Sound Across Slides
Author: Geetesh Bajaj
See Also: Sound Across Slides in all PowerPoint versions
Product/Version: PowerPoint X on the Mac
Date Created: June 26th 2008
Last Updated: February 26th 2009
Excerpt/Capsule:
Remember: As far as possible, work with a presentation that has been saved at least once; then copy any sound/music file you want to loop to the same folder as the presentation as you can see in Figure 1 -- and then follow these steps.
Figure 1: PowerPoint presentation and
sound file
Follow these steps to loop a music (or any sound) file across slides in PowerPoint X on the Mac:
- Navigate to the slide where you want the sound to
begin playing, which is usually the first slide of the
presentation. Go to Insert | Movies and Sounds | Sound
from File, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Sound from file
- This brings up the Insert Sound dialog box that you can see in Figure 3. Locate the sound file you want to play,
and click Insert.
Figure 3: Insert Sound
- When prompted to have the sound on the slide play
automatically, as shown in Figure 4, choose Yes.
Figure 4: Play automatically
- Control-click (or right-click) the sound icon placed in the center of the slide, and choose Custom
Animation from the contextual menu as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Right-click menu
- The Custom Animation dialog box will open with the Options tab
active, as shown in Figure 6. Also, the inserted sound will be pre-selected as the object to animate.
Figure 6: Custom Animation
- Check the Play using Animation Order option, and
choose the Continue slide showradio button -- also change the number in the Stop playing After text box to 999 slides. Check the box to Hide when not
playing if you do not want the sound icon to appear
when you show the presentation. You can toggle the option
to Loop until stopped if you wish for the
sound to repeat if the sound is finished yet the presentation
is not (refer above to Figure 6).
- You can now adjust timing options for the sound. In
the Custom Animation dialog box, select the Order and
Timing tab. If you wish for the sound to play right
when you open the slide, choose the Media entry
under Animation Order that matches the one
selected in the left pane, and press the Up arrow next
to the list until the selected entry is on top. This
ensures that the sound animates (plays) before any other objects
do. Of course if you have no other animated objects in this particular slide, then the Up and Down arrow buttons will be grayed out, as you can see in Figure 7.
Figure 7: Custom Animation
- Also, under Start Animation, choose Automatically, 0 seconds after previous event. This ensures that the sound begins playing as
soon as you open the slide, or as soon as the previous object has finished
animating if the Media object is not first in the Animation Order list (refer to Figure 7 above).
- Click OK -- in all versions of PowerPoint, you might see a sound
icon on the slide where you inserted the sound - if you
don't like the icon on the slide, just drag it to anywhere
off the slide - your sound shall still play fine.
Tip: Save your presentation often!
A lot is at stake -- power, money, reputation, future plans, justice. You need to win this case. Your presentation materials surely will play an important role in helping the judge and jury experience the sights, sounds, and details of the case ... or not. The choice is up to you, says one tech-savvy attorney.
The choice is up to you, says one tech-savvy attorney. It all depends upon whether you are willing to push PowerPoint beyond its normal boundaries to maximize its interactive and persuasive potential. This article by Robert Lane and
Bruce A. Olson
provides a better idea of using PowerPoint in court. 
