Sound effects are one of those small touches that PowerPoint allows you to add to a slide transition. However,
you need to tread with caution here since a sound playing with every slide transition can not only sound cheesy,
but it can also unnecessarily distract your audience. Having said that, there are occasions where a sound effect
can be wisely applied to PowerPoint slide transitions, maybe a chime sound for just one slide? Whatever you decide,
let us now show you how you can add a slide transition sound. Follow these steps to add sound to a slide transition
in PowerPoint 2010:
- Open your presentation and navigate to a slide that already has a
transition applied.
Access the Transitions tab of the
Ribbon, and within the
Timing group, locate the Sound option (highlighted in red
in Figure 1).
Figure 1: Sound option within the Transitions tab
- Now, click the downward pointing arrow in the Sound list to summon a drop-down list, as shown
in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Sound drop-down list
Within the Transition Sound list (refer to Figure 2 above), you can choose from among
PowerPoint's default sounds, or you can choose any of the other options, explained as marked in Figure 2,
above:
A. No Sound
Does not assign a sound 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 usually applies
where the previous sound was very long and did not complete when you moved on to the next slide, or in cases where
you used the Loop Until Next Sound option (we explain this further in point D,
below).
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 in 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 2010.
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 in
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 2013 for Windows
Slide Transition
Sounds in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
