tab in the ribbon section.

Step-2: Click on the “More” button

After you click on the “ Transitions ” tab, click on the tiny arrow button pointing downwards. It is the “ More ” button of the “ Transition to this slide ” section (as shown in the image in step 1).

This will open a drawer with multiple transition effect options.

Step-3: Select your preferred transition effect

powerpoint slide show effects

After you have clicked on the “ More ” button, a drop-down menu will appear on the screen where different slide transitions effects are displayed.

Simply click on your preferred transition effect and the slide transition will be applied to that slide immediately.

4. How to Preview a Slide Transition? 

powerpoint slide show effects

To preview a slide transition in your PowerPoint presentation, you have to click on the “ Preview ” button.

In the “ Transitions ” tab, after you select a slide transition effect, simply click on the “ Preview ” button at the left-most part of the options present on the “ Transitions ” ribbon.

The transition effect will be played on the slide to give you a preview when you click on the button.

Another alternative is to enter into the “ slide show mode ” using the current slide. Don’t forget to use the “ Esc ” key to exit the slide show mode in PowerPoint.

5. How to Modify Slide Transitions? 

In Microsoft PowerPoint, there are different options that you can use to modify and edit a slide transition effect to better fit the style of your presentation.

You can modify the slide transition using the “ Effect Options ” button, or edit the duration, or add sounds to the slide transition.

In the following section, I will discuss the three mentioned options available for you to modify your slide transitions, and how to use them.

5a. Modify Transitions using Effect Options in PowerPoint 

The “ Effect Options ” in Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to modify the direction and intensity of the transition effects.

Follow the steps given below to modify the slide transitions in your PowerPoint presentation using the “ Effect Options ”

Step-1: Click on the “Effect Option” button

powerpoint slide show effects

The first step of the process is to select the “ Effect Options ” button which is located at the right-most part of the “ Transitions in this Slide ” section. This will open a drop-down menu.

Step-2: Select your preferred modifications

After you have clicked on the “ Effect Options ” button, a drop-down menu will appear on your screen (as shown in the image in step 1).

The drop-down menu will provide you with all the possible modifications that you can make to the slide transition in your PowerPoint presentation.

All you have to do now is to select your preferred modification from the drop-down menu and it will be added to the slide in your PowerPoint presentation immediately.

It is important to note that these effect options vary from one type of transition to the other. Furthermore, some transitions may not even have an effect option available.

5b. How to Add Sound to Slide Transition in PowerPoint? 

powerpoint slide show effects

If you want to add a sound to the slide transition in your PowerPoint presentation, at first you have to select the slide.

Then click on your preferred sound effect from the “ Sound ” option in the “ Timing ” section of the “ Transitions ” tab. The sound effect will be added immediately after you select the sound.

5c. How to Control the Duration of the Slide Transition in PowerPoint?

In PowerPoint, you can also control how long you want the transition to be visible. You can speed up or slow down the transition effect itself!

Here’s how to control the duration of the slide transition –

Step-1: Go to the “Transitions” tab

powerpoint slide show effects

The first step is to select the slide that has a transition added and head over to the “transitions” tab.

Step-2: Change the “Duration” of the slide transition

After you have entered the “ Transition ” tab, simply type in the time duration you want the transition to take in the “ Duration ” box.

The “ Duration ” box is located under the “ Timing ” section of the “ Transitions ” tab (as shown in the image in step 1). Once the duration has been added, the transition effect will either be slow or faster based on the time added.

6. How to Apply Transitions to All Slides in PowerPoint?

If you have several slides in a presentation and you want to apply a particular type of transition on all slides, it would be quite a cumbersome process to select each slide and repeat the process over and over again.

Fortunately, PowerPoint allows you to apply the same transition to all slides with a click of a button! Here’s how to do it –

Step-1: Apply a Slide Transition for a Slide

The first step is to apply a slide transition to any one of the slides in your presentation. Follow the detailed process described earlier in the presentation to apply the slide transition.

Step-2: Click on the “Apply To All” option

powerpoint slide show effects

The next step is to simply click on the “ Apply to All ” option under the transitions tab.

This will apply the transition present on the selected slide to all the slides in your presentation! Just make sure that you haven’t used a different transition for a particular slide as using this button will override any pre-existing slide transitions applied to other slides!

7. How to Remove Transition from a Slide in PowerPoint? 

To understand the process of removing a slide transition effect from your PowerPoint presentation, follow the 2 easy steps described below.

Step-1: Select the Slide with an Existing Transition

The first step of the process is to select the slide with a transition that you want to remove. After that, head over to the “ Transitions ” tab.

Step-2: Select the “None” option from the “Transitions” tab

powerpoint slide show effects

Simply click on the “ None ” option from the “Transitions to this slide” section. If this option is not visible, click on the “ More ” button of the “ Transition in the Slide ” section as described earlier, to open a drop-down menu

After you open the drop-down menu by clicking on the “ More ” button, select the “ None ” option located in the top left corner of the drop-down menu. It is the first option in the “Subtle” category of slide transitions.

After you click on the “ None ” option, all the slide transition effects on that slide will be removed from your PowerPoint presentation.

8. How to Set Automatic Slide Transition in PowerPoint?

To set your slide transitions to automatically change to the next slide, you have to set a timer on the slide transition using the “ Advance slide ” option in the “ Timing ” section of the “ Transitions ” tab.

Here’s how to automatically advance slides in PowerPoint –

Step-1: Select the slide to add the effect

The first step is to select the slide that you want to modify or add the effect to.

Step-2: Locate the “Advance slide” option

powerpoint slide show effects

Next, click on the “ Transitions ” tab and locate the “ Advance Slide ” options. You should be able to spot it on the top-right part of the ribbon under the “Timing ” section.

Step-3: Remove Checkmark from the “On Mouse Click” option

powerpoint slide show effects

Next, make sure that you uncheck the “ On Mouse Click ” option.

This option is usually used to enable the mouse click as a trigger for the slide to transition. However, since in this case, we want the slide to transition automatically, we shall disable this option.

Step-4: Select the “After” check box

powerpoint slide show effects

Now, enable the “After” option by making a checkmark before the option. This will allow you to set a timer for the slide to change.

Step-5: Adjust the interval

After you add the checkmark for the “ After ” option, set the interval after which you want the slide to change automatically (as shown in the image in step 4)

Simply type in the duration in the box to the right of the “ After ” option and the slide will change automatically after that interval while in presentation mode.

Step-6: Choose the “Apply to All” option

powerpoint slide show effects

The last step is to choose the “Apply to All” option as described in the article before. This will create a seamless transition effect on all slides and make them transition automatically.

9. Can You Add Multiple Transitions to the Same Slide? 

You can’t add multiple transitions to the same slide in your PowerPoint presentation.

However, you can use the Animations feature of PowerPoint and add effects to the objects, texts, shapes, and images in your slide.

You can add multiple animations on the same slide while also adding a transition to it. We have an entire article dedicated to this, which explains the use of animations in more detail. Click here to read the article.

10. How to Fix “Slide Won’t Transition” Error?

Usually, when users face the issue of a slide not transitioning, there are two main issues that you need to check.

You either have a “ Custom Slide Show ” selected or the “ On mouse click ” option is not turned on for your presentation.

Both of these issues and their easy fixes are explained below.

Issue-1: Check your custom slide show feature

Sometimes, users set up their custom slide show feature but only add the first slide and close the process before selecting the rest of the slides.

This may cause your presentation to only display the selected slide and not the rest of the presentation while in presentation mode. Follow the steps described below to get around this issue.

Step-1: Select the Custom Shows option

powerpoint slide show effects

After you have entered the “ Slide Show ” tab from the ribbon of your PowerPoint presentation, click on the “ Custom Shows ” option.

The “ Custom Shows ” option is located in the drop-down menu of the “ Start Slide Show ” button in the “ Slide Show ” tab of your PowerPoint presentation.

Step-2: Make sure the right slides are in the pop-up window

powerpoint slide show effects

After you click on the “ Custom Show ” button a pop-up window will appear on your screen. If you don’t want to use the “ Custom Slide Show ” feature, then make sure to remove all the slides in the pop-up window.

However, to use this feature, you have to add all the slides that you want to include in the presentation and not just one slide. After that, your slides will transition accordingly.

Issue-2: The “On Mouse Click” feature is turned off

Sometimes, the reason why users are unable to transition from one slide to another is that the feature which allows users to change slides using the mouse is turned off.

The whole process of fixing this issue is given below.

To get started on fixing the issue, at first you have to select any slide from your PowerPoint presentation and go to the “ Transitions ” tab from the ribbon section as described earlier in this article.

Step-2: Checkmark the “On Mouse Click” option

powerpoint slide show effects

The first step of fixing this issue is to go to the “ Transitions ” tab from the ribbon and then clicking on the check box located right before the “ On Mouse Click ” option in the “ Advance Slide ” feature of the “ Timing ” section.

Step-3: Click on the “Apply to all” button

powerpoint slide show effects

After you have turned on the “ On Mouse Click ” option, simply click on the “ Apply to all ” button, which is located at the bottom left corner of the “ Timing ” section in the “ Transitions ” tab.

This will turn on the “ On Mouse Click ” feature for all the slides in your PowerPoint presentation. After that, you will be able to transition from one slide to another normally.

credit to cookie_studio (on Freepik) for the featured image of this article (further edited)

powerpoint slide show effects

How to make a slide show

Learn how to make a slide show with photos, videos, music, and custom settings using a slide show maker.

