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Kick-off Your Next Virtual Meeting with Rotating Slides

 
I recently consulted with a friend who was preparing for an upcoming Zoom conference. Her client had asked for a rotating display of ads that would play while guests were settling in for the virtual meeting. She wanted an opening that would, with a single click, allow her to start the rest of her PowerPoint presentation – all without leaving Presentation mode. I thought, “Hey, everybody is going to want that!”
 

I immediately opened PowerPoint to start building the repeating ad loop and encountered some issues that caused the application to crash. So, I put on my investigator’s hat.
 
I work in PowerPoint all the time, so for me, the advantages of staying in PowerPoint to create the ad rotation were clear. Animation is relatively simple, and it’s easy to add transition effects between slides and make the slides repeat. Employing the “Rotate Slides” command along with adding transitions between slides may even make animation unnecessary.
 
Though PowerPoint allows you to rotate slides using the “Slide Show → Set Up Slide Show” command, it won’t let you transition to the rest of your (non-rotating) presentation. After several failed attempts, I discovered how to make it work: The secret is to combine the two presentations! It turned out to be easy, and I was excited that I could make it work on both Windows and Mac with slight variations.
 
Let’s break down how to add a rotating ad display to your presentation. I’m using PowerPoint 365 in the examples below.
 
ON MAC:

  1. Create a separate Ad Deck with only the ad slides.
  2. Add transitions and any animation effects.
  3. Choose “Slide Show → Slide Show Setup.”
  4. Check “Loop continuously until ESC.”
  5. Save the PowerPoint file.
  6. Place both PPT files in the same folder.
  7. Create a link on the first slide of the Presentation Deck. Right-click on a picture, object, or button that you’ve added to this slide. Select “Edit Hyperlink,” then choose “Web Page or File.” Choose “Select,” then navigate to the rotating Ad Deck file. Be sure not to break the link.
  8. To start the presentation, enter Presenter mode and click the link you created. The slides from the Ad Deck will continue to rotate until you hit ESC. Be sure to hit ESC only once to stay in Presenter mode. Now you can advance to the remaining presentation.

Windows offers more options for linking and embedding files. Windows PowerPoint allows you to drag and drop an existing PPT file into another slide in an open PPT file – the added PPT comes over as a smaller rectangle that you fit to size. Troy from TLC Creative taught me this trick. It was my favorite Windows solution.
 
ON WINDOWS: 

  1. Create a separate Ad Deck with only the ad slides.
  2. Add transitions and any animation effects.
  3. Choose “Slide Show → Slide Show Setup.”
  4. Check “Loop continuously until ESC.”
  5. Save the PowerPoint file.
  6. On your Presentation Deck (without the ads), add a blank slide at the beginning.
  7. With the Presentation Deck open, go to the file icon at the bottom of your desktop. Open your file view window, locate the Ad Deck file, then drag the file icon onto the blank slide you just added. This embeds the Ad Deck in your presentation. Alternatively, you can hyperlink the Ad Deck as shown in the Mac instructions above.
  8. To start your presentation, enter Presenter view and click the first slide. The slides from the Ad Deck will continue to rotate until you hit ESC. Be sure to hit ESC only once to stay in Presenter mode. Now you can advance to the remaining presentation.

Special thanks to the following PowerPoint gurus! Troy Chollar and Lori Chollar of TLC Creative and Camille Holden of Nuts and Bolts Speed Training.

Dazzle your clients with rotating ads in your next presentation!

Contact me to create engaging slides for your next virtual event.

Cindy Kalman | ONPoint Presentation

Cindy [at] ONPointPresentation [dot] com | www.onpointpresentation.com

2 PowerPoint accessibility tools for increased productivity

Ever want a second pair of eyes on your work to help with proofing and fatigue? In today’s video, I talk about two accessibility tools that can augment your productivity using PowerPoint. The new dictation tool can easily be used to turn your voice into text. An older tool that you can add to PowerPoint menu is the Speak Selected Text tool. It takes highlighted text and speaks it back to you. Both are great additions for helping with proofing your copy.

I’m working today on a Windows computer using PowerPoint 365.

The first of the tools that I want to share with you is the new dictation tool.Look at the upper right corner for the microphone icon. Click the little arrow and you’ll pull down a selection of available languages.

 

If you click on the microphone, it will turn red and you’ll be ready to record your voice and turn it into text. For dictate to work, you need to be inside of a selected text box.

 

The next tool is the Speaks Select Text. I have added this to my Quick Access Tool bar.

Highlight the text you want to be read out loud, then click the speech bubble. It also works in the notes field, by highlighting the selected text and clicking the speech bubble.

 

Contact me when you want help making your next presentation shine!

Photo Resources for Pitch Decks

When I speak about the art of creating presentations and pitch decks, I recommend using full frame, legally yours, images as part of your slide deck. What you can do in school as a student is different from what you can legally do as a professional.

 

Full frame gives your slides have more punch. They have more impact than what we typically think of when using PowerPoint. When you do a google search for images, it’s like going to the library. Screen grabbing an image doesn’t make the image legally belong to you. It’s great though, for researching. Sometimes your google search will take you to stock sites where you can buy the image. I recommend using professional photo stock sites. They have great search abilities that make it easier to find exactly what you want. This will save you time, and you’ll know that you have a legal license to use the image once you purchase it. Avoid using photos that say “For Editorial Use Only.” Free image sites are less reliable in many ways.

 

4 popular professional image sites:
Shutterstock.com
Adobestock.com
Bigstock.com
Gettyimages.com
Depositphotos.com (credits don’t expire)

 

Shutterstock.com and Adobestock.com let you search for images right inside of PowerPoint. You need to have an account for payment. Add this feature through the Insert/Store menu, or you can go directly to the stock photo websites and download them from there. When an image has a watermark across it, it’s intended to be used as a placeholder until you’re sure it’s the right image you intend on using. Bigstock.com is sometimes less expensive, but more dated. Great for less expensive vector maps. Getty has higher priced photos, which could make your presentation a bit more unique.

2 techniques for improving your PowerPoint slides

2 techniques that will improve your PowerPoint slides. The first technique, fading back the background to make the text more impactful. The second technique shows how to use Morph to add movement to your slides. Original cartoons created for the presentation Dyslexia in the Workplace.