Microsoft PowerPoint:  Use Action Buttons and Settings

You can insert buttons into your presentation to navigate your show. Let’s say you always get to a particular slide in the show that brings up a question to something you’ve already referred to. Instead of remembering the slide number, entering during the show and pressing [Enter] to go back to it, create an Action Button.

1. From the Slide Show menu, select Action Buttons and then choose the button type you want. If you don’t choose a button, but instead want an existing object, the steps are the same from here.
2. Select the item to apply the action to and go to the Slide Show menu, click Action Settings, and then choose the tab of the type of action to perform, either Mouse Click to active by clicking the object during the presentation or Mouse Over to activate by passing the mouse over the object during the show.
3. Select the action that will occur with the mouse over or click.
   a. Hyperlink to: another slide, a URL, another presentation or another file.
   b. Run program: to open a different program.
   c. Run macro: to run a macro you have recorded.
   d. Object action: will open, edit or play the embedded object.
4. To apply a sound to the object, select Play sound, and then select a sound.
5. To apply a highlight to the object, select Highlight when mouse over.
6. Click OK

When you are running the slide show, either click or mouse over the action button to activate it.

If you have any questions regarding this tip or need help implementing it in your own projects, contact Ranelle Maltas, Application Support Associate, at 472-0585 or e-mail at rmaltas2@unl.edu.