Slide Transitions: Powerful when used correctly

I’m usually against state-of-the-art, awesome, look-at-what-THIS-can-do slide transitions. Usually they are unnecessary and distract from the content. Even letters flying in to form a word I find very superfluous.

For me, simple, easy-to-digest slide transitions are great. I think unique slide transitions should only be used if they add some sort of value to the slides and the presentation. And this is the case if you want to present something that doesn’t fit into a whole slide. Perhaps you want to show the human anatomy, so maybe you start at the feet, and slide higher to the legs, thighs, abdomen, chest, face.

I have chosen to show you a timeline, which starts from the left to the right. By using transitions, I can create the feeling that we’re moving from one side to the other. It’s made out of three slides and you can see the composition of the three slides below.

It’s really easy to do and creates some good added value because it makes sense. In PowerPoint 2007 (Windows) just click on the slide you want to transition into, choose “Animations” from the menu bar and choose one of the “push” transitions.

Here you can download this free PowerPoint (.ppt) example.

Tagged as: Design, PowerPoint, Slide Transition