Adding animations to your PowerPoint presentations can make them more dynamic, visually appealing, and help emphasize key points. A popular animation effect is the typewriter or command line animation, which makes text appear as if it is being typed out letter-by-letter in real time.
This step-by-step guide will show you how to easily create this effect in PowerPoint.
Step 1: Add a New Slide and Enter Your Text
Start by adding a new blank slide to your PowerPoint presentation. Click the “New Slide” button in the Home tab.
Next, add a text box and enter the text you want to animate with the typewriter effect. You can enter a sentence, paragraph, or multiple paragraphs.
Add text
Step 2: Select the Text and Apply the Animation
With your text entered, select it by clicking on the text box. Go to the “Animations” tab in the ribbon.
In the “Animation” section, click on “Add Animation” and select the “Appear” animation. This will be the base for your typewriter effect.
Select appear animation
Step 3: Open the Animation Pane
The Animation Pane gives you more control over the applied animations. Click on “Animation Pane” in the Advanced Animation section of the Animations tab to open it.
Here you will see the animation you just applied to the text.
Animation pane
Step 4: Customize the Effect Options
Click the drop down on the animation in the Animation Pane and select “Effect Options”.
In the Effect tab, change the animation from “As one object” to “By letter”. You can also add typewriter sound effects here.
In the Timing tab, you can control the delay between letters appearing.
Effect options
Step 5: Preview and Adjust as Needed
Once you have set the effect options, click OK to apply them. The words should now appear letter-by-letter when you preview the animation.
You may need to adjust the delay in the Effect Options to get the right pace for your liking. Preview a few times until you are happy with the speed.
Step 6: Apply to Multiple Text Boxes
You can repeat the animation process to apply the typewriter effect to multiple text boxes on the same slide or across different slides.
Remember to customize the delay time in the Effect Options for each text box to match the length.
Multiple text boxes
Advanced: Create a Blinking Cursor
To take this one step further, you can also add a blinking cursor to simulate a command line interface.
Add a vertical line shape before your text, sized appropriately to match the font. Animate it to “Appear” after a 0 second delay.
In the Effect Options, make it blink by changing the color and applying a fast duration time.
Blinking cursor
Recap and Tips
And that’s it! With just a few clicks you can transform static text into an engaging animated sequence in PowerPoint.
Here are some additional tips when working with typewriter animations:
- Use it sparingly. Too much can be distracting.
- Balance the delay time with number of letters for smoothness.
- Add sound effects for extra impact.
- Apply to multiple elements to simulate typing between them.
So try out this cool animation on your next presentation!
Conclusion
The typewriter text animation gives presentations more personality and makes information delivery more dramatic. It’s an easy effect to apply in PowerPoint once you know how to use the Animation Pane.
To quickly recap, the key steps are:
- Add text to animate
- Select “Appear” animation
- Customize options in Animation Pane
- Adjust timing until satisfied
- Apply to additional text elements
Additionally, you can simulate a cursor and command line interface for extra flair.
So explore all the possibilities with PowerPoint animations to boost engagement! Add movement, sound, transitions, and path animations to bring your ideas to life.
