How to Quickly Animate All Types of Text in PowerPoint

Are you looking for ways to engage your audience more? Try using PowerPoint text animation.

One way to make your presentation more interesting is to animate the text in your presentation using PowerPoint text effects. When visuals and objects move, the audience is more likely to be drawn into your presentation and remember the topic.

In this article, you'll learn why you should add PowerPoint text animation to your next presentation. I'll walk through how to animate text and paragraphs and go over the dos and don’ts of animation.

Why Animate Text?

There are many reasons to use PowerPoint text animation (other than because they engage your audience). Here are just a few:

• Animations can help you control the speed of your presentation. When you're setting up your animations, set them so that they automatically animate. When timed with your speech, animations help you keep pace and look professional.


• Animations cab also add some fun and excitement to your presentation without making it look tacky. The motion adds an element of suspense.

One advantage of premium templates is that many of them come with animations already set up for you. This can be a huge timesaver.

Or you can define your own PowerPoint text and object animations for any PowerPoint presentation. In this tutorial, we'll be mostly focusing on how to set up your own animations.

Where to Get the Best PowerPoint Template

The best place to source PowerPoint templates that you can add animations to is Envato Elements. It's a flat rate subscription service built with creatives and business professionals in mind.

For a single monthly fee, get unlimited downloads to choose from spanning an incredible variety of categories. 

If you only need a single template, or if you're not ready for the commitment of a subscription--try GraphicRiver. It's got premium templates you can buy one at a time.

What Are Animations in PowerPoint?

You can use PowerPoint animation to animate texts or an objects.

To access the animations, first select the text or object you want to animate. Click the Animations option on the menu bar. Then click the Add Animation icon.

When adding animations, you’ll notice that PowerPoint has four types of animations.

Here are the four types of animations in PowerPoint:

1. Entrance Animations

Entrance animations control how the text enters the slide. For example, the Fly-In animation causes a text or object to "fly" onto the slide.

2. Emphasis Animations

With this type of animation you affect what's already on the slide. Often a mouse click will trigger this type of animation.

For example, you can make your text grow big and then shrink back to normal size using the Grow/Shrink animation.

3. Exit

Exit animation effect control how the text leaves the slide. For example, the Fade animation makes your text or object slowly disappear.

4. Path Animation

Path animations set the path that the animation moves on. For example, the circle Shape motion path causes a text or object to move in a circle.

How to Animate Text in Your Premium Presentation Template

Adding animation can engage your audience and make your presentation more fun. Keep reading for a tutorial on how to animate text in PowerPoint. For this tutorial, I’ll be using the Agio PowerPoint Presentation to show you how to animate text in PowerPoint.

Like many premium templates, Agio already has some animations. But we'll be adding some more. 

I’ll be editing slide three. Here's what that slide three looks like without any edits made to the slide:

Let's get started. We'll discuss two types of animation:

1. Default Animation

In a default animation, a mouse click during the presentation triggers the animation. To set up a default animation, begin by selecting and highlighting the text or object that you want to animate.

Once the text or object is selected, click on the Animations tab above the toolbar. In the toolbar, you’ll see all the animations that you can add. Choose the animation that you want.

You've just set up an animation!

2. Custom Animation

Another animation type is custom animation. To create this type of animation, first select the text or object that you want to animate.

Next, click on the Animations tab above the toolbar. Next, click on the Animation Pane button in the toolbar. When you click on this button a pane opens on the right side of your window.

Click on an animation that you want in the toolbar. After selecting an animation, you’ll see a list of animations in the Play From field. Click on the animation in the Play From field that you want to customize.

Next, click on the Effect Options section. Depending on which animation you choose your options will vary. Here are just some of the possible options:

• In the Property field, choose what direction the animation moves in.


• In the After Animation field, choose whether you want your text to disappear after the animation is done or turn another color.


• You can also choose whether your animation will have sound in the Sound field.

The next section of the Animation pane is the Timing section. Depending on which animation you've chosen, your options will vary. Here are some possible options:

• In the Start field choose whether the animations start with a mouse click or with or after the previous animation.


• In the Duration field choose how fast you want your animation to occur.


• In the Delay field select how many seconds you want to delay your animation.


• In the Repeat field choose whether you want to repeat the chosen animation.

Triggers are the next section of the Animation pane. In this section, you can choose to have your animation as a part of a click sequence, on the click of an animation that you select, or on play of.

The next section is the Text Animations. This is where you can choose text animation options. Here are some possible options:

• In the Animate Text field, you can choose to animate text by word, letter, or all at once.


• In the Group Text field group text together to have all the same animation.

How to Preview an Animation Effect

When you're adding animations, it’s best to preview them to see if you’ve added too many or they look good.

Begin by selecting the text and clicking on the Animations tab. In the toolbar, click on the Preview button. When you click on this button, a menu drops down. Click Preview to see what the animation will look like.

Text Animation Tips (Do’s and Don’ts)

When you’re adding animations to your presentation, you want your presentation to look professional. Follow these five rules to ensure a professional presentation:

1. Don’t Overdo It

PowerPoint text effects can make your presentation more fun and engaging. Don't overdo the number of animations because it can overwhelm the audience. Stick to one to three animations a slide.

2. Do Maintain Consistency

When adding PowerPoint text effects to your presentation, it's best to use the same animations throughout. This adds to consistency to presentation and makes it look more professional.

