Interactive PowerPoint 2000
Hyperlinking in PowerPoint
Since I began using PowerPoint several years ago, I find myself constantly trying to make the program
do a better job of managing my presentation resources. I frequently need external resources to make a
presentation work. Materials such as web pages, Word or Excel documents or even other PowerPoint
slide shows frequently become elements in my slide shows. The first few times I used external elements
were very awkward. I would end my slide show then start another application to show the resource.
After finishing with the related resource, I would return to PowerPoint, locate the desired slide and
restart the show. I figured there had to be a better way, and there is.
What is a hyperlink?
A hyperlink is nothing more than a pointer that provides a link to another resource. This resource can be
located on the local hard drive of your computer, on a shared network resource or somewhere on the
Internet.
Accessing the hyperlink feature
As with most PowerPoint features, there are many ways to do
accomplish the same thing. The method I prefer isn't
necessarily the fastest, but it provides you with the most
options. The hyperlink feature is best accessed by selecting
Slide Show | Action Settings.
Hyperlinking to a URL
As most of you probably already know, if you type something
that looks like a URL (web address) into any Microsoft Office
program, that text is automatically converted into a hyperlink.
That works well most of the time. There are time when the
URL's is so long and complex; you'd rather not see them on
the screen. This is when the hyperlink feature comes in handy.
1. Begin by typing the text you wish to make into the
hyperlink
2. Next, highlight the text and select Slide Show |
Action Settings.
3. Select Hyperlink to: from the Action Settings dialog box
4. From the Hyperlink to: drop down menu, choose URL…
5. In the URL dialog box that appears, type the complete URL of the site you wish to go to. This
URL must include http://.
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 1 of 14
What else can you do?
While hyperlinking to a URL is an interesting enough
feature, it is far from the only thing you can do. In fact, it's
not even the most interesting thing you can do. You can
hyperlink to a variety of things from within PowerPoint. If
you take a closer look at the Hyperlink to dropdown menu,
you'll see the following options:











Next Slide – Takes you to the next slide in the show.
Previous Slide – Takes you to the previous slide in
the show.
First Slide – Takes you back to the beginning of the
show.
Last Slide - Takes you to the final slide in the show.
Last Slide Viewed – Takes you to the last slide you
looked at in the slide show. Useful if you link around
the show.
End Show – Ends the slide show.
Custom Show – Allows you to link to a section of a
slide show that has been identified as a custom show.
Slide – This allows you to link to any slide in the slide show. This allows a slide to essentially
function as a "menu".
URL – Takes you to any web.
Other PowerPoint Presentation – Allows you to link from one slide show to any other show
that you have available.
Other File – Allows you to link to any other file that you have on the computer including
executable programs.
Action Buttons
Thus far we have addressed the Actions Settings feature that allows hyperlinking to be added to any
word, or group of words within a PowerPoint slide show. Some
people prefer to create buttons instead. Consequently,
PowerPoint provides you with a feature called Action Buttons.
To create an Action Button
1. Begin by selecting Slide Show | Action Button.
2. Choose the type of button you wish to use. Typically I
use the blank button on the upper left because I want to
enter a text label for identification. You can however,
choose any of the buttons you wish.
3. You'll notice that the mouse pointer on your screen has
changed into a + sign. Drag the + pointer to create your
button. This process is much like drawing shapes in any
drawing program.
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 2 of 14
4. When you release your mouse button, you'll see the button appear on the screen. After a brief
pause the familiar Action Settings dialog box will appear on the screen. As before, determine
what type of hyperlinking you wish to perform.
5. Click OK to complete the action button
6. You now have a functional button, but no text identifier. To fix this problem simply right click
on the new button and choose Edit Text.
Creating PowerPoint Games
One of the most interesting applications of the hyperlink technique is the ability to create quiz show type
games. These are great for reviewing difficult content in courses. For some of you simply saying this
following a discussion of linking is enough to get you started. For others, a bit more explanation is
necessary.
The scenario
Let's say that you wish to create a quiz show type game that has 5 questions. Students can choose to
answer the questions in any order they wish.
Set-up
Let me preface this discussion by saying that the set-up discussed here is not necessarily the most
efficient way to perform this operation. It is, however, the easiest to explain to new PowerPoint users.
More advanced users will quickly notice that this set-up could be sped up tremendously by copying
slides. Having said that, let's look at how you might set this up.
