drag and drop in powerpoint in presentation mode

How to Move an Object Across a PowerPoint Slide During a Slide Show

Move an Object Across a PowerPoint Slide Using Motion Path or Entrance Animations

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated May 28, 2021

Applies to: Microsoft ® PowerPoint ® 2013, 2016, 2019 and 365 (Windows)

You can move a shape, image or other object across a PowerPoint slide during a slide show using motion path or entrance animations. When you run a slide show, the object will move across the screen (on click or automatically).

Recommended article: How to Print PowerPoint Presentations with Notes

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To apply animations, use the Animations tab in the Ribbon:

You can use entrance or motion path animations to move an object across a slide but you'll need to expand the Animations Gallery to access motion path animations.

If you want to apply more than one animation to an object, you will need to use Add Animation in the Advanced Animation group.

Animations are typically added to objects in Normal View but can be applied in Slide Master View.

Adding a motion path animation to make an object move across a slide

To apply a motion path animation to make an object move across a slide on click:

• Select an object. For text objects, click in the text box or placeholder or click its edge.
• Click the Animations tab in the Ribbon.
• In the Animations group, click the More down arrow on the bottom right of the Animations Gallery.
• Click the Line motion path animation in the Motion Paths group. If you click More Motion Paths, you can choose another motion path animation such as Funnel. For some motion paths, such as Custom Path, drag on the slide to create the path and then double-click to end it (see below for more information on custom paths).
• Click Effect Options on the Animations tab and select a direction such as Up, Down, Left or Right. Effect Options change depending on the type of animation.
• Click the motion path and drag the starting point (green dot or green arrow) or ending point (red dot or red arrow) to change the beginning or end of the path. The starting point begins in the middle of the object and the ending point ends in the middle of the object. In 2013 and later versions, a "ghost copy" of the object at its ending location appears on screen. You can drag the "ghost copy" to change the end point of the path.
• Drag the sizing handles (white circles) to resize the path.

The expanded Animations Gallery appears when you click the More down arrow in the Animations group (note the Entrance and Motion Paths categories):

If you select More Motion Paths in the Animation Gallery, the following dialog box appears (scroll down for more options):

You can also apply a motion path animation by clicking Add Animation on the Animations tab in the Advanced Animation group.

Custom paths behave differently from simple line motion paths. Intially, if you click Custom Path, you can drag on the screen to create the path. However, to make straight lines, simply click once at each desired point in the path rather than dragging. If you later want to change to a freeform path, click once again to switch to freeform mode and drag to continue the path. Click once to return to drawing straight lines. When you are finished drawing the path, double-click to end it.

By default, the object will appear on click during a slide show and follow the path.

You can select other motion path options in Effect Options on the Animations tab in the Ribbon:

• Sequence options can be used with some objects such as text boxes or placeholders with multiple bullet points or paragraphs. For example, you can choose to move paragraphs or bullets one at a time or as one object.
• Locked, in the Origin category, can be selected when a motion path is unlocked (which is the default). If the path is unlocked, it will move with the object. If you lock the path or origin, when you move the object, the motion path will remain in the same location. You can unlock a motion path that is locked.
• Edit Points is available for all motion paths except Line. If you select Edit Points, points will appear along the motion path and you can drag them to change the path. You can Ctrl-click a point to delete it or Ctrl-click on the path to add a new point.
• Reverse Path Direction will switch the start and end point of the motion path.

You can also combine motion path animations with other animations like Grow / Shrink using Add Animation.

Adding an entrance animation to make an object move across a slide

To apply an entrance animation to make an object move across a slide on click:

• Click the Fly In entrance animation in the Entrance group. If you click More Entrance Effects, you can choose another animation such as Spiral In or Bounce.
• Click Effect Options on the Animations tab and select a direction such as From Top or From Left.

You can also apply an entrance animation by clicking Add Animation on the Animations tab in the Advanced Animation group.

By default, the object will appear on click during a slide show.

Using the Animation Pane

If you're going to work with animations, it's helpful to display the Animation Pane so you can easily select and edit the animations.

To use the Animation Pane:

• Click Animation Pane in the Advanced Animations group. The Animation Pane appears on the right side of the screen.
• Click the animation in the Animation Pane and then select other options on the Animations tab. You can also click the drop-down menu that appears and select Effect Options.

Changing the way an object starts during a slide show

Animations are set by default to start on click during a slide show. If you want an animation to start automatically, you will need to change the start setting.

To start an animation automatically, you can start:

• After Previous – the animation sequence will begin once a previous animation effect or effects is  completed. The start of a slide show is also a previous effect.
• With Previous – the animation sequence will begin at the same time as a previous animation effect or effects. The start of a slide show is also a previous effect.

To change the way an animation starts during a slide show:

• Select the animation effect in the Animation Pane.
• In the Timing group, select an option from the Start drop-down menu.

Setting timing

When you apply an animation, a timing is automatically set for the animation (in seconds). The default duration is different for each animation effect.

To set a speed or duration of an animation:

• In the Animations group, enter a time (in seconds) for the animation in the Duration area of the Timing group. You can click the up and down arrows to change the duration or type a duration.

Note the Duration on the Animations tab in the Ribbon below:

Viewing animations by running a slide show

You will need to run a slide show in order to see your object(s) move across the slide. Click the Slide Show button on the bottom right of the screen to run a show or press F5 (some users may need to press Fn + F5) to run the slide show from the beginning. Use the right and left arrows to move from slide to slide or start the animations.

In this article, we are using animations to make objects move across a slide. Check out the article How to Use Morph in PowerPoint to Design Engaging Presentations for other ways to make objects move on a slide during a slide show.

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Drag & Drop Macro for PowerPoint

by YOUpresent | Dec 9, 2013 | Blog , VBA Macros | 57 comments

In this LinkedIn discussion , the question was asked if it was possible to update an existing macro to be compatible with PowerPoint 2010.

The original macro was written by Hans W. Hofmann and performed the following functions during a slide show:

The first mode doesn’t work correctly with PowerPoint 2010 because the second click is being intercepted by PowerPoint as a ‘next slide’ event rather than a macro On Mouse Click event. So, in the first instance, we have changed the code so that a 5 second timer is started when the shape is picked up and once that timer expires, the shape is dropped automatically.

