There are other ways to get Excel data onto a slide, so why would you want an active Excel spreadsheet? Let’s say that you’re presenting some results of your financial analysis and your [...]]]> You can insert a live Excel spreadsheet onto a slide so that you can use Excel while in Slide Show view.

There are other ways to get Excel data onto a slide, so why would you want an active Excel spreadsheet? Let’s say that you’re presenting some results of your financial analysis and your boss asks, “How did you get those results? Show me the spreadsheet.” You could switch to Excel, but it might be more slick to have it available in your PowerPoint presentation.

Slick? What does that mean? It just means that the process is less disruptive and more continuous, so it looks more professional. Try out this unusual technique and see if you like it.

Here are the steps:

1. Choose Insert (tab)> Object> From File. In the Insert Object dialog box, choose the Create from File option.
2. Click Browse, navigate to the Excel file, and double-click it. Click OK. You now see the spreadsheet on your slide. You may see all of it or part of it, but when you show it in Slide Show view, you’ll be able to pan and zoom to display what you want.
3. In PowerPoint 2003, choose Slide Show> Custom Animation. In 2007 and 2010, go to the Animations tab. In 2007, click Custom Animation.
4. With the spreadsheet selected, choose Add Effect in 2003 and 2007. Choose Add Animation in 2010. From the categories choose Object Actions or OLE Action Verbs. Then choose Edit or Open; it doesn’t seem to make any difference. Leave the default On Click setting, so that the animation happens when you click.
5. When you go into slide show view, you’ll see the same thing you saw when you inserted the spreadsheet. Now click and the Excel spreadsheet will open. Depending on your version, the spreadsheet may be in front of your slide or you may simply switch to Excel. In either case, you can now do anything that you can do in Excel, including edit the data and use Excel’s tools.

What you’re seeing is a temporary view of your spreadsheet inside PowerPoint. See the highlighted text: “Worksheet in PowerPoint Slide Show.”

To go back to your slide show, just close the spreadsheet, using the X button.

Thanks to Echo Swinford for her expertise.

Here’s the problem. You can easily link any shape to another presentation by hyperlinking it. I have instructions in my tip, “Link to other presentations and return to the original presentation.”

But to activate [...]]]> A friend asked me, “How can I link to another presentation and use my remote to get to that presentation?”

Here’s the problem. You can easily link any shape to another presentation by hyperlinking it. I have instructions in my tip, “Link to other presentations and return to the original presentation.”

But to activate that hyperlink, you need to actually click the shape on the screen. This means that you need to go to your laptop, move your cursor onto the shape, and click.

What if you’re not close to your laptop and are using a remote to go from slide to slide? This is a common situation when you’re in a large room or just want to  move around among the audience members.

The solution is not obvious at all, so here are the steps:

1. Choose Insert> Object.  This opens the Insert Object dialog box.
2. Click Create From File. Then browse to, and open, the presentation. You’ll see an image of the presentation’s first slide.
3. Decide if you want the image to show. If it looks good and is a good indicator to the audience of what’s to come, leave it on the slide. Otherwise, select the icon and drag it off the slide.
4. Open the Animation pane. In PowerPoint 2007, choose Animations tab> Custom Animation. In PowerPoint 2010, choose Animations tab> Animation Pane.You might be wondering, why the Animation pane?
5. The image should still be selected. In 2007, click the Add Effect button> Object Actions> Show. In 2010, choose Add Animation> OLE Action Verbs> Show and click OK.

This puts the showing of the second presentation in the animation order. So when you click your remote, that presentation is displayed in Slide Show view. You can go through it and when it ends, you’re automatically back on the slide where you started.

If you know of a way to do this in PowerPoint 2003, please leave a comment! The options in 2003 are only Open and Edit, which don’t open the presentation in Slide Show view.

First, Austin is a pretty city on the Colorado River. It has a great music scene and [...]]]> I’m at the Presentation Summit 2011 conference in Austin, TX and thought I’d share some quick takeaways from the speakers so far. I’m behind on posting, so you’ll see more content over the next couple of weeks.

First, Austin is a pretty city on the Colorado River. It has a great music scene and an interesting motto, perhaps unofficial. Here’s a tee-shirt that was for sale in a store in the Austin airport.