For a 5-question game, you'll need to create a total of 6 slides. Slide
one will become the game board. Slides 2-5 will be the individual
question slides.
Slide 1
Slide one can really be of any type you wish. For this example I'll use
a bullet slide. You'll want to create a slide that looks like the image to
the right.
Slides 2-5
For the remainder of the slides, you'll create a bullet chart that looks
like the figure to the right. The title for the slide should identify the
question number (1-5). You'll also want to set-up a custom animation
for the body of the slide (the place where the bulleted items appear).
This custom animation should allow the question line and the answer
line to appear one at a time.
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 3 of 14
Creating the links
With all of the slides created, it's time to
make the links work. To accomplish this,
you'll need to go back to your game board
slide (slide 1), and create the links. Begin
by:
1. Highlight "Question 1" on the
game board slide.
2. Choose Slide Show | Action
Settings.
3. Select Hyperlink to: and choose
slide from the drop down menu.
4. The box that appears will list the
titles of every slide in your show.
Since question 1 is highlighted on
the game board, we'll want to choose the Question 1 slide from the Hyperlink to Slide dialog
box.
5. Click OK.
You'll repeat this process for each of the questions on your game board.
The final step
You've now created links from the game board to the individual slides. The only problem is that once
you get to one of the slides, you have no way back to the game board to select another question. This
problem can easily be handled using the Action Button feature. You'll need to add an action button to
the bottom of each of the question slides (2-5 in our example) which links back to the game board slide.
In our show that slide is called Questions and is slide 1.
Possible enhancements
With that as a basic framework, you can extend the game complexity significantly. One of the most
common extensions is to create a Jeopardy type game show. A Jeopardy template simply requires more
questions on the menu screen and a few more links. I've even heard of people adding audio or video
daily doubles. This is accomplished using the custom animation feature.
PowerPoint Slides you can type on
One of the things I always wished I could do with
PowerPoint was type on a slide during a presentation. If
you've used PowerPoint, there always comes a place in a
slide show when you want to record the ideas/comments
that come from the students in class. Most people who use
PowerPoint believe that this can only be accomplished by
writing on the board, or perhaps by leaving the program
and starting a blank Word document. While these
The Text Box button
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 4 of 14
techniques work, it is possible to create slides that you can type on during a presentation. Comments
entered on the slides are even saved with the slideshow so they can be saved and printed later.
How can this be done… Well the technique is rather obscure and one that very few people would
wander across on their own. It uses something known as an ActiveX control.
Where to begin
In order to create this type of slide, you must add the Control Toolbox to the screen. This is done by
selecting View|Toolbars Control Toolbox. Once you have done this, you'll have a dialog box on
the screen that looks like this figure.
Creating the slide
Now that you have the control toolbox on the screen, you are ready to create the slide. Text boxes can be
placed on any screen layout, but ones that have few placeholders seem to work the best. Typically I use
the Title Only layout.
To create the box, click on the Text Box button on the Control Toolbox. Your mouse pointer will now
switch to a +. You now drag your mouse to create the desired size box.
Is that it?
Wow, that was easy wasn't it? Guess what, the box you've just created doesn't work! Fortunately what
you have to do to make it work isn't much harder than creating the box in the first place. Making an
ActiveX control work correctly here is as simple as modifying the text box properties. To make this
change, right click on the box and choose Properties.
The dialog box that appears looks fairly complex, and it is. Fortunately you only need to change 3 or 4
options. If you want to experiment, you can play with the other options. Here is what needs to be
changed:
 EnterKeyBehavior – Change to True
 MultiLine – Change to True
 WordWrap – Usually set to True
 Font – Change to the desired type style
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 5 of 14
Inserting Audio the Easy Way
During the course of this workshop we will look at many different ways to insert audio and video clips
into PowerPoint. This first technique is probably the fastest and easiest way. While this technique won’t
work for every situation, it is nearly fool proof.
Playing directly from a CD
This process is fairly simple. You must begin by displaying the slide on which you want the audio clip
to be inserted. Once you have done this, select Insert | Movies and Sounds | Play CD Audio
Track. After making this menu choice, you will see the Movie and Sound Options dialog box.
Allows the
clip to
repeat
Select the start
and end time
for the clip.
Total play time
might not
match what is
shown on the
liner notes.