The machine clock based timer replaces the original less robust timer with used the increment of a variable to count time before automatically dropping the shape. This was ok for PowerPoint 2007 and 2010 as it took around 30 to 40 seconds to count the time but only 1 second in PowerPoint 2013.

You can download a presentation that contains the macro code below and try it for yourself.

Download Drag & Drop pptm

Modified Code

Original code, copyright hans w. hofmann, 57 comments.

Great POST!

Hi there sir! I’m so happy to see this drag and drop version which now conveniently works for both 2010 and 2013 powerpoint versions! However, I still have some recommendations that I hope you could consider:

1. Please find a way to “add back” the other features of the improved drag and drag by Hanns Hoffman such as the “zoom in and out,” “rotate 45 degrees,” and “insert text” functions. In addition, please “retain” the old commands of these features (e.g. shift+left click was for rotating the object 45 degrees but now you have used shift+alt+left click for computation.)

2. Can you make the drag and drop macro “animation-friendly” since being an educator, I have been wanting to create a drag and drop activity that involves a timer. However, the moment I set the timer animation to start the moment I set the slide in slideshow mode, it is “halted” the moment I click an object with a drag and drop code. Hence, nullifying the added timer to begin with.

I would love to hear your response about these requests. Thank you so much once again and more power to you.

Aries from Philippines

We would be happy to help update our blog with the relevant code if we can locate it.

Do you have the code that performs the #1 functions above? If so, please could you send it to me and I will discuss it with our developers.

Ok sir, I will send you the code I have which runs in 2007 featuring those other drag and drop features. Sorry for replying just now for I have been so preoccupied with many things concerning my work here as an ICT teacher. I do hope you could really get them back to work again sir. They really make the drag and drop more useful in a wide array of subjects and purposes.;-)

Where do I send it by the way sir? Mind giving me an email address where I could do that? Thanks.

Hello sir… I’m also a teacher here in oriental mindoro… i’m new in macros… but i tried to learn it well coz i know it will help a lot to us teachers in teaching… for an interactive learning… can you pls help me for giving some guides in making ppt presentations using macros… my knowledge is just from video presentation in youtube and some articles like this… thank you sir…

We recommend you take a look around the VBA part of our blog. You could also purchase a good book on the subject such as “Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office”.

Hi, I’m a bit newbie with macros but I’ve downloaded your pptm and when I open the file, it seems the macro is not inside. When I open the file with powerpoint 2013 and I go to Developer/Macro, I haven’t any macro listed. Is it normal? i’m under windows 64bits.

Bonsoir Lionel. You won’t see the macro using the method you described as the procedures are either Private, Functions or contain Arguments that are passed to them. Only Procedures of type Sub, without Arguments, are listed in the view you mention. To see the full code, open the presentation and press Alt+F8. I’m not sure why it’s not working on your PC but you could check the macro security settings in the backstage (make sure you allow all macros – although we have started to digitally sign our code to increase the security). We will check the 64 Win (and 64 bit MSO) bit operation again tomorrow.

Sir Jamie, where do I send you the code. Please reply to my email add please…. Find a way to add back the original features of the old PowerPoint Drag and Drop macro….

Hi Aries Perez. We replied by email on 27 June 2014 but did not receive a reply from you. Did you receive it? The email came from the domain gmark.co and the subject was “YOUpresent.co.uk blog for drag & drop macro”

Ok, can you send me again a message where I can reply back with the code I was hoping you could modify for the 2010 ppt and beyond? I didn’t get the one you mentioned I’m afraid…

Alright, upon further checking, I think i even already sent to gmark.co the ppt file which contains the macro I was talking about! please care to check the email I sent you sir

I’ve just forgotten to say in my last post that drag and drop doesn’t work for me… this is why I’ve tried to investigate and to read the macro.

Hi Jamie, Many thanks for your instructive reply. Anyway, I’ve tried enabling temporarily all macros, but without any result on the drag and drop functionality. Have you had time to check under W64bits? My wife is teacher, here in France, and she has asked to me if it was possible to drag and drop pictures in powerpoint… Just asking that to Google, I said “no problem” but now I’m a bit disapointed… Hoping you understand my poor english, many thanks in advance

We found an issue with 64 bit PowerPoint and have corrected the macro. Please try again with the latest download/code.

Goodevening.. Can anyone please help me. I am working on a Learning Object using Powerpoint 2013. My problem is I want to DragandDrop to add two numbers.

Example: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

box 1: 2 (drag number from 0-9) box 2: 3 (drag number from 0-9) Total: 5

I have tried several time already and it taking me too long for this. I am not a programmer, I am just a student. Please help me how can I do that using ppt. and without error especially when i convert it in Ispring.

Thanks in advance.

It is possible to do this in PowerPoint using VBA (with modifications to the Drag & Drop macro) but it is not possible to convert with iSpring because iSpring only converts slide content and not code content. To implement a solution with iSpring would require deep knowledge of HTML5, CSS and JavaScript which is not part of what we offer.

Hi Jamie, Is it possible to edit the code so that the spinning mouse circle doesn’t appear? Thanks for developing this – had been searching everywhere to find a working macro for ppt 2013! Thanks! Emma

It may be possible but it’s PowerPoint that is changing the mouse cursor while the drag loop is running. We can quote for what you require. Please use the Contact Us form if this is of interest.

is it possible to view this macro code for powerpoint on 2011 office for mac? I cannot get this code to work, even though I have attached it in the action settings. Any help would be great.

Hi Matthew. Unfortunately not because it uses more than the common set of VBA functions available in Office:mac, for example, Windows API functions.

Is it possible to modify this code to reject a drop from a specific area?

That could be possible Alex. The question would be how to set that area. By a shape, by a set of coordinates defining an area, per presentation or per slide etc. At present, we don’t have the capacity to look at this project just at the moment but will consider it in the future. Thank you for your suggestion.

