Adding sound effects to slide transitions in PowerPoint is a decision that needs so much thought because a sound playing with
every slide transition can unnecessarily distract your audience. Having said that, there are occasions when a
sound effect can be wisely applied to PowerPoint slide transitions, especially with picture slides -- or maybe even a chime sound for just one slide?
Whatever you decide, let us explore how you can add a slide transition sound in PowerPoint 2013:
- Open your presentation and navigate to a slide that already has a
transition applied.
Access the Transitions tab of the
Ribbon, and locate the Sound option (highlighted in
red within Figure 1).
Figure 1: Sound option within the Transitions tab
- Now, click the down-arrow within the Sound option to summon a drop-down list, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Sound drop-down list
Within the Sound drop-down list (refer to Figure 2 above), you can choose from among
PowerPoint’s default sounds, or you can choose any of the other options. These options are explained below, as marked in
Figure 2, above:
A. No Sound
Selected by default, makes sure there is no sound assigned to the transition. Also removes any sound that has been
already applied.
B. Stop Previous Sound
Stops any transition sound that is already playing. This is useful if the previous sound was very long and did not complete when you moved on to the next slide, or in
case you used the Loop Until Next Sound option (we explain this further in point
D, later).
C. Other Sound
This opens the Add Audio dialog box, from which you can
select any WAV sound file stored on your system. Select the required sound file, and click the
OK button (highlighted in red within Figure 3) in
this dialog box to add your sound clip to the transition.
Figure 3: Add Audio dialog box
Tip: By default, you can use only WAV files as sounds in slide transitions within PowerPoint
2013 -- other file formats for sounds, such as MP3 and WMA are not accepted. However WAV files are typically
larger in size than the same MP3 file. You can actually use an MP3 file with a WAV header and trick PowerPoint –
learn more about creating such files in our
Use CDex to Add WAV
Headers to MP3 Files tutorial.
D. Loop Until Next Sound
An on/off toggle option that causes the sound you have selected to
loop continuously across slides. To stop this sound, transitions within subsequent slides should either have a
sound associated, or the Stop Previous Sound option selected (see point
B, above).
- You can apply the same sound to all slide transitions in your presentation by clicking the
Apply To All button located within the Transitions tab (highlighted in
red within Figure 4). Remember, having the same sound play without
reason can cause a huge amount of irritation -- so use this option with caution.
Figure 4: Apply To All button within the Transitions tab
- Apply sounds to your slide transitions as required following the above steps, and save your presentation.
Do test your slides in slide show mode
to ascertain how the transition sounds are performing.
See Also:
Slide
Transition Sounds in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Slide
Transition Sounds in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