This is the easiest way to insert audio and the one that will cause the fewest problems. The down side is
that you must have the CD in place to play the audio. This can be especially problematic if you are
planning to distribute the show to students, or if you will need to play the slide show on a computer that
you are unfamiliar with.
After clicking on the OK button your slide will contain a CD icon. This icon is your cue that music has
been added to your slide show. To improve the appearance of the slide, I generally make the icon
smaller and move it to the corner of the slide.
Review of Custom Animations
While PowerPoint attempts to automatically
configure your media clip to work correctly,
chances are you will still need to make a few
changes. All of these changes are made in the
Slide Show | Custom Animations
menu.
The Order and Timings Tab
This tab allows you to choose the items you
wish to animate. You don’t have to animate
every object on a slide. After selecting the
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 6 of 14
objects you wish to animate, you may want to modify the animation order.
Animation order determines the sequence that objects are animated. Generally the title should be
animated before the text of a slide.
The dialog box also offers timing options that
will allow you to have objects animate
automatically.
Multimedia Settings Tab
There are two significant options on this screen
that we need to discuss. The first of these is
While Playing. This option allows you to
control what the slide show does while the
media clip is running. If you want music to play
behind several slides, you will want to select Continue slide show.
Stop playing allows you to tell PowerPoint when the media clip should end.
It is worth noting that when I insert media clips into PowerPoint, I typically need to adjust these so that
my media clips play correctly.
Adding audio other ways
Adding narration to just a few slides
PowerPoint has the built-in functionality required to permit you to digitize audio clips (generally
narration) directly into the slide show. The only thing you need is a microphone connected to your
computer.
This function is performed using the Insert | Movies and Sounds |
Record Sound option. After selecting this option, the record dialog box
appears. After you have recorded your audio, clicking on the OK button
inserts an audio object into your slide show. The action of this object can
be modified using the custom animation feature.
Adding narration to the entire show
It is also possible to add narration to every slide in the slide show. This function is actually performed
while showing the slide show. Because the ability to add an audio track to the entire slide show is part of
the slide show function, you can actually use it to record a presentation, student comments and questions
while presenting the slide show itself. This would allow students not only to review the slides, but also
the entire discussion that took place around the show.
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 7 of 14
To add narration to the entire show, begin by selecting Slide Show | Record Narration. This
menu option causes the following dialog box to appear.
Configures the
recorder for your
microphone. This is
an important step!
Manipulate audio
quality and the size
of the recorded
audio clip
Narration files in PowerPoint can either become part
of the slide show, or they can be separate audio files.
By default, the audio clips you record are embedded
directly into the slide show. You should note however
that Microsoft suggests that you check the Link
narrations in box any time you are planning on
recording large amounts of audio.
Once you click OK, you will be automatically taken to your slide show. At this point, simply begin
speaking into the microphone. Everything you say will now be recorded and attached to this slide. One
quick note about recording your narration, when recording your narration, make sure you pause briefly
before you begin to speak after changing slides. It seems to take PowerPoint a second or two to begin
playing the recorded audio after a slide change.
Pausing the recording
If you should want to pause the recording during the slide show simply right click and select Pause
Narration. To continue recording, once again right click and this time select Resume Narration.
Finishing the recording
Recording will stop when the slide show ends, or when you
press the <Esc> key. Once the recording stops, you will
be prompted with a dialog box. By allowing the slide
timings to be saved with the slide show you will have a
show that will essentially run by itself in real time.
Editing the recording
It is possible to re-record the audio for any slide, or group of slides in the show that you wish. To rerecord you will need to begin by displaying the first slide that contains audio that you wish to re-record.
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 8 of 14
Next, select Slide Show | Record Narration. Then, record the audio track. When you are done,
press <Esc> on the slide following the last slide for which you want to re-record the audio.
Final notes
This process works fairly reliably and produces good results. You may want to experiment with a couple
of microphones before you spend too much time recording. Also, voice narration takes precedence over
all other audio in the presentation. Subsequently, on a slide containing both narration and other sounds,
only the narration will play.
Inserting a digitized audio clip
PowerPoint supports audio files through the Windows Media Player. This player is capable of handling
the following audio types.
Common Video Formats
Windows Media Player Format
Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG)
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MDI)
UNIX formats
File Extensions
.wav, .wma
.mp3
.mid
.au, .snd
To insert a file of these types, use Insert | Movies and Sounds | Sounds From File … At this
point you will receive a dialog box asking you the name of the file you wish to insert. After selecting the
file and clicking OK, you will be asked if you want the media clip to play automatically. As with other
inserted audio clips, you may wish to review the object settings in Slide Show | Custom
Animations to ensure that the clip will play as you intend.