Yes but as this is a free macro, we cannot provide you with a free solution. We can quote for what you require though. Please use the Contact Us form if this is of interest.

The only thing that happens is that the mouse pointer changes to a hand. I still can’t move anything around. Too bad.

We have updated the downloadable file with a macro test button after checking it with PowerPoint 2013. Please could you try again?

The “alt+shift left click” calculations worked – but not fast. And none of the other things work in Powerpoint 2013. But I did see the mouse pointer change to a hand in the mouse over macro.

The calculation is using Excel (in case a complex formula is entered) so the delay is the time required for Excel to start, process the formula and then close. Did you download the new file “YOUpresent-Drag-Drop-macro.pptm” as it’s working with 2013 for us?

Yes, I have tried with the new file several times and even made an object myself. Macros are enabled – I have checked inside the presentation and in Powerpoint settings too. I have downloaded it again to try again. And my Powerpoint version is 2013 and works perfectly with everything else. I am fairly certain this script will not work on every version of 2013.

I tried everything I could. Even took the script and made a new document by using it there. It doesn’t work in my Powerpoint 2013

Dear Sir, dragging and dropping are exactly what I’ve been looking for for so long. It’s an ideal solution for a teacher to make simple but attractive exercises. Yet your sample presentation worked only under 2010, under MS Powerpoint 2013 all I managed to make work was holding Alt+ Shift to get an answer. Why is that so? Is there another version for 2013? If yes please share or give me a tip what I can do. Thanks in advance!

Do you have a drag drop that work in ppt 2013, so far could not get it working or perhaps code with full featured.. i am interested in this for some presentation purposes

Yes, it is working perfectly. Thanks a lot !!!

I did check it Sir and I do not know what is wrong. On Office 2010 it still works like a charm and on Ppt 2013 there’s absolutely no reaction whatsoever, the rectangles remain unresponsive even though Macros are enabled. Maybe I need to change some other settings..

It works!!! Wow, I have been searching for software that can make drag-and-drop documents for some time. Now it works. I click and can move the image around for 3 seconds and then repeat if I want to. I am planning to put earth, moon, pluto there so that people can compare the sizes of the countries.

YES! I confirm it is working! Hurray! On the flipside: it’s not working as smoothly as with Power Point 2010, though. And each time I move the objects an hourglass appears , which I think was not the case with 2010. But it is a huge MOVE FORWARD:) I hope you’ll still be improving 🙂

It’s me again! I’m still not using the macro on Ppt2013. The objects do move now, but the movement is ackward, lagging, not smooth or fluent. I’ve just checked the presentation again to see if anything has changed, but it’s still like this:(

Hi I am very much a novice when it comes to this.

I find that youpresent’s drag and drop is the most functional on the net. I would like to use it for PPTs to use with my students. However, when I try to change the design of my slides I still see a green background and the youpresent banner on the slides. How do I change this? If I need to sign up etc then I am more than willing to do so :-).

Many Thanks

Hi Jason. We’re not sure we understand “green background” because this macro does not change the design of any slides. Could you explain in more detail what you are doing?

Apologies. I should of been more clear.

You guys have provided the code but I have absolutely no idea how I would code this macro into my own PPT. In order to use this macro I have to use your PPT as the “base” in which to create my own presentations. The problem is whenever I try to change the background design the first slide is fine but the rest of the slides still have the youpresent banner and it retains some of the green background from your original presentation.

Am I able to attach pictures to these replies or have an email address so I can show screen shots of what I am experiencing?

Thanks for your help and patience with a super novice :-).

OK. Understood. This article should get you started porting macros to your own presentations.

hi, could just remove the 3 seconds timing and replace with a simply drop mode on releasemouse click? It also will be great if it could set a target area and then will snap over, else move back to its original place

Thanks for the suggestions gmel. We’re not developing this code at present but may look at this in the future. However, you are free to modify it as required.

It is great. I was stuck with Powerpoint 2010 onward on the Drag & Drop function. This code has come in very useful in developing interactive material using Powepoint. Susil, Sri Lanka

I am trying to use the macro on an object “picture 2” that appears by clicking on “picture 1”. Each time I go to move “picture 2” with the macro, it resets “picture 1” and makes “picture 2” disappear. Is there a workaround for this? I cannot simply hide “picture 2” because it is significantly larger than “picture 1”, which acts as a small button to activate “picture 2”.

It’s probably possible to do what you are looking for Justin. You may modify this macro freely to customise it yourself or use our development service. If you require us to develop it further for you, please use our contact form to request a quotation.

When I create a shape and click on it then go to action then go to Run Macro, it does not allow me to open macro. Why is this happening.?

VBA may not be installed or active on your PC. Check this article : http://youpresent.co.uk/determining-vba-installed-microsoft-office/

Hi. hanks for uploading this. I have been trying to find out how to do this for some time now. After copying the code from your post to my 2016 Microsoft Office PPPT and ran it, my shape (one I created in the PPT) showed a hand as I moved my cursor over it, but that was all. Nothing else happened. What could the issue be?

When you click the shape in a slide show, it should then enter drag mode and it should move around. Make sure you have your security settings set appropriately ti allow VBA macros to run : File / Options / Trust Center / Trust Center Settings / Macro Settings

I tried running the original code and the modified code and neither seems to be working for me. I’m a noob so I may just be running this wrong. Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Can you check that VBA is working by inserting a simple Sub HelloWord() procedure with a single line MsgBox “Hello World” and pressing F5 to run it?

Thank you so much, you help me and my students a lot! you are awesome <3

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The best PowerPoint tips and tricks can hardly compare to the value of using a template while building your presentation.

On Envato Elements, there are thousands of PowerPoint design templates that are ready to use. Instead of designing a presentation from scratch, start with a template! Just add your specifics to the placeholders.

Templates like Galaxi are impressively designed and waiting for your slide specifics.

The best PowerPoint design tips save you time. And there’s no tip more powerful than this one: use a pre-built template . It helps you master how to present a PowerPoint without spending all your time in the app.

13. Choose Appropriate Fonts

Fonts are an important part of engaging your audience. Fonts and typography choices have a subconscious effect on viewers. They can characterize your company’s presentation and brand either positively or negatively. Make sure that you’re choosing fonts that are professional and modern.

