How to create powerful animations in PowerPoint

Discover PowerPoint animations and the Animation tab

First of all, it's essential to understand PowerPoint's animation capabilities. To access the animation options, open your PowerPoint presentation and click on theAnimations tab in the ribbon at the top of the screen.

In this tab, you'll find a list of animation effects available for elements on your slide, such as text, images or shapes. PowerPoint animations can be classified into four main categories: input, emphasis, output and motion trajectories.

Input

Input animations allow you to gradually introduce an element into the slide. For example, you can use the "Appearance" effect to display text or images discreetly, or choose a more dynamic effect such as "Zoom".

Emphasis

Accent animations are designed to highlight an element already present on the slide. They can be used to draw attention to a key point in your presentation, such as the "Pulsation" effect, which briefly vibrates an object.

Output

As their name suggests, exit animations are used to make an element disappear from the slide. They can be used to conclude a topic, or to hide information after it has been presented, to make room for other information.

Motion trajectories

Finally, motion trajectories allow you to move an element from point A to point B, following a predefined or customized trajectory. This can be useful for showing the progress of a project or for animating graphic elements.

Add animations to your slides

Now that you're familiar with the various PowerPoint animations, here's how to add them to your slides:

1. Select the element to be animated by clicking on it.
2. Click on the Animations tab in the Ribbon.
3. Scroll through the list of effects and click on the one you wish to apply. You can preview the effect by hovering the mouse over the effect icon.
4. Adjust the animation's start parameter, duration and delay.
5. Repeat these steps for each element you wish to animate.

Customize animations for a professional look

To give your animations a professional look, it's important to customize them according to your needs. Here are a few tips to optimize your animations:

• Use effects that are consistent with your graphic charter and the tone of your presentation (serious, playful, etc.).
• Pay close attention to the rhythm and duration of the animations. They should be neither too long nor too fast, so as not to disrupt the reading of the slide.
• Remember to arrange the animations in the correct order. To do this, use the Animation pane (accessible by clicking on the corresponding button in the Animations ribbon) on the right-hand side of the screen, and change the order of the animations by dragging them.
• Play with the effect options to customize the look, direction and style of the animation.
• Some animations (such as Sudden Entry) feature an animation speed smoothing function, which we recommend configuring. You can access this by double-clicking on the animation line in the Animation pane. For an input animation, it's often more natural to push Fin smoothly to the maximum. On the other hand, for an output animation, we recommend a Soft Start.

Get inspired

Discover our event presentations or our showcase to find inspiration for your PowerPoint animations.

Conclusion

By applying these tips, you'll be able to create powerful animated presentations with PowerPoint. Remember, the aim of animations is to enhance understanding of your message and capture your audience's attention without overdoing it. Don't hesitate to practice and experiment with different animations to find the ones that work best for your presentation. If you need to create a professional animated presentation, we'll be happy to help you with your project.