Creating a digital audio clip
There are a many different ways to create a digital audio clip. While there is absolutely no way to
discuss every piece of software that can be used to make audio an audio file, I can show you one way.
The technique that I’m going to discuss is not even necessarily the best way to create an audio file. The
reason I’m going to show it to you is because everyone has this combination of software. It comes with
every Windows 9x, NT, 2000 computer system available. I’m also going to show you this software
because these same principles apply to all digitizing software.
To begin, you will need to open three different windows applications, CD Player, Sound Recorder and
Volume Control. Typically these options are found in the Programs | Accessories |
Entertainment. With these programs started, there are a couple of configuration issues that you need
to consider.
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 9 of 14
Sound Recorder
The built in sound recorder program that comes with Windows creates standard .WAV files. The only
down side is the size of the
file that you can record. It
appears that the maximum
size of the file you can
create is about 1.4MB (or
essentially the size of a
floppy disk). Because of
this, you may need to
change the quality of the
recorded sound to enable
you to record the amount of
sound you need. Remember, higher quality means larger .WAV files. The range for Sound Recorder is
around 6 seconds at best CD quality to perhaps 65 seconds at telephone quality.
Volume Control
This is the part of the process that everyone misses. A
computer has the ability to receive audio input from one
source at a time. You need to tell your computer which
source you wish to use. Failing to set this option
correctly prevents you from recording any audio. Select
Options | Properties. From the properties, select
Recording. Once you have selected this option, you will
see the Recording control dialog box. From this box
click to select the desired audio input device.
Setting the volume control is a bit more of an art than science. Generally I start somewhere in the center
and move up or down based on the movement of the record level or quality of the recorded sound.
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 10 of 14
Inserting Video
Now video insertion can be just as simple as inserting audio, however since video is a bit more complex,
there is more that can go wrong. There are basically three major types of video that you can encounter.
MPEG (.MPG), Video for Windows (.AVI) and QuickTime (.MOV). Just as with audio clips these files
can be obtained in a variety of ways. They can be downloaded, digitized from your own video tape, or
purchased just like you buy clipart.
Each of these video types has its advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately this is neither the time
nor place to discuss them. Suffice it to say that the format that the video is in MAY effect the way in
which you have to insert the clip into a PowerPoint slide show. How will you know? Well, without
making this more complicated than necessary….here is the rule. If the clip doesn't run correctly the one
way, try one of the others.
Video using the built-in media player
PowerPoint uses the Microsoft Windows Media Player. If you plan on using these techniques, you might
want to avoid upgrading to Media Player 7.0. Based on some of our testing, this version of media player
doesn’t always work correctly. There are two techniques that utilize this player. I always try these first
because they provide the most seamless integration of video into your slide show. Should you try one of
these techniques and find that it doesn't work, skip to the section on inserting video as an object. Don't
bother to try the other built in media player technique, because it won't work correctly either.
Inserting video onto a media clip slide
This is the easiest way to insert a video clip because there is a placeholder on the slide designed
specifically for movie clips. Inserting movies in this slide type is similar to inserting clipart into a slide
with the clipart placeholder.
To insert a video using this technique:
1.
Begin by selecting one of the two text and media clip slide types.
2.
3.
4.
Next, as with any slide template, follow the
directions on the template. Double click on
the media clip placeholder.
From the dialog box that appears, select the
desired video and click OK
You will now see a picture appear on your
screen. This image is actually the first frame
of your video clip
Inserting video on any slide layout
Video clips can be inserted on any slide layout regardless of whether there is a built in placeholder for
the video clip. This process is virtually identical to the way we inserted audio clips earlier.
To insert a video clip using this technique:
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 11 of 14
1
2
3
5.
Begin by copying the video clip into your working folder on your desktop.
Next, Insert | Movies and Sound | Movie from file
From the dialog box that appears, select the desired video and click OK
As in the previous technique you will now see a picture appear on your screen. This image is
actually the first frame of your video clip.
