[Libs-Or] Tech-Talk: PPT - Using Animation - Why and How to Do it Right
HANNING Darci * SLO
darci.hanning at slo.oregon.gov
Tue Jun 10 13:38:16 PDT 2025
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Learn more about animations
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July 9: [Google] Your Photo Mess, Solved: Smart Organizing with Google Photos Why attend: You want a system to organize your photos
July 23: [AI] Using ChatGPT to Handle Challenging People with Confidence Why Attend? Learn a new tool to deal with difficult situations.
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PowerPoint / Google Slides: Using Animation - Why and How to Do it Right
Intermediate
[A computer screen displaying a bar chart and upward arrow with the title Sales Data]
Do you want to use PowerPoint Animations to help guide your audience's attention and add a touch of polish or creativity? But you're hesitant because you've seen them done poorly... with swirling images and bouncing text, making the use more distracting than helpful.
PowerPoint and Google Slides Animations are visual effects that control how text, images, and other elements appear, move, or disappear on a slide. They help emphasize key points and create a more engaging presentation experience.
NOTE: Don't confuse Animations with Transitions. Transitions add motion or style BETWEEN slides… like a fade, wipe or push. While animations are applied to items WITHIN the slide.
Like any tool, they're most effective when used strategically. Let's understand why and how to effectively use Animations in PowerPoint and Google Slides.
Why and When to Use Animations?
So why is it a good idea to sometimes include animations in your presentations?
· Direct your audience's attention - Animations help you control the flow of information on the slide. Instead of showing all bullet points at once, you can reveal them one at a time, ensuring your audience stays focused and follows your pacing.
· Emphasize Important Content - Subtle animations like "Fade" or "Zoom" can draw attention to a specific chart, quote, or key message, reinforcing its importance.
· Visualize Processes - For step-by-step processes or timelines, animations help illustrate movement or progression in a visual, intuitive way.
· Create Engagement - Used thoughtfully, animation adds interest and variety to a presentation, helping to maintain audience engagement, especially during longer sessions.
Let's walk through the steps in adding animations to your slides.
How to Use Animations
Animations in PowerPoint and Google Slides can be applied to a variety of slide elements, including:
· Text (individual words, lines, or bullet points)
· Images and Photos
· Shapes and Icons
· Charts and Graphs
· SmartArt Graphics
· Tables
· Videos and Audio Clips
· Groups of Objects (if grouped together)
[A slide on using animations, featuring text, flowers, a chart, a table, and a SmartArt pyramid.]
You can animate these elements to enter, emphasize, exit, or follow a motion path during your presentation.
PowerPoint - Adding Animations
1. Select the object (text, image, shape) in your slide.
· Go to the Animations tab (see image below).
· Click the dropdown arrow on the right to select from Entrance, Emphasis, Exit, or Motion Path effects. TIP: Motion Paths let you control movement across the slide (arrows or loops).
· Entrance Animations bring elements onto the screen (like Fade, Appear).
· Emphasis animations add movement or color to already visible elements (Spin, Pulse).
· Exit animations remove elements from the screen.
· Once you click on a choice, it will be applied to your text, object, image…
[PowerPoint Animations tab selected with red arrows pointing to the Animations menu and animation effect options]
2. Use Animation Pane for Control
[PowerPoint Animation Pane open showing a list of animated elements on a slide]
· Click the Animation Pane button in the toolbar to open the panel to the right of your slide. It is a list of all animations applied to the slide.
· For each Animation, you can click the downward arrow to the right to see more options. Here, you can adjust the Effect Options, Timing, and more.
· The Animations in the panel will be numbered and correlate to the numbers in your slide.
[PowerPoint slide showing a list of slide elements and an animation pane highlighting multiple text animations]
[Dropdown menu in PowerPoint Animation Pane showing animation start options with a red arrow pointing to the dropdown button]
3. Set Timing and Triggers
Now that you have added an Animation, you can make more adjustments. For instance, if you have one image, you may want it to fade in when the slide appears. Or, if you have a list of bullet points (as in the example), you could adjust the Start On Click option so that you need to click which tells PowerPoint to have each item displayed.
Animations can be set to start:
· On Click - Starts when you click.
· With Previous - Starts simultaneously with the previous animation.
· After Previous - Begins after the prior animation ends.
Use Duration and Delay settings to control the flow - fast enough to keep interest, slow enough to follow.