14. Choose Color Well

Like font choice, colors cause specific subconscious reactions from viewers. Choosing an outdated color combination for your presentation will render it ineffective.

Below is an example of the Popsicle PowerPoint template , which has a modern presentation color choice:

The Popsicle PowerPoint template highlights how harmonized color palettes can create beautiful slides.

15. Clean + Simple Formatting Makes All the Difference!

We’ve got a full tutorial on how to make a good presentation slide . Give it a read through and review the accompanying video. Just remember, less is more. The focus is you and your message , not your slides.

16. Make Sure All Objects Are Aligned

A simple way to create a well-designed presentation is to make sure all items on a slide are intentionally aligned. To do this, hold down Shift and select all the objects you want to include. Then choose Arrange in the options bar and apply Alignment Type .

17. Limit Punctuation

This isn’t the place for exclamation points. Emphasize your points (while speaking). Don’t enlist punctuation to do this for you. (Leave these at home!!!)

18. Avoid Over-Formatting Your Points

This PowerPoint presentation tip is simple. There’s no need to have every word of every bullet point capitalized, or to have all your bullet points in title case. If possible, drop bullets altogether. Again, the simpler, the better!

Limit your text formatting, including reducing the use of bullets, underline, and other effects. Compare the before example on the left to the revised version on the right.

19. Combine Information With Graphics in PowerPoint

One of the most powerful presentation skills for PPT is using infographics. With the right type of visuals, slides come to life and reduce the text in favor of graphics.

Infographics help combine information with graphics. It’s easier to explain complex ideas when you use visual formats that are intuitive.

Practice Presentation Tips: Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse!

Delivery is probably more important than the actual content. Here’s how to become more aware of your own unique ticks, and how to present like a polished pro:

20. I’ll Say It Again, Rehearse!

Just do it. Again and again. Experiment with pauses, gestures, and body language. Practice around one hour for every minute of your speech.

21. Practice With a Timer

Consistency is key to an effective PowerPoint presentation. The timing should be similar (ideally the same) each time you rehearse. This one will especially pay off when it’s time to present in front of your audience.

22. Slow It Down

Many of the best speakers today intentionally speak slowly. You’ll have the chance to emphasize, appear more thoughtful, and make your information easier to digest.

23. Pause More Often

Like the prior tip, pausing more often allows your main points to be emphasized and gives time for information to sink in. You need to let key points breathe a little before rushing into the next section.

24. Record Yourself

Use your phone’s voice recorder. Assess and critique yourself. Consider:

• Are your pauses too short or too long?
• Are you speaking slowly enough? Too slow?
• When you’re nervous, does your voice get high like the mice in Cinderella?

It’s always weird to hear your own voice recorded; don’t stress it. Use this as a time to adjust.

25. Choose Three Focal Points in the Room

If you stare at the same spot (or even creepier, the same person) the entire time, your presentation will be ineffective (and awkward.) People will be distracted by you, wondering what you’re staring at.

Try this: pick three points in the room (typically: left, center, right). Take time to direct your delivery toward each physical focal point in the room. Also, focus on the center when making your primary points.

26. Vary Your Sentence Length

This makes you sound more interesting, and it’s easier for your audience to follow. Think short and punchy. Or go long and complex for dramatic effect.

27. Modulate!

Don’t speak in monotone for your whole presentation. Be conscious of raising and lowering your voice tone. Otherwise, people will tune you out, and you’ll come across like the teacher in Charlie Brown.

28. Practice in Front of a Mirror

What you look like is as important as how you sound. Pretend you’re having a normal conversation, and allow your hands to move with your speech to emphasize your points. Just don’t get carried away! (I’m thinking Brene Brown or President Obama , not your Aunt Jamie after a few gin and tonics.)

29. Use “Present Mode” When Rehearsing

When you finally are ready to hit the Present button in PowerPoint, make sure you use the Present Mode option. This allows you (and only you) to view extra notes about each slide—just in case you forget something!

30. Practice With New Audiences

If possible, try doing a few real live test runs as a webinar or even at a local Toastmasters organization to get some feedback from a live audience.

31. Engage the Audience by Asking Questions

There’s no reason that a presentation should be one-sided. Why not invert the format and ask your audience a question?

To learn how to create a slide that kicks off a Q&A, use this article . These PowerPoint design tips help you create an engaging and exciting discussion.

Helpful Tips to Step Up and Deliver Come Presentation Time

When the actual day arrives, there are only a few last PowerPoint presentation tips and guidelines to keep in mind:

32. Take a Deep Breath

Deep breathing is proven to relieve stress. It’s simple, and it’ll help you remain calm and in the moment, even up to the last minute before starting.

33. Lighten Up Your Mood

Tell yourself a joke or watch a funny video clip. Do this before the presentation, of course. Research concludes that happy people are more productive. More productive is more focused and able to perform better.

34. Remind Yourself to Take It Slow

When we’re stressed or nervous (or both), we tend to speak faster. Consciously, take yet another deep breath and remind yourself to take it slow!

35. Read the Room

Every presentation room has a temperature. It’s your job as a speaker to gauge it and tailor your presentation to it.

Here’s a great example. Layoffs are coming at a company, and you’re asked to speak to an audience. Even if the audience isn’t personally affected by the actions, you’ve got to consider the morale of the workforce.

Skilled speakers have a knack for reading the energy of the room and adjusting their presentation on the fly.

The last thing that group will want to hear is how strong the economy is and why the company is the best place to work. That doesn’t mean that you’ve got to align to their uncertainty, but don’t go too far against the grain while presenting.

Robert Kennedy III is a master of bringing energy and aligning a speech to the audience. Here’s his advice for adjusting:

“It can be hard to wake up a “dead” crowd but go for it. Most of all, don’t take their energy personally. Focus on serving them with every bit of your fiber then leave empty.”

36. Fake It ‘Til You Make It!

Go forward with confidence. If you act confident, you’ll start to feel more confident. Move slowly with grace, speak clearly, smile, wear something nice. You’ll appear confident to all attendees (no matter how you feel internally).

