Create a PowerPoint presentation for a kiosk
Have you ever wanted
to create an interactive presentation to promote your company or product at a
conference, trade show, or convention? With a new option in Microsoft
PowerPoint, you can add new interactivity to a presentation by setting an
animation effect to play only when a specified item is clicked by a visitor to
your kiosk. For example, you can ask the visitors to your kiosk to choose an
object to click; depending upon which object they click, they're taken to
different areas of your presentation and receive varying information. An
interactive presentation can often be more compelling for visitors to your
kiosk than a presentation that simply runs through a set of timings.
You can set your kiosk
presentation to automatically return to the first slide of the presentation
once a visitor has viewed the entire presentation, or if the presentation has
been idle for a period of time, so that you do not have to attend to the kiosk
at all times.
This article explains
how to set animations in a presentation that play only when a visitor to your
kiosk clicks a designated object. This is just one element of interactivity you
can add to a presentation for a kiosk; there are other elements you can add to
your presentation, and you can decide just how much control you want to give to
the visitors to your kiosk.
Before you start
Create a sample
presentation, and then follow the steps below to create your own animation that
plays only when a designated object is clicked.
Step 1: Add an animation effect to a text box
First, you will add an
animation effect to a text box in the sample presentation. When a visitor to
your kiosk presentation clicks a designated object, this animation will play.
1. Open the sample presentation in PowerPoint,
view all the elements of the presentation, and then preview the slide show.
2. In normal view, on the Slides tab, select slide 2.
3. On the Insert menu, click Text Box, click anywhere on slide 2, and then type Water Sports.
4. Click the new text box that contains the words
"Water Sports," and then on the Slide Show menu, clickCustom
Animation.
5. In the Custom Animation task pane, click the Add Effect button, point to Entrance, and then click Fly In.
6. Before proceeding to Step 2 below, preview the
animation by clicking the Play button in the Custom Animation task pane.
Step 2: Designate an object to play the animation
After you have added
the animation effect to the new text box, you must designate an object that the
user can click to play the animation during a slide show.
1. Select slide 2, and then on the Insert menu, point to Picture, and then click AutoShapes.
2. On the AutoShapes toolbar, click Basic Shapes, and then click a shape (for example, Rectangle).
3. Click anywhere on slide 2. The rectangle
appears.
4. If the Custom Animation task pane is not displayed, on the Slide Show menu, click Custom Animation.
5. In the Custom Animation task pane, click the animation effect for the new text box
(added above), click the drop-down arrow, and then click Timing.
6. Click the Triggers button.
7. Select the Start effect on click of: option, and then select "Rectangle" (or the name of
the AutoShape you added) from the list. This will set the rectangle on slide 2
to play the animation effect when the visitor clicks the rectangle. Click OK.
8. Before proceeding to Step 3 below, click the Slide Show button in the Custom Animation task pane, and then on slide 2, click the
rectangle to see how this icon controls when the animated text box plays during
the slide show. After you have finished viewing the slide show, end the show
and return to the presentation.
Step 3: Make your presentation self-running
The final step in
preparing a presentation for a kiosk is to make the presentation self-running
so that you do not have to attend to it at all times. To do this, you need to
add action buttons to the slide master, and then designate the presentation as
a slide show for a kiosk. The action buttons will allow visitors to your kiosk
to move through the slides in the self-running presentation, and the kiosk
setting will loop the presentation to the first slide if a visitor has reached
the last slide within it, or it will return the presentation to the first slide
when it has been idle on a manually advanced slide for longer than five
minutes.
Add action buttons to your slides
1. On the View menu, point to Master, and then click Slide Master.
2. On the Slide Show menu, point to Action Buttons, and click Action Button: Back or Previous. Click where you want the button to appear on
the master, and then in the Action Settings dialog box, click OK. This button will allow the visitor to view the previous slide
in the presentation.
3. On the Slide Show menu, point to Action Buttons, and then click Action Button: Forward or Next. Click where you want this button to appear
on the master, and then in the Action Settings dialog box, click OK. This button will allow the visitor to view the next slide in
the presentation.
4. On the Slide Master View toolbar, click Close Master View.
NOTE On the Slide Master View, you can customize the
action buttons by right-clicking each button and then clicking Format AutoShape.
For more information
about masters and action buttons, see PowerPoint Help.
Set up the show for a kiosk
1. On the Slide Show menu, click Set Up Show.
2. In the Set Up Show dialog box, click Browsed at a kiosk (full screen). This setting also restricts users from
changing your presentation. Click OK.
3. Click the Slide Show button in the lower
left of the PowerPoint window to preview the changes you have made to the
sample presentation.
NOTE In the sample presentation, notice that the icon
labeled "snow sports" is also set as an item that controls an
animation effect.
The standard work-around for this is to have your buttons link to create
a blank slide just before the slide with
animations. Have your buttons link to the blank slide
and set the blank slide to automatcally advance
to the next slide afte 0 seconds
