6. Animation

This is the movement of objects or text within the presentation. For example, bullet points, images, objects and charts can be set to come in individually from the right, drop down from above with a bouncy effect, spin around a number of times before setting on the page etc.

If used sparingly, animation can be an effective tool to help make the presentation more interesting, But you must be careful not to over-do animations as they can quickly become more of a distraction than a help. Most of us remember the frustration of watching a presentation where the letters drop down one by one onto the slide, taking what seems like an age before you can actually read the text.

Animations can be triggered manually by pressing the mouse button or the enter key. Or they can be set up to happen automatically.

Animations can also be used in conjunction with sound, images or charts.

Uses of animation:

• Text may be animated to hold the attention of the audience.
• Animation may also be used to control what is on the slide at any given time, for instance a set of bullet points could be revealed one at a time to make sure the audience concentrates only on the most recent point being made.
• fading objects in or out to provide emphasis when making a point
• Other objects on the slide may be animated such as a spinning logo and so on.