Learn how to make a slide show with PowerPoint

Discover how to make a slide show with photos, videos, music, and custom settings using a slide show app like PowerPoint.

What is a slide show maker?

To create a slide show, you’ll want to use a slide show maker—or slide show app—which is a software program or online service that enables you create digital slide shows with text, photos, videos, music, and other special effects. The full range of slide show features and functionality varies from program to program.

Once you’ve created a slide show, it can be published on the internet or shared with others as a video file. Additionally, you can use slide shows to create dynamic, interactive content on websites.

Slide show software can be used for a variety of purposes, such as creating presentations for work, school, and even your personal life. For instance, slide shows are often used to:

powerpoint slide show effects

Display photos during an event

Slide shows are a great way to share photos and videos with guests at a wedding, birthday, or other special event.

powerpoint slide show effects

Create a digital photo album

Some slide shows are created for personal reasons, such as sharing important memories with family or friends.

powerpoint slide show effects

Highlight products or services

Businesses can use slide shows to showcase their products, promote special offers and sales, or pitch their services to potential clients.

powerpoint slide show effects

Enhance teaching, training, and public speaking

Slide shows can also provide helpful visuals in educational settings, classroom presentations, and public speaking forums.

What you need to make a slide show

When it comes to creating a slide show, there are a few things you'll need to get started. First and foremost, you'll need a device equipped with presentation software or access to an online slide show app. Secondly, you’ll need a way to display your slide show, which usually means connecting your device to a projector or big screen TV. Beyond that, you’ll need some visual aids and other media to bring your slide show to life.

Explore each of these slide show requirements in more detail:

Devices and equipment —To create a slide show, you’ll use a computer or other device—such as a tablet or mobile phone—with PowerPoint or a similar program installed. You will also need a way to project the slides onto a screen or wall. This can be done with a projector, but if you don't have one available, you can use your TV or computer monitor. Simply connect your device to the TV or monitor using an HDMI cable and select the correct input. Your slides will now be projected onto the screen.

Media —Of course, creating a slide show requires media that adds visual and even audio elements to your presentation. This can be anything from photos and videos to music and text. You can use search engines to find copyright-free media to use in your slide show.

Another option is to purchase royalty-free stock footage, images, and audio files from online media libraries. This could be a bit more expensive, but it guarantees that you have the legal right to use the media in your presentation.

Finally, you can also use your own videos, images, and even music. While this can be a time-consuming process, it does allow you to create custom content specifically for your slide show.

Slide show creator —To bring your slide show together, you’ll need a slide show creator. The slide show software you choose will depend on your presentation requirements and preferences. There are many slide show makers on the market, with Microsoft PowerPoint being one of the most popular and widely used programs globally.

How to choose a slide show maker

When choosing slide show software, it's important to consider the features and specifications that are most important to you. Some of the questions you might ask when choosing a slide show maker include:

  • How easy is the software to use?
  • Is the software Mac or PC compatible?
  • Can I access and edit my slide show on the cloud?
  • What kind of slide shows can be created with the software?
  • How many photos and/or videos can be included in a slide show?
  • Can text and other elements be added to slide shows?
  • Are transitions and effects available for slide shows?
  • Is music accompaniment an option?
  • What are the options for saving and sharing your slide show?

Building a slide show doesn't have to be difficult. With the right software, you can create an engaging presentation in no time.

Six steps for creating a slide show

powerpoint slide show effects

1. Plan your slide show

Before getting too deep into your slide show project, it’s a good idea to select and save the photos and videos you want to use. This helps you create a slide show more efficiently and purposefully, ensuring a better outcome.

powerpoint slide show effects

4. Import media

Start adding photos, videos, and other desired media to your slides. You can upload these from your device or online media libraries. If you planned your slide show in advance, you should have all your media saved in one place.

powerpoint slide show effects

2. Launch your slide show app

Once you’ve decided on a slide show maker, you’ll want to launch the app from whatever device you’ll be using to create your presentation.

powerpoint slide show effects

5. Add text, music, and transitions

After you’ve arranged the visuals in your slide show, you can provide additional information and communicate sentiment using custom text, music, and timed slide transitions.

powerpoint slide show effects

3. Choose your theme

Most slide show software offers a variety of pre-set themes, colors, and designs. You can choose one that best suits your slide show or create a custom theme using the program’s various tools and features.

powerpoint slide show effects

6. Record, save, and share your slide show

Now you’re ready to record your slide show, which can include a voiceover or Cameo . Once your slide show is complete, you can save it as a video to your device or to the cloud, such as OneDrive . You can access your saved slide show at any time to display at events, use in meetings, share online, or send directly to other people.

How to make a slide show with photos

Adding photos to your slide show is a great way to enliven your presentation and make it more visually interesting. Here are a few different ways you can add photos to your slide show in PowerPoint.

A user adding photos to their PowerPoint presentation

Add photos from your device

Whether you’re using a computer, tablet, phone, or other device, you can use photos that are saved to your device to create your slide show. In PowerPoint, simply select “Insert” then “Pictures” from the program menu, then choose “This Device.” This will open your photo library and allow you to find the photos you want to use. Once you’ve selected the photos that you want to import, just click on the "Insert" button and they will be added to your slide show. If you’re using a pre-made theme, you can also right-click the image in the slide show and select “Change Picture.” Again, you will choose “This Device” to access your photo library. After inserting your photo, you can reposition it on your slide or resize it however you like.

Two people looking at a laptop and pointing at the screen

Use stock photos

Another way to add photos in PowerPoint is to follow the same process you would when adding photos from your device, but when prompted to choose your photo source, select “From Stock Images” instead of “This Device.” This will display a library of photos that you can use in your slide show without worrying about copyright infringement. There are thousands of stock images available in most slide show maker programs. Once the library is open, you can explore existing photo categories or use keywords to search for photos that fit your needs.

Two people in a conference room viewing a slideshow in PowerPoint on a large display

Explore online photo sources

Online photos are images you can insert into a PowerPoint slide show directly from the internet, as opposed to using those you have saved on your device. This is a convenient option if you don't have photos already prepared for your slide show, or if you can’t find the right kind of photo in the stock image library. However, there are some potential risks associated with using online photos, namely that you must be careful to use royalty-free images so not to infringe on any copyrights. In PowerPoint, there is a filtering option to ensure your search results only show royalty-free photos. Inserting photos from online sources follows the same process as the previous two methods, but this time, you’ll select “From Online Sources.”

How to add videos, music, and text

Two people in a meeting room viewing a PowerPoint presentation titled We Create Extra Ordinary Experiences.

How to add videos to PowerPoint slide shows

Adding videos to your slide show involves accessing videos from your device, a stock video library, or online video sources—just as you would when adding photos. In this case, however, you’ll navigate to the menu in PowerPoint and select “Insert,” followed by “Media,” then “Video.” Once your video appears on your slide, you can resize or reposition it to fit your presentation needs. You can also set your video to play automatically in the slide show by selecting “Playback” on the menu and choosing “Start Automatically.”

A person wearing headphones and using a laptop view a PowerPoint presentation

How to add music to PowerPoint slide shows

Much like adding videos, you can add music to individual slides in PowerPoint by navigating to “Insert” on the menu, then “Media,” and finally “Audio.” You can then import music from your device, or you can record your own audio directly in PowerPoint. However, if you want your audio to play across multiple slides in your presentation—for example, as background music for a slide show—you’ll have to take a couple of extra steps. Once you’ve imported your audio file, select “Playback” from the menu and choose the “Play in Background” option. Your music will now play across all slides. You can set one song to loop for the duration of the slide show, or you can add more songs to play continuously throughout the slide show.

A person using a pen and tablet to add text to a PowerPoint presentation being displayed on a desktop monitor

How to add text to PowerPoint slide shows

Premade themes in PowerPoint make adding text slide shows easy. On slides that already have templated content, you can simply click on the text and begin editing. In addition to changing what the text says, you can resize, recolor, reposition, and add special effects to the text. Of course, you can also change the font—or style—of the text. Most of this can be done from the “Home” tab on the menu while certain effects, such as shadows, can be found on the “Shape Format” tab. If you’re designing your presentation slides from scratch, or want to create additional text, find “Insert” on the menu, then choose “Text Box” or “Word Art,” depending on your desired text effect.

Discover custom slide show settings

Add even more effects to your PowerPoint slide show with custom settings like timing, transitions, and looping.

Four people in a meeting sitting around a circular table while a PowerPoint presentation is being given over a Teams call

Set slide show timing

Adding timing to your slide show is a great way to control the pacing and flow of your presentation. To add timing in PowerPoint, go to the "Transitions" tab on the menu and find the "Advance Slide" area. Make sure the box next to “After:” is checked, then input the amount of time you’d like each slide to appear on-screen. The slides will automatically advance, creating a movie-like effect that’s great for events and special occasions.

Three people in a conference room using tablets and laptops and a presentation is displayed on a large screen on the wall

Create slide show transitions

Now that you’ve added automatic timing to your slide show, you can make it more visually appealing by creating slide transitions. Transitions are special effects that allow you to animate the way your slides change from one to the next, and there are a variety of different transitions in PowerPoint that you can choose from. You can add these transitions to your slide show from the "Transitions” tab. From there, you’ll select the transition you want to add. To preview the transition, simply click on it. You can click “Apply To All” to automatically add the same transition to every slide in your slide show, or you can manually add different transitions to different slides.