PowerPoint Presentation Tips and Tricks to Help Avoid Mistakes (What Not to Do)

Most importantly, focus on what you can do to make your presentation better. There are a few important things not to do that we’ve got to address. Here are a handful of PowerPoint presentation tips and tricks to help you avoid missteps.

37. Stop With the Sound Effects

Sound effects are distracting and outdated. In most cases, avoid them. Add audio or music to your presentation to inject interest or highlight an important point, but it’s something to take extra care with. If you insert audio, then make sure your use really connects with your audience and has a fresh approach. Otherwise, it’s best to leave it out.

38. Don’t Use Flashy Slide Transitions

Again, this is distracting and outdated. Use transitions and subtle animations in your PowerPoint presentation. But you need to take care and do it right .

39. Beware of Clip Art

This PowerPoint presentation tip shouldn’t even have to be said. But please, please don’t use clip art. Use professional graphics instead.

40. Don’t Be Afraid to Be Afraid

The fear of public speaking is a real one. Many beginners think that if they’re feeling nervous that a presentation won’t go well or succeed. That might lead them to cancel the presentation.

Here’s a tip from expert Sandra Zimmer, who leads The Self-Expression Center on conquering your fears before you take the stage:

“Get out of your head and into your body. I do this through a grounding exercise that really works to calm nerves and bring you present in the moment.”

If you think that public speaking fears aren’t normal, you might never give your award-winning presentation. So don’t be afraid to be afraid, and acknowledge it’s part of the process!

41. Don’t Read Directly During Your PowerPoint Presentation

If you spend your entire presentation looking at the screen or your note cards, you’re sure to lose your audience’s attention. They’ll disengage from what you’re saying, and your presentation will fall flat.

Reading from your paper or screen also makes it look like you’re not prepared. Many people do it, but no one should. As a general rule, only present something you know well and have, at least mostly, memorized the main points of.

42. Don’t Miss Out on PowerPoint Customizations

Many new PowerPoint users often make significant mistakes when using Envato Elements designs.

The best way to see how to make a good presentation PPT is to start with designs from others. That means using a template, but that doesn’t mean you can’t customize them!

Don’t forget that PowerPoint templates are infinitely customizable. Think of them as guides with built-in presentation design tips.

To see more presentation tips that show you what not to do, make sure to check out our guide .

Work in PowerPoint More Effectively (Tips & Tricks to Level Up Your PPT Skills)

These PowerPoint tips will help you get the most out of the application to level up your next presentation. Let’s dive in.

43. Use the Visual Guides

When you’re designing your next PowerPoint presentation, it helps to create a sense of visual rhythm. Slides that have objects aligned and centered are more likely to resonate with an audience.

44. Use a Few Animations (Tastefully)

Animations in effective PowerPoint presentations are a slippery slope. We’ve all sat through presentations where there were so many objects in motion that it was easy to lose focus on the key ideas in the presentation.

But that’s why animations get an unfairly bad reputation. Use animations to create motion and hold an audience’s attention. Use them sparingly and on key elements on your slide, and you’ll capture that attention properly.

45. Stage Key Content With Animations

You just learned that animations should avoid being distracting. But there’s an important principle to using animations properly. It’s called staging content.

Staging content means that the content appears step by step. There’s nothing worse than overwhelming an audience with all your content at once. But when you stage content, bring it on step by step.

Take it from presentation pro Suzannah Baum :

“If you’re sharing a slide with lots of different points on it, using the animation to reveal those points one at a time is a way to keep the presenter’s content flowing smoothly.”

For more animation presentation tips and tricks, follow our guide .

46. Add a Video to Your PowerPoint

When you’re sharing a big idea in your presentation, it helps to share your perspective from a few different angles. Adding a video to supplement your content can do just that. Luckily, it’s easy to add and embed a YouTube video in your next PowerPoint presentation.

47. Add Charts & Graphs

Charts and graphs can help you tell stories with data. It’s easy for an audience to zone out when you throw a big data table or set of statistics at them.

instead, convert those to charts and graphs. Try out our tutorial to learn how to edit those graphs.

48. Build Your Own Infographics With SmartArt

Earlier in this tutorial, we gave you one of my favorite PowerPoint design tips: use infographic templates.

Here’s another. One of my favorite PowerPoint features is SmartArt, which allows you to build infographics right inside the app.

You don’t have to use another graphic design app like Photoshop or Illustrator to add visuals. Instead, try out SmartArt to help you build graphics that are easy to update.

49. Use Presenter View

Remember that when you use the PowerPoint, you’ re the presentation. The slides are just there to reinforce what you’ve got to say and support your speaking points.

That’s why I always recommend using Presenter view. More often than not, you’re going to have several displays. Presenter view shows your content on your screen, while your presentation is displayed on another screen.

50. Track Your PowerPoint Changes

One of my favorite PowerPoint design tips is to collaborate. Those who know you best will suggest compelling changes that are sure to help you succeed.

As you start collaborating on your presentation, it helps to keep track of proposed and included PowerPoint changes. Use this article to track changes made by others.

10 More Advanced PowerPoint Tips & Tricks

Really need to wow an audience with a good PowerPoint presentation? Give these tips a try to make an unforgettable impression:

51. Engage With an Interactive Quiz

A good PowerPoint presentation gets your audience involved. One of the best PowerPoint tricks is to do that with a quiz. By engaging audiences, a quiz makes your slides memorable.

By adding trivia, you’ll see how to present a PowerPoint in a way that people will love. Channel your inner game-show host today. MIDTEST is a  good PowerPoint presentation  with quiz slides.

52. Illustrate With Custom Image Masks

One of the top PowerPoint tips is to illustrate your slides. But you can go beyond simple, rectangular images on each slide.

The Burte template is full of  PowerPoint tricks , including custom image masks. Image masks shape photos into unique works of art. And thanks to premium templates, you can style photos just like this. Masks overlay your photos onto geometric shapes, instantly elevating your style.

53. Print Handouts With Extra Notes

Wonder how to give a good presentation PPT that audiences will remember? Give them a piece of it to take home.