[PowerPoint animation settings showing Duration set to Auto and Delay set to point two five seconds]
While adding Animations to a slide, you may want to reorder them. It's easy! Open the Animation Pane and simply click and drag the numbered items up or down the list.
4. Preview Often
To view your Animations in action, click the Preview button in the upper left of the ribbon or go to Slide Show, From Current Slide to run the slideshow as you build your Animations. Depending on how you set up each Animation, they will appear as you advance to a new slide, as you click when viewing that slide, or when advancing to the next slide.
TIP: One cool option in Animations is the "dimming" effect, especially when using bullets. When you have a list of bullets and bring them into the slide one at a time, you can "dim" the items you are done speaking about with the use of a light font color to bring focus to the current one. Learn how to use this effect here<https://opiayfbab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001ZAgfEHySyDEV7DBsiJ-Uo1cFyO8QSdxCvFScXuNcaBvBPNYFJosxbg6zxx6zjqa9iNMOj9QRXRLo8ltVKv3Hk7hSujkypftqywOBOxC8J8jnz9WH-3l0gj25oX2_rBphyjeCHjSzTM3Jr0YaI7h8S-5BCnK9KcY6yvn6brX8SEcT8QYN8wnjs3LBOsyWKElBWefkDe9FDZY=&c=mrCh8OanZo84M7Go8Qai_GOYKSA9SCmW-LhfpIVYSIjczzKFhtLKOA==&ch=b74w-CrpuxhC1ZyYn9KckDAEyF9FvUmXrashESrNFL3mK6hrI8Nrjg==>.
Remember, use Animations to highlight, not to decorate - and your presentations will be polished and professional.
Google Slides – Adding Animations
Animations help guide attention and make your Google Slides presentation more dynamic, just like in PowerPoint. To create animations on slides in Google Slides, follow these steps:
1. Select the Object by clicking on a text box, image, shape, or object you want to animate.
· To open the Animation Panel, go to the top menu and click Insert, then Animation (or right-click the object and select Animate).
· The Motion panel will appear on the right.
2. Choose an Animation Type - Under Object Animations, choose an effect like Fade in, Fly in from left, Zoom in, etc.
3. Set Timing - Choose when it starts: On click, After previous, or With previous.
4. Adjust the speed using the slider (slow to fast).
[A Google Slides animation panel with Fade in animation options selected]
5. Add Multiple Animations (Optional) - Click the Add animation button to apply more than one effect to the same object (e.g., entrance + emphasis).
6. Preview Your Animation - Click the Play button at the bottom of the Motion panel to see how it looks.
[https://files.constantcontact.com/ee1208b4001/e565d7d1-215e-487a-8e78-f332113e7825.jpg?rdr=true]
Communications: Grammar
When to use "who" instead of "that"
A friend of mine (who was an excellent communicator) would get quite upset if, in my writing, I would use the word "that" when referring to people. He thought it was rude and reflected poorly on my communication skills.
For example, I'd say:
· The team members that need access to the file, should sign up.
· Someone that is ready to dive in would get the job.
· The employee that submitted the report was late.
· We're looking for volunteers that could work the event.
· She's the one that always brings the best snacks.
He was adamant that when talking about people, I would be more correct (and respectful) if I were to use “who” instead of “that.”
It’s one of those small details that adds polish to your communication ... and helps your message come across as more friendly, thoughtful, and clear.
It's more professional to use "who" when referring to people:
· The team members who need access to the file, should sign up.
· Someone who is ready to dive in would get the job.
· The employee who submitted the report was late.
· We're looking for volunteers who could work the event.
· She's the one who always brings the best snacks.
Why? Because “who” refers to people, and “that” refers to things. It’s a tiny tweak, but it shows you’re paying attention. You're being respectful.
In summary: if you’re talking about a person or group of people (even broadly, like “users” or “managers”), go with “who.” If it’s an object, idea, or company, then “that” is your go-to.
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Cheers,
Darci Hanning, MLIS (she/her/hers)
Public Library Consultant / CE Coordinator
Continuing Education Resources: https://slo.oregon.gov/conted/
State Library of Oregon | Library Support and Development Services
971-375-3491 | darci.hanning at slo.oregon.gov<mailto:darci.hanning at slo.oregon.gov> | www.oregon.gov/library<http://www.oregon.gov/library>
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