PowerPoint Blog
A PowerPoint transition is an effect that plays over a period of time that changes one slide to another. Purists often rule that simple transitions like wipes and fades are more usable than the more showy ones. The problem is that rules are meant to be broken. Imagine asking a kid to paint with only blues and greens and stay away from reds and oranges. That's akin to stopping creativity. Probably it is the same thing with PowerPoint transitions - we all kill creativity because we are scared that we may create something bizarre. Learn more about making an impression with PowerPlugs: Transitions for PowerPoint...
IMHO...
I'm no purist, but I believe simpler is better. I still try to treat email as a text-based medium.
The problem with transitions is that users can be lulled into using a gratuitous transition, "because it's there." If you leave a presentation, and you remember the transitions more vividly than the content of the presentation, the transitions were not effective.
Transitions, like clip art, font styles, backgrounds, and other effects, should be simple. In the same way that making everything bold reduces the impact of bold, a special (different) transition should be used at most once or twice in a presentation, in order to set one slide apart from the rest.
This isn't killing creativity, it's preventing the killing of another message.
- Jon
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Jon, I agree with you entirely.
That's similar to what I mentioned in the review. Here's an excerpt:
"So do use all sorts of PowerPoint transitions, harness your creativity and enjoy. Then when you think you are finished, open the presentation again and remove all the flashy transitions from most slides - retain them for the real important ones. You can also retain them for your opening and closing slides. Now that I have provided enough caution, I can go ahead and discuss transitions with all the importance they deserve."
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