Wayne Michael on “Keeping your audience on the same page”

My first session was with Wayne Michael, a CPA who creates graphics for presentations to clients of the Accounting firm he works for. Without being an artist, he does a great job of visualizing complex tax-related topics.

He spoke on how to keep your audience on the same page as you are by providing visual cues that show relationships and avoid disorientation. Specifically, he showed us ways to avoid the look of one slide going to another, which creates a complete break in content.

Some of his techniques were:

• Keeping a menu along the side of the slide that highlights the current section
• Shrinking to a corner — Zooming an image out and moving it to the corner of the slide, then introducing new content, so that the previous content is still  visible
• Faded layering — covering most of the content with a semi-transparent rectangle to focus the audience on one section of a complex process and then adding some explanatory text about that section
• Creating a tab — a rectangle that slides in from the edge of the slides, displays some text, and then disappears, allowing the image to cover the entire slide.
• Using transitions that create continuity — He especially recommended the Push and Pan transitions

 Tip: In PowerPoint 2010, when you apply the Pan or Push transition in a direction, let’s say Push Right, and then you go to the previous slide, the transition reverses, becoming Push Left in this case. And the Pan transition keeps content on the slide master still, moving only the content on the individual slides. Try out these techniques!

Sandy Johnson on “Normal shapes, extraordinary icons”

Sandy Johnson, a top presentation designer, showed us some techniques for creating icons and buttons  in PowerPoint. She used simple clip art and shapes to create professional-looking graphics. Some of her techniques were:

• Inserting a circle, and going to Format tab, Shape Effects, Bevel, 3-D Options and increasing the top Width and Height values to get a 3D look
• Using the Subtract Shapes tool to create cutouts (See my tip on this tool.)
• Creating highlights (See my tip on creating highlights.)

Ellen Finkelstein can train you or the presenters in your organization to create high-impact, engaging, professional presentations for training, sales, business, or education. For more information, please click here.

Because you want to speak about each person in turn, you can use animation to display each person’s photo and name when you click. Here is one approach [...]]]> To introduce a panel at a panel discussion or employees to a group, you can create a slide with their photos, name, title, and so on.

Because you want to speak about each person in turn, you can use animation to display each person’s photo and name when you click. Here is one approach you can use.

Follow these steps:

1. Collect the photos of your panel members. Ideally, they should be approximately the same shape.
2. Insert a shape and size it according to your needs. This will contain the photo.
3. Insert another shape and move it adjacent to the first shape, as you see here. This will contain the person’s name and other information. Format it however you want.

1. Copy the shapes and align them so that you have enough shapes for each person on the panel.
2. Right-click the first shape that will contain a photo and choose Format Shape/AutoShape.
3. To fill the shape with the picture, do the following:

• In PowerPoint 2007 & 2010, in the Fill category, choose Picture or Texture, then click the File button. Choose the photo and click Open.
• In PowerPoint 2003, on the Colors and Lines tab, in the Fill section, click the Color drop-down list and choose Fill Effects. On the Picture tab, click the Select Picture tab to choose the photo you want.

1. To display the image, I used the Fade entrance animation.

• In PowerPoint 2003, choose Slide Show> Custom Animation to open the Custom Animation task pane. In PowerPoint 2007, click the Animations tab and then Custom Animation button.
• In PowerPoint 2010, click the Animations tab.

1. Select the image (that is, the shape filled with the image).

• In PowerPoint 2003 and 2007, in the Custom Animation task pane, click Add Effect> Entrance> (More Effects, if necessary)> Fade.
• In PowerPoint 2010, click the Add Animation button and choose Fade in the Entrance section. (If it isn’t there, choose More Entrance Effects.)

1. You may want to change the speed on the fade in effect:

• In PowerPoint 2003 and 2007, in the Speed drop-down list, choose a different speed.
• In PowerPoint 2010, on the Animations tab, in the Timing group, change the speed in the Duration text box or click the Up or Down arrow.

1. To add the text to the empty shape, right-click inside the shape and choose Edit text. Enter the text and format it as desired.

1. To display the shape with the text, I used the Peek animation to give the appearance of the text coming out from behind the photo. Select the shape and display the Animations tab or Custom Animation task pane, as described earlier. Then do the following:

• In PowerPoint 2003 and 2007,  click Add Effect> Entrance> (More Effects, if necessary)> Peek In. In the Direction drop-down list, choose From Right (if your shapes are aligned as shown in the above image ).
• In PowerPoint 2010, click the Add Animation button> More Entrance Effects (if necessary)> Peek In.  In the Animation group, click the Effect Options button and choose the From Right option.

1. Add the animation to all of the shapes. In PowerPoint 2010, select an animated shape, double-click the Animation Painter button and select the rest of the shapes that need the same animation. click the Animation Painter button again to deselect it.

Do you have another slide technique for introducing panel members, employees, executives, or colleagues during a presentation?

In previous versions of PowerPoint the fade transition didn’t look [...]]]> A good use of animation is to show change or contrast. For example, you can make a winter scene disappear as a summer scene appears, to show the difference. At the bottom of this tip, I have some links to other tips on animation.

In previous versions of PowerPoint the fade transition didn’t look very good, so most people put both photos on one slide and faded the first out as the second came in. This still works well.

It’s worthwhile to try out all the animations to see what they do, especially with their variations. You never know when one will give you just the effect you want.

But PowerPoint 2010 has added some new transitions, including some 3D ones, that look much better. The 3D transitions let you watch the old slide exit as the new one enters, and so helps connect the two slides.

In this video, the first effect is a Split exit animation on a photo, which reveals a second photo beneath it. The second effect is on of the new 3D PowerPoint 2010 transitions, called Rotate.

Related tips

Dissolve one image into another

Animation for entertainment

Create a cascading animation effect

You can now purchase the recording for $24.95, or buy all [...]]]> If you missed it, we had a great webinar last week on Animation and Video in PowerPoint—Advanced Techniques. It was jam packed with 10 techniques and attendees also got a 14-page handout with detailed instructions and the presentation itself, containing all the techniques!

You can now purchase the recording for $24.95, or buy all 5 webinars for the price of 4 for only $98. If you buy all 5, you’ll get the recording (plus the instructions and presentation) and access to the rest of the training webinars live.

Read more about the webinar. Scroll down to the bottom to find the Buy Now button for the 5 for the price of 4 option.

A nice effect, especially for holiday and New Years’ greetings, is a swinging bell or pendulum. You use the Spin animation, but it has a problem for [...]]]> Have you ever received a greeting card created in PowerPoint? Maybe I receive more of these than most people, but I get them several times a year.

A nice effect, especially for holiday and New Years’ greetings, is a swinging bell or pendulum. You use the Spin animation, but it has a problem for this type of effect; it spins around the center of the object you’re animating. It is, after all, a spin effect, not a swinging effect.

You can turn the Spin animation into a swinging effect with a little trick:

Insert the object or image that you want to use. I found an image of a bell and removed the background. (I used PowerPoint 2010′s background remover to do this. Cool!) Don’t worry about the image’s angle; you can change it later.

Select the object and press Ctrl+D to duplicate it.
Click the Format tab. In the Arrrange group, choose Rotate> Flip Horizontal, then choose Flip Vertical. (You want a mirror image. If your image is already vertical or horizontal and not rotated like mine, you only need to do one of these operations. For example, if the bell were upright, I would just use Flip Vertical, to make an upside-down bell.)

Move the copy so that it is exactly opposite the original.
Select both images and group them. In 2007, press Ctrl+G. In 2003, go to the Drawing toolbar>Draw> Group. As you can see, you have now changed the center of the image. In my example, the center of the image is now the top of the lower bell, just where I want it.

You need to hide the upside- down image in some way. You can:

• Move it off the slide. That’s what I did.
• Cover it with other objects
• If you’re using PowerPoint shapes, you can make the upside-down image invisible by removing the outline and fill, or making the fill 100% transparent. Even after grouping, you can click the upside-down image to select it within the group and format it separately.
• If you’re using an image, you can draw a Freeform shape over the copy and use that instead of the image. The only purpose of the copy is to move the center of the Spin animation effect to where you want it to be, so a Freeform that closely matches the outline of the image works fine. Here you see an example. Then, make the Freeform invisible.

Select your grouped object and choose Animations tab> Custom Animation. In the Custom Animation task pane, choose Add Effect> Emphasis> Spin. (You may have to choose More Effects to find the Spin animation.)
The Preview feature spins your object 360°. You probably don’t want that! Click the Custom drop-down list in the task pane, and enter an amount in the Custom text box. You can also choose to spin clockwise or counterclockwise.
In the Speed drop-down list, choose a speed. For more control, choose the animation in the list of animations, click the Down arrow, and choose Timing. In the dialog box, enter a value in the Speed text box. For example, you can enter 1.45 (in seconds). Click OK.

When you view the animation, you now see the bell swinging from its top. (Warning if you’re near others at work or your baby is sleeping nearby! The bell is loud!)

I usually recommend restraint when using animation, but when the purpose is entertainment, you have a lot more [...]]]> Occasionally, you may want to use PowerPoint animation for its entertainment value. An introduction that loops as the audience arrives is one good use. Another is to build excitement at the launch of a new product.

I usually recommend restraint when using animation, but when the purpose is entertainment, you have a lot more leeway. Insert an image and try out all the animation effects, one after another, just to see what they do. It’s fun! Then choose one that you like.

Here, I explain one way to use the Rise Up animation, which introduces an object by raising it up from the bottom, and ends with a little bounce. To make the transition from image to image seamless, I put three on one slide and added a delay. The result is a slide show effect, as you see here. I used photos of winter scenes, but you could use product photos instead.

Animation for Entertainment

Here are the steps:

1. On the Drawing toolbar, click Insert Picture. (In 2007, go to Insert tab> Illustrations group> Picture.) Insert a picture that you want to use. Repeat to insert a total of 3 to 5 pictures. It’s helpful to use photos that are all the same size and orientation.
2. Drag the top picture down and to the right. Drag the next picture in the same direction, but slightly less. Continue until the images are offset from each other enough so you can select the picture you want easily.

1. You can use the Rise Up animation with photos that take up the entire slide, but I felt that the effect was more interesting when the photos were smaller than the slide. To resize the photos, right-click the bottom-most one, and choose Format Picture. Click the Size tab. (In PowerPoint 2007, right-click and choose Size and Position, and choose the Size tab.) I set the width to 7.5, which is 3/4 of the default slide width. You can just click OK (Close in 2007), because by default, the photo maintains its aspect ratio (proportion), and the height adjusts automatically. Repeat with the other photos.
2. To add the animation, select the bottom-most photo, and choose Slide Show> Custom Animation. (In 2007, choose Animations tab> Custom Animation.) In the Custom Animation task pane, choose Add Effect> Entrance> More Effects> Rise Up. Set the Speed to Medium.
3. Select the next photo, and add the same animation, but set the Start to After Previous. Then, click the animation’s item in the task pane, click the down arrow, and choose Timing. Set the Delay to 1.5 seconds. Repeat for the rest of the photos. Go into Slide Show view and test the animation.
4. If you want, you can add a shadow or other effect to your photos. I added a shadow.

Note: For a shortcut to adding the animation one by one, see the link below to my tip, “Duplicate animation.” For information on shadows, see the link below to my tip, “Create soft shadows.”

1. To center all of the photos, one on top of the other, select them all. On the Drawing toolbar, choose Draw> Align or Distribute> Relative to Slide. Then choose Draw> Align or Distribute> Align Center. Finally, choose Draw> Align or Distribute> Align Middle. (In 2007, go to Format tab> Arrange group> Align drop-down arrow> Align to Slide. Then go to Format tab> Arrange group> Align drop-down arrow> Align Center. Finally, go to Format tab> Arrange group> Align drop-down arrow> Align Middle.)
2. If you want, you can add a background or other decoration.

Contest!

Send in your own animation for entertainment example! Anything goes! The deadline is Friday, April 3, 2009. I’ll choose the 2 best entries. You’ll get your choice of 101 Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know (for 2002, 2003 & 2007) or my upcoming e-book, The Lost Art of Persuasion, about persuasive presentations. Click here to open an e-mail and attach the presentation. Please indicate your prize choice.

Related tips:

• Create a looping introduction
• Tutorial on animation and best practices
• Duplicate animation
• Create soft shadows