PowerPoint makes it easy to print handouts with room for notes on the page. This way, audiences can keep copies of your slides, along with their own notes. This is the perfect way to ensure everyone engages with and retains your content.

54. Make Bulk Edits With Master Slides

When you think about how to present a PowerPoint, consider your branding. That means keeping your logo front and center in the eyes of an audience. But if you’re working with a lengthy slide deck, this could seem daunting.

That’s where master slides come in. They’re common in premium layouts, and they’re a leading example of presentation skills for PPT. Master slides let you make bulk edits fast.

55. Shrink File Sizes for Sharing

Many of the top presentation tips involve making your slides more accessible. Often, that involves sharing them with audiences online.

You’ll often find that email clients and cloud services limit the size of files that you share. This can be a problem with large PPT slide decks. But there are a few quick steps you can take to reduce PPT file size. Cut graphics, scale down photos, and more.

56. Map Processes With Flowcharts

As you consider how to do a good PowerPoint presentation, think of ease of understanding. After all, you’re trying to explain something to your audience.

The  Flowcharts in Infographics  template seamlessly illustrates ideas and processes. A flowchart maps out a process in a visual way. Instead of resorting to endless narration, try a quick illustration like this. It saves you time and effort, and your audience is sure to thank you.

57. Use Brand-Specific Colors

Using presentation skills for PPT helps form an association between your message and branding. There’s no better way to do that than with your brand colors.

PowerPoint makes it easy to change color themes, adding your brand colors and logo to each slide. This is one of the top PowerPoint tricks for marketing presentations.

58. Build Social Media Posts in PPT

A good PowerPoint presentation doesn’t have to be shared through a projector. Use the app and templates to build amazing illustrations to use anywhere.

A template like Soffee helps you learn how to present a PowerPoint easily with a pre-built design.

Try using PowerPoint to create social media posts. It helps you engage with your audience, with no need to design custom layouts from scratch.

59. Be Industry-Specific

One of the top presentation tips in 2024 is to be industry-specific. That means avoiding generic layouts and choosing something more customized.

This offers two key advantages. First, you save time by having layouts built for you. Second, you gain design inspiration for your specific topic. Themed templates are truly the best of both worlds.

The Medical and Health template is a good PowerPoint presentation with a set theme.

60. Design for Online (Virtual) Sharing

Last but not least in our list of PowerPoint tips comes virtual presenting. More and more often, slides will be shared with online audiences around the globe.

Why not design your slides for that very purpose? And then learn how to share flawlessly with a global team? It’s one of the top presentation tips for 2024. Embrace it today.

More Great PowerPoint Tutorial Resources

We’ve built a resource for Microsoft PowerPoint that you’re sure to want to try. It includes countless PowerPoint tips and tricks. It’s called How to Use PowerPoint (Ultimate Tutorial Guide) and has all the PowerPoint design tips you need.

Discover More Top PowerPoint Template Designs From Envato Elements for 2024

You’ve just seen our favorite powerful PowerPoint presentation tips and guidelines to help you improve your speaking. We’ve also mentioned Envato Elements, an incredible all-you-can-download source for top PowerPoint designs .

Here are five of the best PowerPoint templates that you can use to create your best presentation yet:

1. Galaxi PowerPoint Template

Blast off to success with the help of this PowerPoint template! Think of the pre-built slide designs as pro PowerPoint design tips. They’re built by professional graphic designers. All the popular and modern slide styles that are perfect for your next presentation. Use Galaxi’s five styles and 30 designs to create a great presentation.

2. Masmax PowerPoint Template

We selected templates for this article that match the PowerPoint tips and tricks provided. Masmax fits the bill perfectly across its 234 unique slide designs. These slide designs are sure to align with the latest in design expectations.

3. STYLE Multipurpose PowerPoint Template V50

Style is subjective, but we can all agree that this template is stunning! The light and airy slide designs are built with fashion-focused designs in mind. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not perfect for most presentations. When learning to present a PowerPoint, remember that templates can be customized to suit your purpose.

4. Peachme Creative PowerPoint Template

Peachme has image-focused slides with splashy designs. The slides are colorful and perfect for a modern presentation. Don’t worry about remembering all the PowerPoint design tips because they’re included in the pre-built slides. Use Peachme’s designs for your presentation today.

5. Buizi Office Building Rent PowerPoint Template

Buizi markets itself as a real estate focused template. It’s ideal for that purpose because of the minimal, image-focused slide designs. But that also makes it a perfect choice for presentations in many fields.

We’ve just scratched the surface of PowerPoint design tips with these five options. Here are many more, bundled inside of the best roundups on Envato Tuts+:

How to Build a Good PowerPoint Presentation Quickly (In 2024)

You’ve already seen effective presentation skills PPT techniques. But you may be wondering exactly how to do a good PowerPoint presentation. It only takes a few clicks. Let’s learn how in just five steps.

For this mini-tutorial, we’ll use the Enjoy PowerPoint Template from Envato Elements. You’ll see that it’s a beautiful template that helps you learn how to present a PowerPoint by giving you every object and layout you need.

Let’s get started:

1. Choose Your Slides

As you can see, a template like Enjoy has dozens of unique slides inside. The key to how to give a good presentation PPT is to choose only the slides that you need.

One of the best PowerPoint tricks is to start by selecting slides you wish to use from your template.

In PowerPoint, scroll through the sidebar on the left to view different slide layouts. Right-click and choose Delete to remove unwanted designs. Plus, you can click and drag slide thumbnails to reorder them in the deck.

2. Add Text

Consider how to do a good PowerPoint presentation without investing a ton of time. That’s where premium templates come in.

One of our top presentation tips when working with a PPT is to lean on the pre-built text boxes for your content.

To add custom text, simply click and select the contents of any text box on your slide. Then, type in your own words. Repeat as needed throughout your slide deck.

3. Customize Fonts

With text selected, it’s easy to customize fonts on each slide. Find the Font section on PowerPoint’s Home tab. From there, you’ve got a variety of dropdown options.

Another of our top tips for presentation tricks is to use a custom font setting in your template.