A person standing over their desk and looking at a PowerPoint presentation being displayed on a desktop monitor

Loop your slide show

If you want your slide show to play continuously until you choose to turn it off, you can set your PowerPoint presentation to loop. This will ensure your slide show automatically starts over from the beginning once it reaches the end. To get started, navigate to the “Slide Show” tab on the menu and select “Set Up Slide Show.” When the settings window opens, check the box next to “Loop continuously until ‘ESC’” and then click “OK.” When you’re ready to turn your slide show off, simply press the Esc key on your keyboard.

Slide show template and theme tips

Search themes and templates online.

With numerous slide show themes and templates available, it’s easy to find one that fits your needs.

Customize your design

If you can’t find the perfect theme or template, you can change things like colors and fonts.

Build a custom template

If you want a blueprint to use with future slide shows, you can create your own template.

Add new slides

If you need more slides, you can choose a specific layout and your theme will be carried over.

Edit your slide layouts

Even when using a theme or template, you can rearrange slide content to highlight key information.

Add photos, videos, and text

Themes and templates make adding media easy since most slides have designated content areas.

Change or resize your fonts

If your theme’s font is too small, you can resize it or choose a new font to make it easy to read.

Reorder your slide show

Some themes and templates have a predefined sequence, but you can reorder slides to meet your needs.

Create your own slide show

Slide shows are a great way to engage your audience and present important information. Whether you're creating a slide show for personal or professional reasons, slide shows are an essential tool for anyone who wants to share information in a visually appealing manner.

Discover more ways to improve your slide show

What options are available to create a slide show?

Slide show makers come in many forms. Some slide show software can only be used on specific devices, while other slide show creators can be accessed via the cloud from any device at any time.

It’s a good idea to evaluate a variety of slide show makers to ensure that you find one with all the features you need. For instance, some slide show software skews toward business use cases and others toward personal.

Microsoft PowerPoint is a popular slide show app that allows you to save presentations to your device or the cloud, and is widely used for personal, professional, and educational purposes.

Frequently asked questions

What are slide show apps and software.

Slide show apps and software are used to create and share slide shows. Slide show programs are typically used to communicate information, diagrams, plans, or processes. They can also be used to display photos and videos at events or retail stores. Usually, slide show makers have a range of built-in features and layouts, making them easy to use, regardless of technical skill levels.

What should a slide show include?

An effective slide show should be engaging, visually appealing, and informative. To achieve this, you'll want to make sure to include the following elements:

  • A catchy headline or title. This will help grab your audience's attention and set the tone for the rest of your presentation.
  • A variety of images. Don't just rely on text—incorporate photos, illustrations, or even video to maximize viewership.
  • Bullet points or short blocks of text. Keep your slide content concise and easy to digest; too much information will only overwhelm your viewers.

How do I make a picture slide show?

There are a few different ways to make picture slide shows. You can use online programs, or you can create a slide show directly on your computer, phone, tablet, or other device using slide show software. Some programs, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, can be accessed on your personal device and on the cloud.

How long should a slide show be?

The length of your slide show will depend on several factors, such as the topic of your presentation, the audience you're presenting to, and the amount of time you have. That said, slide shows are generally between five and ten minutes long.

How can I make a slide show better?

Here are a few tips to make your slide show more engaging:

  • Add images, videos, and music to bring your slide show to life.
  • Use a font that is easy to read from a distance.
  • Try not to use too many words on each slide.
  • Use custom transitions and timing to make your slide show flow.
  • Ensure a cohesive slide show by using a theme or template.
  • For live presentations, practice with the Speaker Coach feature .

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PowerPoint  - Applying Transitions

Powerpoint  -, applying transitions, powerpoint applying transitions.

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PowerPoint: Applying Transitions

Lesson 8: applying transitions.

/en/powerpoint/applying-themes/content/

Introduction

If you've ever seen a PowerPoint presentation that had special effects between each slide, you've seen slide transitions . A transition can be as simple as fading to the next slide or as flashy as an eye-catching effect. PowerPoint makes it easy to apply transitions to some or all of your slides, giving your presentation a polished, professional look.

Optional: Download our practice presentation .

Watch the video below to learn more about applying transitions in PowerPoint.

About transitions

There are three categories of unique transitions to choose from, all of which can be found on the Transitions tab.

Subtle transitions

Transitions are best used in moderation. Adding too many transitions can make your presentation look a little silly and can even be distracting to your audience. Consider using mostly subtle transitions, or not using transitions at all.

To apply a transition:

Selecting a slide

  • Click the Transitions tab, then locate the Transition to This Slide group. By default, None is applied to each slide.

Clicking the More drop-down arrow

You can use the Apply To All command in the Timing group to apply the same transition to all slides in your presentation. Keep in mind that this will modify any other transitions you've applied.

Applying the same transition to all slides

Try applying a few types of transitions to various slides in your presentation. You may find that some transitions work better than others, depending on the content of your slides.

To preview a transition:

You can preview the transition for a selected slide at any time using one of these two methods:

Clicking the Preview command

Modifying transitions

To modify the transition effect:.

You can quickly customize the look of a transition by changing its direction .

  • Select the slide with the transition you want to modify.

Modifying a transition effect

  • The transition will be modified , and a preview of the transition will appear.

Some transitions do not allow you to modify the direction.

To modify the transition duration:

Modifying the transition duration

To add sound:

  • Click the Sound drop-down menu in the Timing group.

Adding a sound to a transition

Sounds are best used in moderation. Applying a sound between every slide could become overwhelming or even annoying to an audience when presenting your slide show.

To remove a transition:

  • Select the slide with the transition you want to remove.

Removing a transition from a slide

To remove transitions from all slides , apply the None transition to a slide, then click the Apply to All command.

Advancing slides

Normally, in Slide Show view you would advance to the next slide by clicking your mouse or by pressing the spacebar or arrow keys on your keyboard. The Advance Slides setting in the Timing group allows the presentation to advance on its own and display each slide for a specific amount of time. This feature is especially useful for unattended presentations , such as those at a trade show booth.

To advance slides automatically:

  • Select the slide you want to modify.
  • Locate the Timing group on the Transitions tab. Under Advance Slide , uncheck the box next to On Mouse Click .

Setting an automatic slide duration

  • Select another slide and repeat the process until all slides have the desired timing. You can also click the Apply to All command to apply the same timing to all slides.

If you need to advance to the next slide before an automatic transition, you can always click the mouse or press the spacebar to advance the slides as normal.

  • Open our practice presentation .
  • With the first slide selected, apply a Push transition from the Subtle category.
  • Change the Effect Options to push From Right .
  • Change the Duration to 2.00.
  • Set the slides to Automatically Advance after 3 seconds , or 00:03.00.
  • Use the Apply to All command to apply your changes to every slide.

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How to Add Animation Effects in Microsoft PowerPoint

Last Updated: January 31, 2022 Tested

This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff . Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 448,650 times. Learn more...

You can animate text and other objects in a PowerPoint slide to add flair to your presentation. Follow these steps to learn how create animation effects in PowerPoint, as well as how to animate the transitions from one slide to another.

Animating Text or Objects

Step 1 Open Powerpoint.

  • To select a whole text box, click on the border of the text box. Powerpoint automatically distinguishes text separated by a paragraph or bullet break.
  • If your Powerpoint has no objects to animate, you will need to add some .

Step 3 Go to the

  • You can click through the animations to see a demonstration and view more animations by scrolling with the arrows on the right of the animations box.
  • Entrance animations will change how an object enters the page.
  • Exit animations will change how an object leaves the page.
  • Emphasis animations will add movement or highlights to bring attention to an object.
  • Paths determine a course of movement for an object on the page.

Step 5 Click “Add Animation” to add extra animations to an object.

  • This step can be repeated multiple times to add as many animations to an object as you like.

Step 6 Click “Animation pane” (optional).

  • This can be a useful tool for staying organized when working with multiple animations.

Step 7 Select an activation option for the animation.

  • “On Mouse Click” will hold the animation until you click the mouse.
  • “After Previous” will automatically start the animation after any previous animation (or when the slide appears if there are no other animations)
  • “With Previous” will play the animation at the same time as the previous animation on that slide.

Step 8 Adjust the animation delay.

  • The delay begins after the selected animation action. That is if “On Click” is selected, the delay will start after the click.

Step 9 Adjust the animation duration.

  • You can also click and drag animation listings in the animation pane.

Step 11 Add a sound effect to an animation.

  • Choosing to add a sound manually will open up a window to browse for sound files on your computer, so you will need to have one handy.

Step 12 Click “Preview”.

Animating Page Transitions

Step 1 Open Powerpoint.

  • Select “None” on the left to remove a selected transition.
  • A slide can only have one transition at a time.

Step 5 Click “Effect Options”.

  • ”On Mouse Click” is selected by default.

Step 7 Adjust the transition duration.

  • A higher duration means a slower transition.
  • This setting only adjusts the duration of the transition, not of the slide itself.

Step 8 Choose a sound effect.

  • Choose “No Sound” from the same menu to remove any added sound effect.

Step 9 Click “Preview”.

Adding Animated Images and Videos to a Presentation

Step 1 Open Powerpoint.

  • You can click and drag the image to move it around on the slide once it's added.

Step 4 Click “Online Pictures”.

  • You must be connected to the internet during your presentation for online objects to display.

Step 5 Click “Video”.

