Learning objectives

When you have completed this session, you should be able to

• define term "non-linear",
• create non-linear presentations.

Making Non-linear Presentations

PowerPoint is primarily suitable for making linear presentations which means that the following slides come next automatically or by clicking and if we want to see the end of a 20 slide presentation where the address and other details of a company might be shown we have to click all the way to the end or ask a local menu during the presentation and the requested slide can be chosen from the Leap sub menu by title. However this is just not being so fine the way it is.

Let us get in action and insert some buttons in order to have the option to jump on the other slides during presentation.

In PowerPoint these kinds of buttons are called action buttons. There is no need to goo too far in order to try them. Just make a five page presentation and turn on the slide numbers.

From Slide show menu go in Action Key sub menu and click on the first icon (Action Key: Individual) and draw a rectangular or square shaped button, not so big. The Adjust Action dialogue window must appear but if you closed it select the action key and display the window again by giving the Slide Show/Adjust Action command.

With a click it can be defined on the flap what should happen when clicking on the key with a left mouse button. Choose hypertext and search in the list for a universal listed Slide element. Not only the slide numbers and titles but the slides in small can be seen here. The last slide could have been chosen from the list directly but this is more universal. If needed some audio effect can also be added to the clicking.

Put a text box next to the key where the slide number can be entered to let users know where there the key jumps. The color of the key can be modified too with a double click.

Try how the key works by depressing F5. All is fine but if would be better if there was a way to return to the first slide. So, let us make another action key for the last slide just as it was done before but now jump back to the first slide.

It is not necessary to apply action keys. Any shapes can be used. If texts in the text boxes are selected hypertexts can be created. Hypertext are characterized by different color and underlining. In terms of operation you only need to click on the text.

Text boxes or more often the words in them can also be selected then choose Action from the Slide Show menu. In the dialogue window choose Hypertext and which slide to jump on.