Click to change the font, font size, and more. You can also use the buttons on the left to add bolds, italics, and more.

Need more custom font styles? As an Envato Elements subscriber, you’ve got instant access to thousands of custom fonts . Use them in your presentation with ease.

4. Insert Images

Slides like this one contain an image placeholder. That’s another advantage found only with premium templates. These make adding images a breeze.

Add images to your PPTX template for more visually interesting slides.

To get started, find an image file stored on your computer. Then, drag and drop it over the placeholder. PowerPoint will import it, sized and scaled for a perfect fit.

5. Change Colors

One of the top effective presentation skills is changing shape colors. This helps you control the look and feel of each slide.

With a shape selected, find the Shape Format tab on PowerPoint’s ribbon. Then, click on the Shape Fill dropdown. You’ll see a color chooser menu appear. Click on any thumbnail to apply it to the shape or browse through the Gradient and Texture options.

Start Putting These PowerPoint Presentation Tips & Tricks Into Use Today!

Learning to write, design, and present a PowerPoint presentation is an invaluable skill, no matter where you use it. If you’re a good communicator of important messages, you’ll never go hungry.

Luckily, improving PowerPoint presentations isn’t as hard as it seems. Follow these tips for PowerPoint presentations to design and deliver with greater confidence.

Remember: Less is more (effective) . Use PowerPoint presentation templates for better design and more effective visual impact. And you can customize a PPT template quickly , with the right workflow.

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powerpoint drag and drop function

Couple of questions. I'm an educator and doing a simple drag and drop activity in powerpoint edit mode. It's simple and effective for what i want but i'd like the white editing box when dragging to be invisible, as well as the red lines that appear. I will be using it in editing mode for the kids to drag themselves but the white box will be distracting. Can you help?

If not, are there any addins or macros that i can use. If i do use a macro on my powerpoint would it still work on another PPT app if i wanted to share with colleagues.

How to Teach with Drag and Drop Slides in PowerPoint using ClassPoint

Paige Puntillo

Looking for a fun and engaging way to spice up your classroom activities? Look no further than drag and drop slides for teaching! This interactive and hands-on approach is perfect for capturing your students’ attention and helping them retain information in a fun and exciting way.

Drag & Drop activities are interactive and engaging exercises that typically require students to drag and drop objects, words, or phrases in response to prompts or instructions. It is usually used as an asynchronous activity that students complete on their own, but that’s not the only use! Drag & drop can also be done by the teacher as a method of teaching, not just a method of practicing.

Let’s discover how!

How to teach with drag and drop slides

Teachers can create drag & drop lesson material to use during teacher-led instruction. By interacting with the learning material themselves, they can draw attention, visually teach concepts, and create aha moments for visual learners. Compared to static material, drag and drop lesson material allows teachers to move any content around, images, text, shapes, etc. to build relationships, understand sequences, or convey the movement of complex concepts.

Interactive lesson material is beneficial for students in more ways too!

• increases student engagement
• improves retention of learnt material
• offers opportunities for collaborative efforts to sort & learn as a class

How to create drag and drop slides in PowerPoint

So, how can teachers create drag & drop lesson material? Actually, just with PowerPoint!

Using the add-in ClassPoint , there is a Draggable Object tool that allows teachers to freely move slide objects around during presentations! For teachers with lessons in PowerPoint, there is no learning curve for a new tool to be able to do this. Here’s how its done:

• Add ClassPoint add-in to PowerPoint for free
• Choose what skills or learning objectives need to be taught, and create your slide material and add elements that you want to make interactive
• Once you’ve designed your slide, select the objects you want to move, and toggle drag enable from the ClassPoint tab in the PowerPoint ribbon
• Now during your lesson, when it comes time to drag and drop objects on your slide, click the draggable object hand icon from the ClassPoint toolbar (added to the bottom of your presentation) and freely move around any drag enabled items!

To see the set up and Draggable Objects in action, check out this video ! ▶️

Ways to use ClassPoint’s Draggable Objects in lessons

There are two main ways you can use drag and drop slides during a live teacher-led class: to teach new concepts with interactive material or by turning your slide into a drag & drop class activity.

1. Teach new concepts dynamically

Instead of only using drag & drop as an individual student activity for practicing and testing understanding, teachers can use it to present new material and elaborate on complex concepts with visual and dynamic slide material.

Drag & drop vocabulary words onto one large image or match to corresponding definition or create the motion of a scientific process such as kinetic energy in physics to explain the relationship of motion & gravity to the class. Using draggable objects, allows the teacher to interact with the material, flexibly illustrate their explanation, and help students make visual connections.

2. Turn slide into a drag & drop class activity

Help students retain newly learnt objectives with drag & drop activities as a class! Invite students to come up and drag an object and drop it in it’s correct place, or ask them all to write answers down on paper and then reveal the correct answers, order, categories, etc. by dragging & dropping! This way the class can practice together before going off onto their own, and the students have the chance to self-assess.

Check out these 8 ways to create drag & drop activities as a class including categorizing, problem solving, and reveal hidden information.

Additionally, you could turn drag & drop activities as a class into a game, where your students have fun while learning and you can check their understanding and help straighten out any confusion as a class! Create teams, give points, and invite your students to come up and drag your slide objects around!

Whether you’re teaching vocabulary, grammar, sequencing, or collaborative learning, drag and drop activities and ClassPoint’s draggable slide objects offer endless possibilities for creative and effective lesson plans. Don’t leave it for homework, use drag & drop slides in your lessons! And, check out ClassPoint’s other teaching tools added to PowerPoint, such as random name picker , whiteboarding , and student activities to improve lessons and increase student engagement!

About Paige Puntillo

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Draggable Objects

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Convert visual elements to Draggable Objects on your slide

Freely move elements around during an active slideshow and make visual presentations even more interesting! Gone are the days of being stuck with a static layout - now, you have the flexibility to rearrange your content on the fly without having to switch back to Edit Mode just to make changes. Make your presentations more dynamic and engaging with Draggable Objects!

