Okay. Let me throw you a softball question: How does sound add to a presentation?

It's exactly the same as when sound was first added to silent film. It engages a whole new sense. For example, if you have a banner flying onto the screen, it's really cool to give it a flying sound.

A flying sound? Kind of like a "whoosh"?

You've got it. Here, let me show you how to add sound effects to animation.

Note: To hear the sound effects, make sure you have a sound card installed in your computer. Adding sound to animations Some of the animations in PowerPoint, for example, the Flying Effect, already have sound built into them. But most of the animations do not have sound effects. In PowerPoint you can add sound to any animation. You can also replace the current sound effect on an animation with a new one. Try adding a sound effect to an animation. 1. In Slide View, select the animated object you want to add the sound effect to by clicking it. 2. From the Animations Group in the Animations tab, click on the Custom Animation button. The Custom Animation task pane will appear. 3. Select the animation effect. Then click the arrow and from the drop-down menu, choose Effect Options. The Effects dialog box will appear. 4. From the Effect tab, select a sound effect from the Sound drop-down menu. 5. Click OK to add the sound to the animation. The sound is added to the animated object. 6. If you want to preview the sound effect, click the Play button on the Custom Animation task pane.

Incredible! How about a transition? Can we add sound effects to that too?

Yeah, like the "Boop" sound from those old slides shows in school that told the teacher to go to the next slide.

Most of the people in your studio audience are probably too young to remember those days. Nevertheless, adding sound to a transition is easy and effective.

Adding sound to transitions Spice up your transitions by adding sound effects to them. Here's how: 1. Click the slide with the transition you are adding sound to. 2. Click on the Animations tab. Go to Transition Sound in the Transition to This Slide Group. Click on the arrow to see the drop-down list of sound effect choices. 3. Click on a sound effect from the drop-down list. The sound is added to the transition. If you hold your mouse over a sound effect in the list, you will hear it play (computer speakers must be on). If you want the sound to continue playing until the next sound in your presentation, select 'Loop Until Next Sound' from the drop-down list of Transition Sound. But use this feature sparingly. Some sounds may lose their effect if they are played too long. Or, they may interfere with other elements of your presentation.