For example, if you add animation to the title of your slide add that same type of PowerPoint text animation to every slide title.

3. Don’t Forget Animation Direction

When using PowerPoint text animation, keep in mind the direction of the animations. You don’t want your animations to fly in from all angles. You want to use animations to guide the audience to focus on your slide.

For example, add PowerPoint text animation to an important point. Or use animation to highlight a key image.

4. Do Consider Timing and Duration

When adding PowerPoint text animation to your slide, you can add the duration and timing of when you want the animation to appear. If your animation is too slow or too fast, it can throw off the timing of your presentation.

5. Do Consider the Audience

When adding PowerPoint text effects consider your audience and the topic. If your topic is serious or your audience wouldn’t appreciate animation, then it's best not to use animations.

Go back over your completed presentation before presenting it. That way you can see if the animations look correct.

Three Stylish Premium PowerPoint Templates from Envato Elements

Here are some handpicked premium templates from Envato Elements that include animation or would be easy to add animation to:

1. Iconic PowerPoint Template

Iconic PowerPoint template has 25 unique slides. This template is easily editable. So, you can PowerPoint text animation letter by letter if you decide to add animation.

Iconic PowerPoint Template comes with three color scheme options that you can choose from. It also comes with dark and light background and in a widescreen and standard version.

2. Coude PowerPoint Presentation Template

Coude PowerPoint Presentation Template comes with 150 total slides and five color scheme options. Plus, this template comes with picture placeholders.

Picture placeholders make it easy to add an image by dragging and dropping the image of your choice into the picture placeholder. Everything is easily editable, meaning you can add animated fonts for PowerPoint.

3. Be PowerPoint Presentation Template

Be PowerPoint Presentation Template is a multipurpose creative template. This template is easily editable, making it easy to add PowerPoint text effects to your presentation.

The Be creative template comes with over 125 unique slides and over 550 icons. Easily add an image to this template with the picture placeholders.

Microsoft PowerPoint FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Do you have PowerPoint questions? Here are some common PowerPoint questions and answers:

1. Can I Create an Interactive Quiz in PowerPoint?

Yes, and interactive quizzes are a way to make your presentation engaging for the audience.

To create an interactive quiz, start by creating your own questions and answers that you want to ask the audience. Next, add icons to make your quiz more visually appealing. Finally, build animations into your slide to create an interactive quiz.

Learn more in this tutorial:

• 
  Microsoft PowerPoint
  
  
  How to Make a Basic Interactive Quiz in PowerPoint From a PPT Template (+Video)
  
  
  Andrew Childress

2. Can I Present Over Google Meet?

Yes. It’s very common to present over Google Meet.

Start by completely creating your presentation and creating a Google account. In your Google account, create a meeting. Start your meeting.

To present, click the Present Now button and start your presentation. For a more detailed tutorial, read this article: 

• 
  PowerPoint Presentations
  
  
  How to Present a PowerPoint Presentation on Google Meet
  
  
  Sarah Joy

3. How Can I Make My Presentation Less Boring?

There are rules that you can follow to make your presentation more interesting. One rule is: don’t print your presentation.

Many people tend to create a presentation that looks more like a handout. Instead of printing your presentation, create a separate handout. For more information, read this article: 

• 
  Microsoft PowerPoint
  
  
  How to Avoid Death By PowerPoint (No More Boring Presentations)
  
  
  Sarah Joy

4. How Do I Change PowerPoint Templates?

It’s easy to quickly change the template that you’re using to a different one. Or you can just change the design of the PowerPoint presentation you’re working on. Here's a tutorial on how to change PowerPoint templates: 

• 
  Microsoft PowerPoint
  
  
  How to Quickly Change PowerPoint Templates (Download & Import) 2021
  
  
  Andrew Childress

5. What Are Some PowerPoint Presentation Tips?

Here are some quick tips that may help:

• If you use data in your presentation, consider using charts and graphs. Charts and graphs make your presentation more visually appealing and layout data in a way that's easy to understand.


• Also, add images and video to your presentation. This can add an emotional element or break up your talking so that you don’t have to talk your entire presentation.

Get more tips (including expert tips) here:

• 
  Microsoft PowerPoint
  
  
  25 PowerPoint Presentation Tips To Make Good PPT Slides in 2021 (+ Expert Tips)
  
  
  Andrew Childress

Learn More About PowerPoint

If you still have questions, here are more helpful tutorials and articles about Microsoft PowerPoint:

• 
  Microsoft PowerPoint
  
  
  How to Get Great Design Ideas on PowerPoint in 2021/2022
  
  
  Andrew Childress


• 
  Presentations
  
  
  How to Make Business Proposal Presentations in PowerPoint (+ Video)
  
  
  Tomas Laurinavicius


• 
  Microsoft PowerPoint
  
  
  How to Make Animated PowerPoint Presentations With PPT Templates
  
  
  Andrew Childress


• 
  Microsoft PowerPoint
  
  
  How to Share PowerPoints Presentations in Zoom Webinar Meetings in 2020
  
  
  Andrew Childress

Add Animations to Your Next Presentation

Adding PowerPoint text animation can have many benefits to your presentation. So, whether you’re looking to make your presentation more fun or engaging for the audience, animations can be a good choice.

Follow the tutorial in this article and add PowerPoint text animations to your next presentation.

And remember, using premium presentation templates can save you time since you start with a professional base. So, download a premium template and add animations to it today!