Sep 18, 2014

Microsoft PowerPoint makes it easy for users to navigate within their presentations or link objects and shapes to files, programs or videos. The two easiest ways of doing this is by using action buttons and hyperlinks. Action buttons are shape objects that link to other slides. Users simply click the shape or button to execute the action specific to that button. The globally recognised look and feel of action buttons makes them a perfect way of allowing users to run the presentation interactively.

Hyperlinks let users link to other slides, files, web pages and other applications, making them invaluable for presentations where you want to show your audience additional material. Adding an action button Action buttons can be found on the ‘Insert Tab’ in the ‘Shapes’ drop down.

If you hover your mouse over each icon, you will be able to see the action that will be performed e.g. previous, next, first, last, home, etc. Once you have selected an action item, draw it on your slide and the ‘Action Settings’ dialogue box will appear. You will have a number of options available for both ‘Mouse Click’ and ‘Mouse Over’ including hyperlinking the icon to another slide, URL, or file, or running another program.

Some action items are predetermined by PowerPoint and will always perform the same action. For example, the Action Button  will always link to the Next Slide. Adding a hyperlink Hyperlinks allow you to access other slides, other files, email applications and web pages from within your PowerPoint presentation. You can hyperlink words, shapes or pictures depending on what you want to use as your link. To add a hyperlink, select the text or image that you want to add the hyperlink to and choose the ‘Insert’ tab and ‘Hyperlink’ (or Ctrl+K on your keyboard) and hyperlink to your choice of link.

This option is best used for web pages and emails. If you want to link to another part of your presentation, it is best to use an action as outlined below.

Adding an action Actions allow you to access other slides, other files, and web pages from your PowerPoint presentation. As with a hyperlink, you can use words, shapes or pictures to link to your Action. To add an action, simply select the text or image that you want to add the action to, and then under the ‘Insert’ tab, select ‘Action.’

Then select the action you wish to undertake from the list. This is best for navigating to specific slides and running other application files such as Visio or Excel.