5 Ways to Highlight Text in a Microsoft PowerPoint Animation

Animations in PowerPoint allow you to bring your presentations to life. Using animations strategically to highlight key text and concepts can help reinforce your message and keep your audience engaged.

In this article, I’ll walk through 5 easy ways to highlight text in a PowerPoint animation using built-in features. Whether you want to draw attention to a specific word or phrase to make it stand out or animate bullet points one by one, these techniques will level up your next PowerPoint deck.

1. Animate Text By Letter

Animating text to appear letter by letter is an excellent way to place emphasis on an important word or phrase. Here are the steps:

1. Select the text you want to animate in your PowerPoint slide.
2. Go to the “Animations” tab and click on “Add Animation”.
3. Choose “By Letter” from the dropdown menu.
4. Customize the animation by changing the order letters appear, duration, and more in the “Effect Options” pane.

This animation draws the audience’s gaze to the text as it materializes on the slide. Use it sparingly for the biggest impact.

2. Animate Bullet Points One By One

For bullet point lists, animating each point to fly in individually can highlight key information step-by-step. Here’s how:

1. Select the entire bullet point list and go to “Add Animation”.
2. Choose “Entrance > More Effects > Fly In”.
3. Open the “Effect Options” pane and select “By Paragraph”.
4. Adjust the timing and sequence so points fly in one at a time.

This technique turns static bullets into a dynamic sequence, guiding your audience through key takeaways systematically.

3. Highlight Text With a Color Flash

Adding a subtle color flash animation energizes your text and makes it pop off the slide:

1. Select the text and add the “Emphasis > Flash Once” animation.
2. Open “Effect Options” and pick an eye-catching highlight color.
3. Tweak the duration, trigger, or add multiple flashes.

The color flash draws the viewer’s eye to the text, even if only for a split second. Use it to highlight surprising stats or critical keywords.

4. Draw Attention With a Zoom Effect

The classic “zoom in” or “zoom out” animation immediately pulls focus towards your text:

1. Choose your text and go to “Add Animation”.
2. Select “Emphasis > Grow/Shrink”.
3. Open the options and set the effect to rapidly scale up or down in size.
4. Adjust size change and duration to create smooth zooming.

As the text suddenly balloons or shrinks before their eyes, all attention shifts to your message. This effect works well on thought-provoking quotes.

5. Use Motion Paths For Visual Movement

For maximum dynamism, set your text in motion along a custom path. Here’s how:

1. Add the “Entrance > Custom Path” animation to your text.
2. Select the effect and click on the drop-down next to “Path”.
3. Choose a preset motion path or draw your own custom path.
4. Set the speed along the path for smooth flowing movement.

Watching text glide across the slide draws interest and holds attention. This mesmerizing trick can highlight nearly any text.

Key Takeaways

Animating text strategically is critical for amplifying key messages and making them stick. By letter, bullet, color flash, zoom, and motion path effects represent five go-to techniques for highlighting text in your next presentation.

Use these animations judiciously according to the type of content and your goals. For example, fly in bullet points one by one to reinforce information step-by-step or make important figures stand out with a pulsing color flash.