📎 This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓
In this article
Spinning titles and bouncing bullets make a presentation look like 2003. But used carefully, animation helps: revealing points one at a time stops people reading ahead, and Morph shows how something changes.
Transitions: pick one, keep it quiet
Transitions tab › Fade (or None), duration about 0.5 s, then Apply To All. Use a different one (Push) only for section changes, if at all.
Reveal points one by one
- Select the text placeholder.
- Animations › Appear or Fade.
- Effect Options › By Paragraph.
Each click shows the next point. Talk about it, then click on.
Build a chart or diagram
Select a chart › Wipe › Effect Options › By Series (or By Category). SmartArt can animate One by One. Reveal the baseline first, then the change.
Morph: smooth change between slides
Duplicate a slide, move or resize objects or change numbers on the copy, then set the second slide’s transition to Morph. PowerPoint animates everything from its old position to the new one: a zoom into a map, bars growing to new values, a list reordering.
The Animation Pane
Animations › Animation Pane lists effects in order. Drag to reorder; set On Click, With Previous or After Previous; adjust duration and delay.
Rules of restraint
- Every animation should answer: what does this help the audience understand?
- Same effect for the same job throughout.
- Fast: 0.3–0.5 s.
- No sounds.
- Decks that will be emailed shouldn’t depend on animation; stacked objects become unreadable in PDF.
Where beginners go wrong
| Habit | Problem |
|---|---|
| Different transition on every slide | Distracting |
| Fly-in, bounce, spin | Looks unprofessional |
| Animations on automatic timings | Points appear before you’re ready; use On Click |
| Ten clicks per slide | Split the slide instead |
Practice
Download the practice deck below. Add one transition, build-ups and a Morph, then delete anything that doesn’t help. The first slide lists your tasks.
📎 Practice files for this article
- 📙Lesson 6 practice deckAdd a transition, build-up animations and a Morph to the pitch deck, then remove what doesn't help.⬇ PPTX · 39 KB
Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.
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