Testing your video file
To play your video file, you must be in slide show (presentation) mode. When you arrive at the slide that
contains your video clip, simply click on the picture and your video clip will begin playing, or you can
have it automatically play using custom animations
Inserting video as an object
In the event that the internal video player doesn't work, or if you want more precise control over the
playing video, you must insert the video file as an object. This process will actually launch a separate
video player on top of PowerPoint. While this allows you to show the video, it is not seamless. You
actually see a new video player window open on top of your slide show. It's not awful, the technology is
just more noticeable. This process, as with most things in PowerPoint, can be done several ways. I'll
show you the way I think is the easiest.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Begin by copying your video file into your working folder on the computer
Now open Slide Show | Action Button. From the list that appears select the icon in the lower
right corner. It's the one that looks like the video camera.
Your mouse pointer will now switch to a plus symbol. Simply click it on the screen. This will
create a action button that you will use to start the video later
After a brief pause the Action Settings dialog box will appear on the screen. From this dialog
box, click on the radio button next to the Hyperlink option.
Now, in the drop down menu next to hyperlink, choose Other File….
Finally select the video clip from the dialog box
Playing a video inserted as an object
Playing this type of video is almost like playing everything else we have looked at this far. Just click on
the action button your created in step two above. After a brief pause the video player will open. Now
click the play button on the video player and yoru video clip will be displayed. After the clip is finished,
don’t forget to close the video player by clicking on the close program button (X).
Math Calculations in PowerPoint
If I haven't shown you something new by now, this is my last chance. And, chances are this one will be
new to you. PowerPoint has the ability to perform mathematical calculations while you are in a slide
show. Why might you want to do this? Well, what about a review tool for math facts that a student could
use either during free time or at home? What about using it as a way to introduce algebra concepts, or
provide answers to equations during a review session.
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 12 of 14
This trick is similar to the box you can type on trick. Both rely on the Active X text box. The only
difference here is that a button must be programmed using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to make
the boxes do something. Now before you run away from this trick screaming because you don't know
any VBA, keep in mind I know so little VBA that I have to look almost everything up on the Internet
before I program it.
The Scenario
Let's assume that you are working your way through an elementary geometry lesson and you are
teaching students how to calculate the area of a rectangle. You want a PowerPoint slide to perform these
calculations for you.
The Set-Up
Begin by placing a text box onto a PowerPoint slide for each "variable" you wish to enter, also, place
text box on the screen to display the answer.
Create the text boxes
Next, you'll want to name the text boxes. This is done by modifying the properties for the text boxes in
the same manner as you did with the text boxes you could type on. The box name appears as the top
item on the properties screen and can be changed to anything you would like as long as the name
contains no spaces.
Create the buttons
Now, you'll need to create two buttons. These buttons
are what actually allows the math to happen. One of
these buttons will perform the calculation; the other
will clear all values. After adding the buttons to the
screen, you'll want to modify their properties. This
time, you'll modify the box name and caption. The
caption is the most important as that text is what
appears on the "face" of the button.
The Insert Button
feature
At this point, you'll have a slide that looks something like this.
Making the system work.
This is the point where things get a bit confusing. We now need
to do the "programming" that will allow us to make this screen
work. This is accomplished by right clicking on the Calculate
button and selecting View Code.
In the view code box, you'll enter the following information.
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 13 of 14
Dim L As Single
Dim W As Single
Dim A As Single
L = TextBox1.Text
W = TextBox2.Text
A=L*W
TextBox3.Text=A
Here you assign one of
your variables to the value
contained in one of your
text boxes. My boxes are
called length, width and
answer.
This section defines your
variables. I simply used L for
length, W for Width and A for
Area. The word single appearing
at the end of the line is known as a
variable type. Without long
explanations, Single will work for
nearly every situation.
This line does the calculation
This puts the answer into the
text box I labeled Answer.
Once you have entered this text, close out of the code window, and return to your PowerPoint slide.
Finally, you'll need to create the clear button. This is done in much the same way. Begin by right
clicking on the clear button and selecting View Code. This time you'll enter the following bit of code.
TextBox1.Text = " "
TextBox2.Text =" "
TextBox3.Text = " "
Essentially what you are doing here is setting the contents of all of your variables to blank spaces,
thereby clearing out their values.
Once you've done this, close out of the screen and return to PowerPoint.
You should now be able to use the slide in slide show view. Just type the values into the boxes and click
your calculate button.
Other useful commands
FormatPercent(variable,number_of_digits_following_decimal) Formats variable as a
percentage (including the trailing % sign)
Interactive PowerPoint 2000
© 2003 Steven Builta
Page 14 of 14