  • Embedded videos can only play if you are connected to the internet during your presentation.

Step 7 Select “Video on my computer”.

Community Q&A

WRM

  • Click “Apply to all” on the Transitions tab to use the selected transition for all slides in a presentation. [3] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
  • The activation, timing, and duration options can also be accessed in the Animation Pane by clicking the down arrow next to a listed animation and selecting the option from the menu. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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  • ↑ https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Apply-multiple-animation-effects-to-one-object-9bb7b925-ab0f-47d4-bc11-85d939194bed?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US
  • ↑ http://www.thewindowsclub.com/add-sound-effects-to-powerpoint-animations
  • ↑ https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Add-edit-or-remove-transitions-between-slides-in-PowerPoint-2016-for-Mac-937604f5-93f8-4f96-9232-8d55d7f0bead

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60+ Best Animated PowerPoint Templates 2024 (Free + Premium)

In this collection, we’re featuring some of the best, animated PowerPoint templates (both premium and free) to create stunning presentations filled with stylish object and transition animations.

Designing a PowerPoint presentation is not an easy job. It requires a lot of work and time. When crafting presentations, most people completely ignore one of the key elements of a creative slideshow: animation. Adding creative animations and effects not only makes your presentation slides interactive, but it’s also useful when emphasizing key points and data.

Of course, you don’t have to be a PowerPoint expert to design animated slideshows. You can simply use a pre-made animated PowerPoint template. We handpicked these templates just for you.

We’re also featuring a series of tips for creating animations and transitions in PowerPoint with some extra pointers and advice.

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Modern PPT Templates

Modern PPT Templates

New & innovative.

BeMind Minimal Template

BeMind Minimal Template

Animated PPT Templates

Animated PPT Templates

Fully animated.

Explore PowerPoint Templates

Happines – Animated PowerPoint Template

Happines - Animated PowerPoint Template

Happines is a modern PowerPoint template that features a colorful and attractive design. All of the slides in this template are fully animated with just the right effects so you won’t have to spend any extra time adding animations.

This PowerPoint template also comes with 30 unique slides. You’ll also be able to choose from 5 different color schemes to create stylish presentations.

Why This Is A Top Pick

In addition to its beautiful slide design that comes filled with animations, the template also includes lots of editable vector graphics, illustrations, and infographics. Which makes it a great choice for making professional presentations.

Cover – Modern Animated PowerPoint Template

Cover - Modern Animated PowerPoint Template

Cover is a modern and visual-centric PowerPoint template that features a set of unique slide designs. This template is perfect for your creative agency and marketing presentations. It includes more than 20 slides with customizable elements and animations.

Animated PowerPoint Presentation for Business

Animated PowerPoint Presentation for Business

This PowerPoint template features a multipurpose design with lots of modern and stylish slides to choose from. It’s ideal for making every kind of presentation from business meeting slideshows to startup pitch decks and more.

Business Finance Animated PowerPoint Infographics

Business Finance Animated PowerPoint Infographics

Showcasing and highlighting your business finance reports in presentations will get much easier with the help of this template. It includes 20 different infographic slides for creating beautiful graphics for finance stats and data.

Business Comparison PowerPoint Infographics Template

Business Comparison PowerPoint Infographics Template

You can use this PowerPoint template to create cool slides that compare products, features, and competitors in visual form. There are 20 unique slide layouts in this template filled with colorful illustrations, icons, and graphics. You can easily customize them to your preference.

Free Business Proposal Animated PPT Template

Free Business Proposal Animated PPT Template

Planning on organizing a business trip? Then you can use this free PowerPoint template to create a presentation for the meeting. It comes with 30 slides. You can also customize it to create other types of presentations.

Kukuh – Animated Business PowerPoint Template

Kukuh - Animated Business PowerPoint Template

The stylishly dark and modern design of this PowerPoint template makes it an ideal choice for creating presentations for luxury brands and high-end businesses. It has 39 unique slides with fully customizable layouts, including editable graphics, colors, and fonts.

Colopen – Animated Creative PowerPoint Template

Colopen - Animated Creative Powerpoint Template

Colopen is a creative PowerPoint template that you can use to make various agency and marketing presentations. It’s especially great for presenting projects and business profiles. The template includes 30 unique slides that come in 5 different color schemes.

Bravo – Animated Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Bravo - Animated Pitch Deck Powerpoint Template

This PowerPoint template has the perfect design for making bold and attractive business presentations. It includes fully animated slides full of stylish designs, infographics, editable vector graphics, icons, and more. There are more than 35 slide layouts in this template.

Business Diagrams Animated PowerPoint Slides

Business Diagrams Animated PowerPoint Slides

You will never run out of unique diagram designs for your business presentations when you have this PowerPoint template. It has 17 unique diagram designs that are available in 12 different color schemes. Each infographic is handmade to perfection.

Free Business Meeting Animated PowerPoint Template

Free Business Meeting Animated PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template is most suitable for crafting presentations for business meetings. It features a clean and minimal slide design with beautifully animated objects and transitions. There are 13 slides included in the template.

Clean Business Presentation PowerPoint Template

Clean Business Presentation PowerPoint Template

Create modern business presentations with clean slides using this PowerPoint template. It features 40 unique slides with editable graphics, charts, and transition animations. You can also choose from 10 different color themes for the template.

Scrum PowerPoint Infographics Animated Template

Scrum PowerPoint Infographics Animated Template

Use these PowerPoint slides to present your Scrum solutions for business problems in a professional way. It includes more than 20 slides with unique infographics and customizable elements.

Startup Slides Animated PowerPoint Templates

Startup Slides Animated PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template includes several beautiful slides featuring illustrations and graphics especially made for startups and small businesses. The colors, fonts, images, and everything on each slide can be customized to your preference.

Technology Infographics Animated PowerPoint Template

Technology Infographics Animated PowerPoint Template

With this PowerPoint template, you can design minimal slideshows for technology-related presentations. There are over 20 slides included in the template with several different styles of designs.

Marketing Campaign Free Animated PowerPoint Template

Marketing Campaign Free Animated PowerPoint Template

This is a free PowerPoint template you can use for making modern marketing presentations. It’s especially suitable for digital agencies and brands. The template includes 32 different slides.

Chrono – Creative Agency PowerPoint Template

Chrono - Powerpoint Template

For an effortlessly stylish presentation, consider Chrome. It’s a beautifully designed PowerPoint template that will captivate your audience at a glance. This animated template offers a range of fully customizable slides, color variations, and picture-perfect illustrations.

Evolve – Animated PowerPoint Template

Evolve - Animated Powerpoint Template

Evolve is an animated PowerPoint template that exudes elegance in each of its 40 slides. It comes in both animated, and non-animated versions, allowing you to choose the one that best fits your needs. There is also a choice between light and dark color themes.

Puzzle – Animated PowerPoint Template

Puzzle Animated PowerPoint Presentation

Puzzle is an infographic PowerPoint template fitting to a large pool of business purposes. Whether you need a presentation to discuss the business processes, marketing steps, or timeline, this animated template surely deserves a spot in your PowerPoint resource kit.

Move – Animated PowerPoint Template

Move Animated PowerPoint Template

Move is a multipurpose PowerPoint template featuring 144 animated slides, drag, and drop picture placeholder, free fonts, and a lot more. Ideal for modern presentations Move is worth giving a shot or adding to your shortlist at the very least.

Minimal Infographic PowerPoint Template

Minimal Animated PowerPoint Infographics

Next up we have a minimalistic template purpose-built for data visualization presentations. It comprises 18 fully animated slides, a range of color themes to choose from, and vector shapes. All elements can be easily edited in Microsoft PowerPoint, and a dark version comes included.

Diagrams – Animated PowerPoint Template

animated powerpoint template

If you’re looking for an animated PowerPoint template with lots of diagrams, check out the above featured product. It consists of 18 fully animated slides that can be customized to your specific requirements in no time at all.

Metrolica – Animated PowerPoint Template

animated powerpoint template

Metrolica is a modern, and professional template that can be used for virtually any purpose under the sun. It’s a solid choice for anyone looking to add the best animated PowerPoint templates to their collection. Grab it now.

Edi – Animated PowerPoint Template

animated powerpoint template

Designed for creative professionals, Edi is a minimal yet eye-catching template that’s sure to create an impression. It comes with both animated and non-animated slides, fully customizable to your brand’s aesthetic, and image.

Doodle – Animated PowerPoint Template

animated powerpoint template

Here we have another template that is set with pyramid, goal, circles and other abstract elements. Add it to your shortlist ASAP.

Business Pro – Animated PowerPoint Template

Business Pro - Animated Powerpoint Template

Business Pro is a radical PowerPoint template made for businesses. It comes fully loaded with transition animations and a total of 150 slide designs while keeping its professional looks. You’ll also be able to choose the slides from 5 different color schemes as well.

The Mnml – Minimal PowerPoint Template

The Mnml - Minimal PowerPoint Template

The Mnml features a set of slides with minimal designs. The template includes 30 unique slide layouts. Each slide is available in 5 different color schemes. Along with master slides, image placeholders, and more to let you easily customize the slides.

Fecestyle – Modern Animated PowerPoint Template

Fecestyle - Modern Animated PowerPoint Template

A modern PowerPoint template featuring creative slide designs and transition animations. This template is perfect for creatives and freelancers for making presentations to highlight your skills and promote services. It includes 150 slides.

Shining – Creative Animated PowerPoint Template

Shining - Creative Animated PowerPoint Template

Shining is an animated PowerPoint template that comes with 30 unique slides. The slides are available in 5 different color schemes. It also features master slide layouts, animations, editable graphics, illustrations, and much more as well.

Free Animated Minimal PowerPoint Template

Free Animated Minimal Powerpoint Template

This is a free PowerPoint template featuring a minimal and clean slide design. This template includes 22 unique slides featuring stylish animations. You can use it to create professional portfolios, business profiles, and more.

Visibility – Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Visibility - Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Featuring a beautiful and modern design, this PowerPoint template allows you to design creative presentations for various occasions. The template includes 50 fully animated slides that are available in both light and dark color themes. Each slide is easily customizable as well.

Company Presentation – PowerPoint Template

Company Presentation - Animated PowerPoint Template

This animated PowerPoint template is perfect for creating presentations for business events and meetings. The template includes a total of 500 slides featuring 50 unique slides in 5 different color schemes. It also comes with master slide layouts, editable vector graphics, and more.

Ecology – Animated PowerPoint Template

animated powerpoint templates

Next in our list of the best animated PowerPoint templates is Ecology, a beautifully crafted presentation format consisting of 28 infographic slide designs, a range of color themes, and easy to edit vector elements.

Annual Plan Animated PowerPoint Template

animated powerpoint templates

Use this template to present your plan for the forthcoming year in the most impressive manner. It’s a versatile template that can be easily adjusted for other topics as well. With 35 stunning slides, 10 color modes, and 30 business concepts, it’s one of the best animated PowerPoint templates on our list.

Unigraph – Animated PowerPoint Template

animated powerpoint templates

Unigraph is a minimalistic business template that presents your content in the best way possible. It features an on-trend design, engaging and attention-grabbing slides ensuring you definitely nail your upcoming presentation.

Square – Animated PowerPoint Template

animated powerpoint templates

If you have got a presentation tomorrow, you need a visually engaging and professional template designed as quickly as possible. Consider Square, a gorgeously animated template containing everything you need to get an appreciation for your presentation.

Free Animated PowerPoint Template

animated powerpoint templates

Here we have a fantastic infographics template featuring 10 simple and elegant slides, free fonts, smooth animation, and fully customizable elements. It’s one of the best free animated PowerPoint templates out there!

Allegrasia – Animated Powerpoint Template

Allegrasia - Animated Powerpoint Template

Allegrasia is a modern PowerPoint template that comes with an elegant design. This template includes 30 unique slides in 5 color schemes, making it a total of 300 slides. The template is perfect for creating slideshows for design and lifestyle presentations.

Babel – Minimal Animated Powerpoint Template

Babel - Minimal Animated Powerpoint Template

Babel is a unique PowerPoint template you can use to showcase your brand identity and style guide in a presentation. The template is fully animated and comes with 34 unique slides featuring beautifully minimal designs.

Selfone – Free Presentation Template

Selfone - Free Presentation Template

This is a completely free presentation template you can use to create app presentation slideshows. The template comes in multiple formats including PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides as well.

Rivka – Minimal PowerPoint Template

Rivka - Minimal PowerPoint Template

Rivka is a stylish PowerPoint template that features a very visual slide design. There are lots of image placeholders where you can showcase your portfolios, product images, and more in a presentation. The template includes 63 unique slides.

Rundown – Modern Animated Powerpoint Template

Rundown - Modern Animated Powerpoint Template

A modern PowerPoint template with a simple design. This template is ideal for showcasing products and startups. The template comes with more than 50 unique slides with animations. And it includes editable vector graphics, image placeholders, and colors as well.

Viersa – Business Presentation Template

Viersa - Business Presentation Template

The perfect PowerPoint template for designing fashion and design presentations. This template includes an easily customizable design where you can change colors, fonts, and images to design a unique presentation of your own.

Hello – Animated Powerpoint Presentation

Hello - Animated Powerpoint Presentation

If you’re working on a presentation to showcase a product, service, or a business, this PowerPoint template will come in handy. It comes with a set of modern slides featuring a unique icon pack, free fonts, and simple animations.

Smash – Free Animated PowerPoint Template

Smash - Free Animated PowerPoint Template

Smash is a beautiful and modern PowerPoint template featuring a dark and elegant color theme. This template is free for you to download and use. It features more than 100 animated slides.

Blossom – Animated PowerPoint Template

Blossom - Animated Powerpoint Template

Blossom is a modern PowerPoint presentation template that comes with a set of fully animated slides. It includes a total of 150 slides in 5 different premade color schemes with 30 unique slides in each template. This template is perfect for modern business and startup presentations.

Busono – Creative PowerPoint Template

Busono - Creative Powerpoint Template

Busono features a creative and minimal design that makes it the perfect choice for designing creative design and marketing related presentations. The template comes with 30 unique slides and you get to choose from 5 different color themes to match your branding.

Cityview – Visual PowerPoint Template

Cityview - Visual Powerpoint Template

Cityview is a stylish PowerPoint template that features a modern slide design with plenty of space for showcasing images. The template includes 150 total slides and comes with creative slide animations as well.

Graphy – Creative PowerPoint Template

Graphy - Creative Powerpoint Template

If you’re looking for a clean and minimal PowerPoint template to deliver a presentation driven by statistics and data, this template is perfect for you. It includes 30 unique slides in 5 color schemes featuring slide designs for visualizing data.

Brenna – Modern PowerPoint Template

Brenna - Modern Powerpoint Template

Brenna is another creative and minimalist PowerPoint template that’s ideal for making presentations for creative agencies, startups, and shops. The template comes with a total of 150 slides featuring vector graphics, infographics, and more.

Voodoo – Free Animated PowerPoint Template

Voodoo - Free Animated PowerPoint Template

VooDoo is a clean and modern PowerPoint template you can use for free with your personal projects. The free version of the template includes 10 unique slides in light and dark color themes.

Tesla – Free PowerPoint Template

Tesla - Free Powerpoint Template

Tesla is a professional PowerPoint template you can use to create business and professional presentations. The template includes 10 free slides with editable designs.

Muetto – Modern PowerPoint Template

Muetto - Modern Powerpoint Template

Muetto is a minimalist and fully animated PowerPoint presentation template featuring all kinds of slides, such as gallery slides and portfolio slides as well as lots of infographics, illustrations, icons, image placeholders, and much more to customize the design of the slides.

Admire – Design Portfolio PowerPoint Template

Admire - Design Portfolio Powerpoint Template

Admire is most suitable for making portfolio presentations for creative professionals and design agencies. The PowerPoint template includes a total of 150 slides featuring editable vector graphics and image placeholders.

Chiliad – Visual PowerPoint Template

Chiliad - Visual Powerpoint Template

Chiliad is a highly visual PowerPoint template that allows you to tell your story and message with slides filled lots of images. The template comes with 30 unique slides in 5 premade color schemes. All of the slides are fully animated as well.

Lookbook – Free Pastel Presentation Template

Lookbook - Free Pastel Presentation Template

This free creative and colorful PowerPoint template is perfect for making attractive slideshows for design and fashion related presentations. It’s free to use with your personal projects.

Dark Red – Free PowerPoint Template

Dark Red - Free Powerpoint Template

Dark Red is a professionally designed PowerPoint template featuring 30 unique slides. You can download the template for free and use it with your personal projects to create modern presentations.

Pagero – Stylish PowerPoint Template

Pagero - Stylish Powerpoint Template

Pagero PowerPoint template comes with a colorful and attractive design. It’s most suitable for making presentations for fashion design and beauty related product presentations. The template can also be customized to fit other types of presentations as well.

Libra – Business PowerPoint Template

Libra - Business Powerpoint Template

Libra is a creative PowerPoint template you can use to make professional and modern slideshows for business and marketing related presentations. The template comes with a total of 150 slides featuring 5 different color themes.

Redaqua – Minimal PowerPoint Template

Redaqua - Minimal Powerpoint Template

Redaqua features an attractive and minimalist slide design for making presentations for creative professional, startup, and agency related events. The template also includes lots of device mockups, infographics, image placeholders, and icon packs as well.

Portfolio – Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

Portfolio - Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

If you’re looking for a simple PowerPoint template to showcase your portfolio, this free template will come in handy. It features 10 unique slides with easily editable layouts and drag and drop image placeholders.

Free Animated Medical PowerPoint Template

Free Animated Medical PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template comes with 30 unique slides designed for making medical themed presentations. All of the slides are fully animated to make your presentation look more attractive.

Digital Marketing Animated Powerpoint Template

Digital Marketing Strategy Powerpoint Template

This beautifully designed PowerPoint template comes with more than 40 unique slides filled with transition effects and object animations. The template is designed specifically for creating marketing and promotional presentations and it includes 2 pre-made themes.

Retrico – Vintage Slides PowerPoint Template

Retrico - Vintage Slides PowerPoint Template

Retrico is an elegant PowerPoint template that features classic retro-themed slide designs. It includes more than 100 unique slides with animations. The presentation template is also available in 3 different color schemes.

ECO – Animated PowerPoint Template

ECO Animated PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template is made for creating presentations for environmental and nature-themed slideshows. It features a very green and eco design and includes 80 unique slides. The template is available in both animated and non-animated versions as well.

Startup Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Startup Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

If you’re working on a presentation to pitch a startup or a product to investors, this PowerPoint template will come in handy. It comes with a total of 200 slides featuring transition animations and effects. A non-animated version is also included in this bundle.

SEO Agency – Animated PowerPoint Template

SEO Agency - Animated PowerPoint Template

Promoting SEO services and convincing clients of its importance can be difficult at times, this animated PowerPoint template is crafted to ease up that process. This template includes 90 unique slides and it comes with 10 different color schemes.

Power – Dynamic Animated PowerPoint Template

Power - Dynamic Animated PowerPoint Template

Power is a beautiful PowerPoint template that features dynamic animations and transition effects. This premium-quality presentation template comes with 120 unique slides and in 20 different color themes. You can use it for your personal and commercial projects.

POP ART – Free Pastel PowerPoint Template

POP ART – Free Pastel PowerPoint Template

Pop Art is a free PowerPoint template that comes with a stylish slide design featuring attractive pastel colors. It’s ideal for showcasing products and portfolios.

Pastel  – Free Modern PowerPoint Template

Pastel - Free Modern PowerPoint Template

Pastel is another colorful PowerPoint template featuring lots of attractive slides for showcasing fashion and apparel designs. The template can be used for various business, agency, and creative presentations.

Animated Business Infographics PowerPoint Template

Animated Business Infographics PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template features a set of slides filled with unique and customizable infographics and charts. You can use these graphs and charts to effectively present your data to your audience.

SIMPLECO – Animated Powerpoint Template

SIMPLECO - Animated Powerpoint Template

Simpleco is a colorful PowerPoint template that includes 93 unique slides featuring lots of charts, graphs, infographics, and more. All of the slides in this template are animated and designed based on master slides. The template is available in 2 different color themes.

Clean Business Presentation Template

Clean Business Presentation Template

This clean and minimal PowerPoint template is perfect for presenting your business, product, or startup to clients and investors. It includes 50 unique slides and comes with lots of transition effects and animations.

Business Plan – Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Business Plan - Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Make your business plan look more effective and engaging by using this animated PowerPoint template. This template comes with a design that can be used to craft many different types of business related presentations. It includes 100 unique slides in 20 different color themes.

Studio Minimal – PowerPoint Template

Studio Minimal - PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint presentation template comes with a minimalist and a clean design. It’s made specifically for creative professionals and agencies. The template includes 120 unique slides featuring stylish animations and more than 4000 line and vector icons.

Mongo – Animated Powerpoint Template

Mongo - Animated Powerpoint Template

Mongo is a professional PowerPoint template made for businesses and corporate agencies. It includes a total of 300 slides in both light and dark color themes. The template is available in 3 different color versions and includes placeholders for easy editing.

Free Business Strategy Powerpoint Template

Free Business Strategy Powerpoint Template

This free PowerPoint template comes with a set of minimalist slides featuring creative transition effects and animations. It’s perfect for presenting a simple business strategy during a meeting or to your target audience.

JD – Personal Powerpoint Presentation Template

JD - Personal Powerpoint Presentation Template

Another free and animated PowerPoint template that comes with high-quality slides made specifically for promoting your skills and services. This template is ideal for freelancers, coaches, and instructors.

Responsive Solutions – Powerpoint Template

Responsive Solutions Powerpoint Template

This creative PowerPoint presentation template comes with a total of 480 slides featuring 60 unique slides. The template is available in 5 different color schemes and in both light and dark color themes.

Somse – Animated Powerpoint Template

Somse Powerpoint Template

Somse is a PowerPoint presentation template that features a minimal design for creating both personal and business related presentations. It includes 108 multipurpose slides filled with custom object animations and effects.

Monthly Planner – PowerPoint Template

Monthly Planner PowerPoint Template

This is a unique PowerPoint presentation template that’s made specifically for creating slideshows for your monthly and annual business meetings. It includes 50 unique slides in 10 different premade color schemes. The slides also feature infographics, charts, and vector illustrations as well.

Quadro – Corporate Powerpoint Template

Quadro - Corporate Powerpoint Template

Quadro is an elegant PowerPoint presentation template that comes with 80 unique slides and its available in 4 different color schemes. The template is easily customizable and includes lots of editable device mockups, graphs, and graphics.

Beres – Animated Powerpoint Template

Beres - Powerpoint Template

This PowerPoint presentation template includes more than 100 unique slides and you also get to choose from 8 different color schemes to create a professional slideshow. The template is available in both animated and non-animated versions as well.

Magnum – Animated PowerPoint Template

Magnum PowerPoint Template

Magnum is a colorful PowerPoint presentation template that includes more than 970 slides filled with images, graphics, icons, and illustrations. It’s ideal for creating a slideshow for a creative presentations or a business meeting. The template is also available in light and dark color themes.

Vega – Animated PowerPoint Template Free

Vega - Animated PowerPoint Template Free

Vega is a colorful and a creative PowerPoint template that you can use free of charge. It comes with 80 unique slides featuring animations and creative vector graphics. You can easily customize it to your preference as well.

Procyon – Animated Presentation Slideshow

Procyon - Animated Presentation Slideshow

This free PowerPoint template includes 45 slides featuring transition effects as well as lots of graphs, infographics, charts, and more. You can use it to create a basic presentation slideshow for free.

5 Tips for Creating Animations & Transitions in PowerPoint

Adding animation to your PowerPoint slideshows can greatly enhance the experience you offer through your presentation. If you’re new to PowerPoint, follow these tips to get started with animations.

1. Transition vs Object Animations

One of the first things you need to be aware of when using PowerPoint animations is the difference between transition animations and object animations.

On PowerPoint, you can animate each object you add to your slides. While this can be useful when presenting key points in a presentation, you should try to keep object animations to a minimum.

You can also add transition animations to your slides. These animations help create smoother transitions between slides.

2. Time It Perfectly

Each and every animation you add in PowerPoint can be customized to your preference by setting times for the duration of the animation as well as adding delays.

It’s up to you to experiment with different settings to find the right time and delays for your animations. Try to keep animations short and sweet.

3. Stack Multiple Animations

Another useful feature of PowerPoint animations is the ability to stack multiple animations for objects. For example, you can add both entrance and exit animations for each object on your slide by stacking different animation effects.

Stacking animations can drastically increase the duration of your slideshow presentations so use this feature only when necessary.

4. Automatic vs Controlled Animations

Controlled animations offer a great advantage when you’re delivering specific types of presentations like product reveals and feature showcases. For example, if you want to talk about key points in your speech, you can use controlled animations to reveal those points one at a time upon your mouse click or using a remote.

You can also set your animations to play automatically so they flow through your slide presentations without having to click for each slide to start.

5. Keep It Simple

Overall, you should try to keep animations to a minimum and avoid using the more flashy animations in your presentations. For example, it’s perfectly fine to add a fade-in transition effect to your slides. However, adding flashing and bouncing animations may hurt your reputation as a professional.

Stick to the simple and minimal animations to make your presentations more entertaining and easier to look at.

Home Blog PowerPoint Tutorials PowerPoint Animations: Animate Text, Objects, and Slides in Your Presentations

PowerPoint Animations: Animate Text, Objects, and Slides in Your Presentations

Cover for how to create PowerPoint Animations

Working with graphic assets can bring a degree of expectancy when delivering a presentation, such as in the case of PowerPoint animations. They can help add emphasis to slide content and reveal parts of the slide gradually to help presenters discuss topics sequentially. 

As a presenting software, PowerPoint provides all kinds of animations for emphasis, entrance, exit, and to create a set motion. Join us today to learn all about animations in PowerPoint and unleash your creative potential.

Table of Contents

How PowerPoint Animations Can Benefit Presentation Design

Understanding powerpoint animation basics, types of animations in powerpoint, how to animate text on powerpoint, animating objects for visual impact, crafting seamless slide transitions in powerpoint, mastering advanced animation techniques in powerpoint, dos and don’ts of powerpoint animations, real-world use cases of animated presentation slides, recommended animated powerpoint templates, enhanced engagement and understanding through animations.

Dynamic presentations can have many benefits. The importance of such animations is often only realized by people familiar with PowerPoint. As we’ve seen in our guide on visual communication , graphical elements can make concepts more understandable. In the case of animations, we can use the transitions between slides or elements to split concepts and make them clearer.

Audience engagement is another factor, as eye-catching slides often include surprise elements hidden behind animations. These elements attract the audience’s interest and increase retention rate. In this case, animations serve as powerful presentation aids for the speaker.

Capturing Audience Attention

PowerPoint animations are more likely to capture the audience’s attention than static slides. The moving objects on-screen are the type of visuals people are likely to find attention-grabbing instead of trying to read through static slides or looking at static images. On this behalf, storytelling techniques boost their efficacy in connecting with the audience by implementing animations and transitions rather than sticking to static slides. 

Emphasizing Relationships Between Elements

Whenever we work with contrasting values, like pros and cons slides , animations help the presenter highlight areas of interest or disclose the opposite values section by section. This, in turn, structures the speech for real-time interaction with the graphical assets rather than having the audience read the slide and lose focus on the speech. 

Interactive Presentations

As mentioned before, presenters can craft compelling stories through the careful use of animations in PPT. What is often overlooked is the link between interactive presentations and animations. For instance, a speaker can deliver different outcomes of the presentation by selecting one path whose outcome is revealed through an animation. This “wow” factor induces surprise and creatively presents case scenarios.

Another option is when introducing your team in presentations. Rather than using static slides, incorporating animations gives more rhythm to the presentation and invites the public to interact with the speaker.