Draggable Objects can be a collaborative avenue for teachers and students to do sorting activities. For one, having students visually group items into different categories can be a great measure on memory and recall by involving them in the sorting process, enhancing the way they decide whether cognitively or emotionally. These sorting activities provide a fun and interactive way for students to practice decision-making skills.

Randomize text stamps on a slide and turn it into an interactive activity by letting students command you on where to put proper labels. Have them label the parts of a plant onto a diagram, or correctly identify the parts of the human body. These activities provide direct collaboration between you and your students as you let them take control of the information they know, which you can provide feedback right after.

Practice and reinforce knowledge by hosting matching type activities using Draggable Objects. Challenge the way your students connect pieces of information by manipulating an activity where students are required to match one item to another, helping them engage their senses which in turn makes the learning process more enjoyable.

Fuel excitement in the classroom by creating quizzes that involve revealing the correct answers. Do this even without student devices and make guessing games based off of facts, surveys, or pre-made questionnaires even more suspenseful and exciting. Easily make reveals live during a presentation and keep students on their toes as they anticipate correct answers hidden under Draggable Objects.

Use it the way you want

As quick and easy-to-use Draggable Objects is, the use cases that may stem from its function are endless. Feel free to use it as a presentation tool or as a special touch to your interactive activities. Pair it with another ClassPoint feature and see how you can transform the way you deliver classroom discussions with Draggable Objects!

How to use ClassPoint’s Draggable Objects

Take full control of your presentation. Learn more about Draggable Objects here.

Related Features

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Keep students on their toes and randomly draw student names directly from PowerPoint.

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Take charge of a busy classroom with a ticking timer available for you to use on the fly.

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Let us show you how presenting live in PowerPoint and browsing the web can happen at the same time.

300,000+ people like you use ClassPoint to boost audience engagement in PowerPoint presentations.

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PowerPoint: Inserting photos – “Drag & Drop” function

“Drag & Drop” function can be used in every slide of your presentation to insert photo or image.

Open the folder where the required image is located. Drag the image file with a courser directly into the field for inserting an image.

Option 2

Click on the active icon in the field for inserting an image. This opens a dialog box in which you can select the image to be inserted.

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How to Make Interactive (Drag and Drop) Google Slides Presentations

It's common to send a Google Slides presentation to a list of recipients. After all, it might not be possible to gather everyone in a room to review the slides. When you send your slides, engage your audience by learning how to make interactive Google Slides. 

In 2021, it pays to know how to make an interactive Google slide deck. These help you connect with your audience and engage with them on a personal level.

Avoid creating flat and "read-only" slides. Learn how to make Google Slides interactive. That helps your user feel engaged and play an active role in moving the slide along.

We'll teach you how to make interactive Google Slides with templates. Learn how to make Google Slides interactive easily when you lean on designs from others and pair it with the techniques you're going to see.

How to Make Interactive Google Slides Presentations Quickly

As you think of how to make Google Slides interactive, it helps to first see the power of premium templates. These save you precious time and effort by automating the creative process. Instead of building slide designs from scratch, you’re simply dropping in your own content.

As you consider how to create drag and drop in Google Slides , why not adopt that same approach in your design process? It pays off by giving you professional styling with minimal effort.

Elements is an unmatched value because of its powerful offer: unlimited downloads. For a flat rate, you can download as many templates and other creative assets as you want. This gives you unlimited opportunities to make a great impression.

Now, let’s learn how to make interactive Google Slides using a premium template from Envato Elements. In the first step of our tutorial, we'll download a top template that makes it easy to follow the steps to create interactive slides.

Plus, Elements includes resources like fonts and stock photos. These creative designs are the perfect companions to your designs. When you imagine how to create drag and drop in Google Slides, you should think of Envato Elements first.

In this tutorial, we’ll be using a premium template from Envato Elements. But Elements isn’t the only place to turn when you wonder how to make interactive Google Slides.

Envato also offers the GraphicRiver marketplace. On GraphicRiver, you can buy amazing interactive Google slide deck templates individually. This is a great way to benefit from professional designs while keeping costs lower.

No matter which marketplace you choose, a template is the quickest way to see how to make an interactive Google Slide. Start with a design, add the tweaks we show below, and you're on your way!

How to Make Interactive Google Slides

Follow the steps below to make interactive slides.

1. Why Make Interactive Google Slides?

Before you learn how to make Google Slides interactive presentations, you should know why. The answer is simple: engagement. No audience wants to be talked at . They want to be talked with . In other words, interaction is the key to success when you present.

Interactive Google Slides also help with retention. Let’s face it: if you read a fact or statement, you’re likely to forget it. But if you interact and share in the conversation, you’re much more likely to carry the information with you.

Again, the best approach is to choose a premium Envato Elements template and then edit it to fit your needs. In this tutorial, we’ll use the amazing Wohnhaus - Clean Business Presentation from Envato Elements.

Wohnhaus includes over 30 unique slides with an array of themes. It’s a top choice for interactive Google Slides presentations, thanks to modern style. Every design element is fully customizable.

2. How to Create Drag and Drop in Google Slides

One of the most basic, yet best interactive Google Slides features is drag-and-drop. These are interactive activities where audiences can move content around your slide! To build a drag-and-drop interactive activity, let’s navigate to slide 4 in the deck.

As you can see, this has a series of icons with labels immediately below them. This is a good candidate for a drag-and-drop game because you can use it as a matching activity. In other words, users can drag the labels to match them with images!

First, you’ll want to add custom text. The text boxes you’re seeing are placeholders. Click into any of them and select the text inside. Then, type in your own words. You can repeat these steps throughout the slide deck, adding your own text.

Here, it might be a good option to give the title a description. You could name it Drag to Match , for example. Then, click once on any of the four descriptor text boxes to select it. Hovering your cursor over an edge, click and hold to drag it to the top of the slide. Repeat the same steps for the other three text boxes.

Audiences can repeat that step, moving the text down to match the images. It’s an easy and fun interactive Google Slides activity.

3. How to Add Interactive Buttons in Google Slides

Interactive buttons help your audiences work with your slide content. They can take many forms, commonly hyperlinks to send users to other websites. