How to Animate Text in PowerPoint 2021

Edited 5 months ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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PowerPoint is a popular tool for creating presentations. One of the exciting features that PowerPoint offers is text animation. With PowerPoint 2021, you can animate text to make your presentation more engaging and dynamic. This detailed guide will explain how to animate text in PowerPoint 2021. We will cover the basic steps, explore different animation effects, and explain how you can customize these to create a professional and effective presentation.

Understanding PowerPoint text animation

Text animation in PowerPoint involves adding motion to your text. Motion can be as simple as making your text appear or disappear, or it can involve complex motions and sequences. Text animation can make your slide show more engaging by highlighting key points, capturing your audience's attention, and making your presentation more memorable.

Getting started with text animation

Before you start animating text in PowerPoint 2021, make sure you have your text ready in your slide. You will use the various features and panes available in PowerPoint to apply animation effects. Here are the basic steps to get started:

Step 1: Select the text

Open a PowerPoint presentation and go to the slide that contains the text you want to animate. Select the text box by clicking on it. Selecting the text box means you are ready to apply the animation effect to all the text inside this box.

Step 2: Open the Animation pane

Go to the top of the PowerPoint window and find the "Animations" tab. Click this tab to open the animation options. Here, you will find various animations that you can apply to your text.

Step 3: Apply animation effects

In the “Animations” tab, you will see a gallery of animations. Hovering over each animation will show you a preview of that effect. Click on the animation to assign it to your selected text.

Types of animation effects

PowerPoint offers four types of animations: entrance, emphasis, exit, and motion path. Each type has its own purpose and can be applied to your text in different ways to create attractive presentations.

Entrainment effect

Entrance effects make your text appear on the slide. Common entrance effects include:

• Appear: The text suddenly appears on the slide.
• Fade In: The text gradually fades out.
• Fly In: The text flies into the slide from the specified direction.

To apply an entrance effect, select your text, then choose the desired entrance effect from the animation gallery.

Thrust effect

Emphasis effects are used to draw attention to text that is already on the slide. They help highlight important points, focusing attention on your slide content. Popular emphasis effects include:

• Grow/Shrink: The text becomes larger or smaller.
• Rotate: The text rotates in place.
• Wave: The text waves like a flag in the wind.

Exhaust effect

Exit effects make text disappear from a slide. This is useful when you want to remove text after it has served its purpose. Some common exit effects are:

• Disappear: The text disappears immediately.
• Fade In: The text gradually fades out.
• Fly Out: The text exits the slide in the selected direction.

Motion path effect

Motion paths provide a way to make your text move along a pre-defined path. You can choose from lines, curves, shapes, loops, or custom paths to define the trajectory.

• Lines: The text runs in straight lines.
• Arcs: The text follows a curved path.
• Loops: The text follows a looped trajectory.

To apply a motion path, select your text, go to the “Add Animation” option, and choose a path from the drop-down menu under “Motion Path.”

Customizing the text animation

You have the flexibility to customize the animations to suit your presentation style and goals. Customization includes timing, order of animations, and additional effects for brightness.

Time adjust

Timing can significantly affect how your animations interact with each other and with your spoken presentation. To adjust the timing:

1. Select the text box that contains the animation you want to modify.
2. In the Animations tab, click the Animation Pane option to view a detailed list of animations on the current slide.
3. Click the down-arrow next to the animation in the Animation pane and select "Timing..." from the menu.
4. In the time settings, you can customize the following:
• Start: Decide when the animation will start (on click, with previous, after previous).
• Duration: Set the duration of the animation.
• Delay: Specify the delay before the animation starts.

Animation order

The sequence of animations can be arranged using the “Animation Pane”. In the pane, drag animations up or down to change their order. Animations that occur earlier in your presentation should be at the top of the list if they activate first. Proper sequencing ensures a smooth and logical flow of events.

Adding additional effects

You can apply layer effects to a single text object. For example, text can move in with an entrance effect, pulse with an emphasis effect, and finally, exit with an exit effect. To apply multiple effects:

1. Select the text and apply the first animation.
2. Click “Add Animation” in the Animations tab to apply a second animation (do not select an animation from the initial gallery).
3. Make sure each effect serves a logical purpose and maintains clarity for your audience.

Practical examples of animation

The complexity and style of animation can vary. Here are some practical examples to show how animation can be used:

Bullet point revelation

Suppose you have a list of bullet points. Instead of showing them all at once, animate them to appear one by one.

1. Select the text box that contains the bullet points.
2. Choose an entrance effect, such as “Appear.”
3. In the Animation pane, set the bullet points to appear “On Click,” so that a new point appears on each click.

Highlighting an important statement

To emphasize an important statement, you can use:

1. Select the main statement.
2. Apply “Grow/Shrink” emphasis effect.
3. For greater impact, make sure the timing and emphasis match your verbal point.

Troubleshooting common problems

Animations may not work as expected for several reasons. Here are some common problems and solutions:

Animations not playing: If you find that animations are not playing during your slideshow, check that "Use Timing" is enabled under Slideshow Settings.

Interval between animations: If there is too much of a delay, adjust the timing to make it more smooth by reducing the delay and adjusting the duration.

Finalization and review

After applying animations and customizing them, always review the presentation by playing a complete slide show. Confirm that the timing is proper, the effects are appropriate, and the transitions are smooth. Feedback from colleagues can provide further insight into how the animations affect the overall presentation.

Conclusion

Animating text in PowerPoint 2021 provides a creative edge to enhance your presentations. Whether for education, corporate, or personal use, well-timed and strategically placed animations engage the audience and enhance the message of the presentation. By using a variety of animation effects, customizing them to exact needs, and keeping an open view on creative possibilities, you can fully leverage PowerPoint's animation capabilities to deliver engaging and memorable presentations.

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