Getting Started with Animation in PowerPoint

To start with animations in PowerPoint, select an object you wish to animate and go to the Animations tab to choose an animation to add to the slide element. When adding animations to multiple objects in a slide, you should consider the sequence you wish to use to animate objects.

Animations tab in PowerPoint

Accessing Animation Features

When accessing animation features, you will come across various animation types. By expanding the Animations menu, you can select animations for entrance, exit, emphasis, and motion paths to create a path for your animated sequence. You can also click to instantly preview an animation for the selected object or switch to slideshow mode to see how the animation will appear.

All animation options

Adding Animations to Text and Objects

Once an animation is added to a text or object, a number is assigned. This number shows the sequence in which the object will be presented. For example, the object will be the first to be animated on screen, followed by two, three, and so on.

Sequence number for animations in PowerPoint

You can adjust the sequence of animations, triggers, and other settings from the Animation Pane in PowerPoint.

Animation pane and trigger

Timing and Sequence in Animations

The Timing menu in the Animations pane provides options to set the duration of the animation, the time to delay the animation on the screen (if necessary), and to assess if the animation starts on click, with the previous or after the last animation. How you select these animations will help you adjust the time and sequence of the animations. For example, you can use ‘ with previous’ option to show two animated objects simultaneously.

Controls for animations

Entrance, Exit, and Emphasis Animations

Some of the most commonly used animation types fall under three categories: entrance, exit, and emphasis animations.

Entrance Animations

The Entrance Animations are meant to start or introduce objects. You can explore all entrance-related animations by going to Animations -> Animation (menu) -> More Entrance Effects . This will reveal all entrance animations you can click to preview for a selected object. These often consist of basic animations with effects like appear, fly-in, float-in, strips, wheel, circle, box, dissolve-in, split, wedge, wipe, plus, diamond, checkerboard, blinds, etc. The animations can be divided into three categories: basic, subtle, and moderate. These categories help identify the type of effects in each category according to how prominent they might be on screen.

Entrance PPT animation

Exit Animations

The Exit Animations are meant to help exit a slide or animated sequence to close a topic or subtopic, or to conclude the on-screen animations for a slide. These animations are similar to the Entrance Animations with the same effects. You can use these animation types for an exit sequence using effects like blinds, circles, checkerboard, box, plus, split, wedge, wipe, diamond, dissolve out, contract, swivel, fade, zoom, basic zoom, collapse, float up, etc.

Like the Entrance Animations, you can go to  Animations -> Animation (menu) -> More Exit Effects to preview the animations and to see the three categories for basic, subtle, or moderate animations.

Exit PPT animation

Emphasis Animations

Other than basic, subtle, and moderate, the Emphasis Animations come with an additional category, ‘exciting.’ Emphasis animations in PowerPoint provide visual aids for emphasizing content within slides. The effects for these animation types in PowerPoint are also quite different from the entrance and exit-themed effects. Effects like fill color, grow/shrink, transparency, line color, teeter, color pulse, object color, desaturate, darken, lighten, blink, wave, and others can help emphasize an object within a slide to make it pop out before the audience.

Emphasis PPT animation - Emphasis Effect Animations in PowerPoint (Fill Color, Grow/Shrink, Line Color)

Exploring Motion Path Animations

If primary effects aren’t what you want, it’s time to switch to Motion Paths . These are animated effects in PowerPoint that showcase objects across a specific path. In other words, these are elaborate animations that drag objects on the screen based on a particular shape or path, such as a 4,5, 6, or 8-point star, crescent moon, circle, diamond, football, heart, octagon, pentagon, square, trapezoid, teardrop, right triangle, arc (down, right, left, up), curvy right, bounce right, etc.

Motion Paths are divided into four categories. The basic effects consist of shapes, whereas, Line Curves provide lines and curves to animated objects. Similarly, the special category contains more elaborate effects such as inverted square, loop de loop, peanut, bean, curved square, etc.

Motion Path animation

Choosing Appropriate Animation Styles

When choosing animation styles, picking a style that best resonates with your presentation slides is important. The animations’ names and categories can help you identify what might work for you. Furthermore, after adding an animation, you can go to Effect Options to view the various directions and options used to refine the animation to build your sequence further. Depending on the animation type, you can pick variations of the animation, directions, colors, transparency, points to edit or lock, or other options for selected effects. The image below shows the variations for the Wheel animation in PowerPoint via Effect Options .

Effect Options for PowerPoint Animations

Similarly, if you select Transparency from Emphasis Effects, you can choose how transparent the object will appear on the screen. Likewise, many color-themed effects enable picking a custom color to animate an object.

Transparency effects for animations

Since Motion Paths are unique, you will get options to edit points, lock paths, reverse the direction of the default animated sequence, etc.

Edit points in Motion Paths PowerPoint

Now that you know how to animate in PowerPoint, it’s time to explore making written content more interesting using animations.

Start by opening a blank PPT file and adding a placeholder text. The idea is to learn how text interacts with animation effects without working with complex graphic layouts.

Creating a placeholder text in PowerPoint

Select the text and switch to the Animations tab. In there, pick an animation effect of your preference. You will get a preview of the effect applied – which will show the number of the animation order once completed.

How to animate text in PowerPoint

Animations for text, like any other animation, can be controlled in terms of behavior by accessing the panel at the right-most section of the Ribbon.

Controls for text animation

Additionally, we can expand the animations panel to select from the different effects offered by PowerPoint.

Animations for text in PowerPoint

Animating Text Elements on PPT Templates

Animating text elements to highlight key aspects of your slides can be a great way to create engaging presentations. The Animated 3D 4 Steps & Core PowerPoint Template shown below are among the Animated PowerPoint templates at SlideModel that animate objects and text elements for emphasis while retaining a clear layout.

As visible from the animated sequence from the Animation Pane in the image below, the slide deck uses animated text boxes with a mix of other slide elements to create a sequence where a four-step diagram is highlighted with supported text to help elaborate each part of the diagram in an animated sequence. We can add, remove, or modify the included effects via the Animation Pane.

Animation Pane in PowerPoint

Balancing Text Animations for Impact

By balancing text animations, you can have maximum impact when highlighting content for your slides. The animations can be triggered to start simultaneously to reveal all the text after a sequence of objects, before objects appear, or one by one to reveal the diagram contents gradually.

Linking triggers for animations

Animating Images, Shapes, and Charts

When animating shapes and images, you can use a variety of animation types for entrance, exit, and emphasis, and to make the content pop out. However, charts require subtle animations, and it’s best to use basic effects to reveal charts, such as Appear and Disappear .

The Animated Network Diagram PowerPoint Template is an example of how to animate shapes.

Animated Network Diagram PPT template

The template’s title slide reveals shapes and icons in the form of a diagram in an animated sequence.

You can also include images in such a template to customize the given diagram and animate it to reveal the image simultaneously or after a set of objects has already been revealed.

Animating pictures in PowerPoint

If you are including a chart in your slide that is to be animated, make sure the animation corresponds to other elements that might also be animated. For example, you can trigger the chart to be revealed after the slide title with a simple Appear effect. In such a case, the chart can be displayed altogether or gradually, in animated form.

How to animate a chart in PowerPoint

Applying Object Animations Strategically

When placing slide objects, you must apply the animations strategically to avoid revealing information out of sequence. Furthermore, it is also worth considering how your effects appear. For example, in the image of the diagram below, would you prefer the diagram to appear floating upward or downward? Such considerations and other vital elements, such as your branding needs, are important to ponder when setting your animated sequence.

Order PowerPoint animation options

Enhancing Presentation Flow with Transitions

While Animations for PowerPoint are one way of making your slides engaging, PowerPoint Transitions is another. You can access them via the Transitions tab in PowerPoint and apply transitions between slides.

Transitions panel in PowerPoint

While many legacy transitions provide basic effects when switching between slides, some of the more recent additions to this menu, such as Morph Transition , enable the creation of elaborate animations by using Transitions to animate your slides. The below example shows a slide with the Morph transition, giving an animated effect to the diagram.

Morph Transition PPT

Maintaining Coherence Between Slides

When applying Transitions, it is essential to maintain coherence between slides by ensuring they don’t overlap with any added Animations. To do this, you should preview your slide deck to see how it might appear once all the animated effects have been included in your slides. Like PowerPoint Animations, you can also use Effect Options for Transitions to set a sequence or direction that best suits your needs.

Transition Effect Options in PowerPoint

Layering for Complex Animation Effects

Using layers of multiple objects and slides can easily create advanced animation effects. This can be done using not only PowerPoint animations but also transitions. The Animated Pendulum Swing PowerPoint Templates from the SlideModel archive of animated templates use Transitions like Morph to create animated sequences. The below example shows a swinging pendulum created using Morph.

Animated Pendulum PPT slide

Combining and Triggering Animations

Depending on the number of elements within a slide and the animations used, you can use triggers to customize and set sequences for slide elements to animate. The example below shows the selected pendulum’s various linking options for the on-click trigger. By placing your slide objects to be connected and triggered with different parts of your slide, you can create and customize animated sequences that can be pretty attention-grabbing. 

Triggers for Animations in PowerPoint

PowerPoint Animation Painter

If you thought you had to start from scratch to animate each slide of your presentation, you are sorely mistaken. Much like the Format Painter option in PowerPoint, we can find Animation Painter , which is accessible via the Ribbon under the Advanced Animation control options.

Animation Painter in PowerPoint

This tool helps us duplicate animations between elements of the same slide or copy animation effects from one slide to another. As a format copying tool, it requires at least one animation effect to be placed otherwise the option is grayed out.

Creative Experimentation

Experimenting with Animations in PowerPoint can be pretty helpful to avoid making monotonous presentations. Experimentation does not necessarily require making slides from scratch, but you can also use ready-made templates such as the 3D animation PowerPoint Templates at SlideModel. Alternatively, some slide deck templates offer a considerable range of animation effects intended for maximum audience engagement, which users can quickly customize by editing placeholder areas for text, images, and logos.

Below is a list of do’s and don’ts of PowerPoint Animations for making presentations that best use animated effects.

Maintain Animation Moderation

It is essential to maintain moderation when using animations, as the use of too many animations on a single slide or presentation can make the content confusing.

Use of Appropriate Animations

Try to use appropriate animations for slide objects. The animation should suitably show if the object is to enter, exit, be emphasized, or be highlighted using a motion path.

Avoid Animation Overload

Avoid flashy animated sequences unless your presentation is meant for an audience that might find engaging, such as children in a classroom session.

Subtle can be Just as Engaging

Sometimes, subtle animations can be just as engaging as an animation with an elaborate effect. This can, in fact, be a better option than using animations that might be visually overpowering or difficult to follow due to elaborate effects.

Ensure Visual Consistency

As discussed earlier, it is vital to maintain consistency in using animated effects. Be it Animations or Transitions, using flashy effects or too many diverse effects can hurt how the audience perceives your content, as it might become confusing, visually overpowering, or unprofessional. In such a case, the audience might quickly lose interest in the presentation, leading to Death by PowerPoint.

Less is More

The design language of visual designs over the past decade or more has been intended to use fewer effects and graphical elements with ample space to make the interface look clean. Be it Modern UI or Material design apps, this design language has been evident across desktop and mobile UIs. Using the same concept, you can design your slides with fewer animations and graphical elements to make your content more visually appealing.

Turning PowerPoints into Millions

Courtney Allen, a professional PowerPoint designer who came out of a BFA in graphic design from Boise State University, had all but PowerPoint as a part of her portfolio. She started her freelancing career via Upwork, making over a thousand PowerPoints for clients, bringing in as many as $2 million. She suggests using simple designs and animations to make the most out of PowerPoint presentations. 

Guy Kawasaki Pitch Deck

Guy Kawasaki, a former Apple employee, whose famous 10-slide pitch deck has inspired a variety of PowerPoint templates. This rule was designed for startups and business presentations, focusing on pitching a concept to investors. While this isn’t directly related to using animations in presentations, it is an example of making the best use of minimalist content in a few slides. You can learn more about the Guy Kawasaki pitch deck from our article about the 10/20/30 rule for PowerPoint presentations .

How not to use an Animated PowerPoint Presentation in Court! 

Presentations with animations aren’t always a great idea. In 2014, a court in the United States criticized a PowerPoint presentation by the prosecutor, which led to the court throwing the case out. The presentation was made with sound effects and animations, with flashy elements like the bullseye. Some of the significant mistakes made by the prosecutor included ‘visual advocacy,’ where the defendant was marked with the word ‘guilt’ in the slide deck. Not to mention, the animated presentation seemed to be aimed at influencing the court using visual aids. Something that did not sit well with the court.

Use of PowerPoint by the US Military

The US Military has often been accused of Death by PowerPoint for preparing what some call the worst PowerPoint slides ever created. The issue became so profound that in 2011, it was revealed that an executive communications manager at Microsoft, Dave Karle, was tasked with ensuring that the US military could finally start using the software properly. After discussions with top military officials, an updated military presentation method was created, consisting of a number of presentation templates, tips, and graphics and more than 6000 map symbols. 

In this section, you can check some ready-made templates that can be easily customized for your presentation’s purposes. All these templates feature professionally made animation effects with native PowerPoint tools.

1. Multi-Purpose Animated PowerPoint Slide Deck

powerpoint slide show effects

Those looking for how to animate in PowerPoint now have a ready-made solution to create mind-blowing presentations in a couple of minutes. This slide deck contains 26 slides in a broad selection of topics. We can present facts, introduce our team, our company, display charts with animated effects, and so much more. Check it out now!

Use This Template

2. Animated 8-Step Social Media Carousel PowerPoint Template

powerpoint slide show effects

Bring dynamism to your social media posts by implementing this vivid social media carousel template. With eye-catching animated effects, this template emulates the typical carousel posts we can find on platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram.

3. Problem Solving Animated PowerPoint Template

powerpoint slide show effects

Bring professional graphics to troubleshooting sessions with your team. This template, filled with PowerPoint animations, offers a user-friendly approach to conventional problem-solving situations in which the team has to observe the Issue Matrix, suggest possible solutions, and prepare an implementation plan and its corresponding process flow diagram. Thanks to its high-quality animation effects, the speaker can introduce the facts individually, without diverting attention from the speech.

4. Animated Company Profile Presentation Template for PowerPoint

powerpoint slide show effects

We’ve seen this template as one of the examples of animations for PowerPoint. It is a 21-slide solution offering all the tools required for a corporate-styled company profile presentation, specifically tailored for service businesses.

5. Corporate Company Profile Animated PowerPoint Template

powerpoint slide show effects

An alternative option for company profile presentations, featuring a minimalistic graphic layout with a broad variety of animation effects. Check these 12 slides and customize them with information relevant to your organization – we bring complex animation effects in a ready-made format. Colors and placeholder images can also be replaced.

6. Animated Roadmap PowerPoint Template

powerpoint slide show effects

Bring more action to any planning meeting using this animated PowerPoint roadmap template. After a clear path overview, each milestone slide contains animation effects to introduce relevant information to the topic. It is a new take on traditional roadmap presentations that allows the speaker to pace themselves regarding how to disclose the information about the strategy to embark on.

7. Animated Pros & Cons Comparison Slide Template for PowerPoint

powerpoint slide show effects

We mentioned the advantages of using PowerPoint animations to discuss contrasting values of a situation. Well, this animated Pros & Cons slide is the ideal tool for that purpose, offering a generalist view, then two accompanying slides for Pros & Cons, respectively, with animated effects to introduce additional information per point.

Using animations to make visually appealing and engaging presentations requires ensuring that your content corresponds with your added animated effects. It is always best to use animations in moderation and to keep your slides minimalist while unleashing your creativity as a presenter. Using ready-made PowerPoint templates can also help give you a good starting point to begin experimenting with animations and effects. This can also be useful for people new to PowerPoint Animations to explore what is doable with an animated slide deck, using animated sequences tailored for customization. 

Whether you’re using an animated template or making one from scratch, a preview in slideshow mode can save you a lot of trouble with potential issues tied to animated effects. Last but not least, using animations in PowerPoint isn’t always necessary, and you can even go for a simple slide deck with a handful of slides. What matters is that you should be aware of the information being presented, and the visual aids should be just to aid your slides and not meant to be the whole package on their own.

powerpoint slide show effects

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powerpoint slide show effects

Animation effects available in PowerPoint for the web

Many of the animation effects available in the PowerPoint desktop application are also available in PowerPoint for the web. Also, PowerPoint for the web can play animation effects that were applied in the PowerPoint desktop application.

Animations in PowerPoint Online

The following animation effects are currently available in PowerPoint for the web, and most can be applied to pictures, shapes, and text:

Note:  The Existing option plays an animation effect that was applied to the picture, shape, or text in the PowerPoint desktop application.

More information about using animation effects in your presentation:

Animate a picture on your slide

Animate text bullets

We regularly update the Microsoft 365 apps for the web to include new and improved features, so check our Microsoft 365 Blog for announcements. 

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  18. Animate a picture on your slide

    To add some spirit to your presentation, you can add an animation effect to a picture or to shapes on your slides. Select the first picture. On the Animations tab, select an animation effect. For example, select Fly In. Click Effect Options, and then pick a direction for the animation. For example, From Left. Select the second picture that you ...

  19. STUNNING Animated Title Slide 3 min PowerPoint Tutorial

    PowerPoint Tips & Tricks Kevin Stratvert 822K views 3 years ago Join this channel and unlock members-only perks In this step-by-step guide, you'll learn how to design a stunning animated slide...

  20. Add, change, or remove transitions between slides

    Select the slide that has the transition you want to modify. On the Transitions tab, select Effect Options, then choose an option from the menu that appears. In the Timing group on the Transitions tab, you can change the duration of the effect. You can also specify whether the effect takes place after a mouse click or after a certain amount of ...

  21. Animate text or objects

    Select Effect Options and choose an effect. Manage animations and effects There are different ways to start animations in your presentation: On Click: Start an animation when you click a slide. With Previous: Play an animation at the same time as the previous animation in your sequence.

  22. 3D animation effects in PowerPoint

    Select the animation effect you want. On the ribbon, select Effect Options to open the menu. You can choose properties related to the Direction, Intensity, and Rotation Axis of movement. To see the effect in action, select Preview on the ribbon. Requirements for 3D animation effects See Also Get creative with 3D models Need more help?

  23. Animation effects available in PowerPoint for the web

    The following animation effects are currently available in PowerPoint for the web, and most can be applied to pictures, shapes, and text: Note: The Existing option plays an animation effect that was applied to the picture, shape, or text in the PowerPoint desktop application. More information about using animation effects in your presentation: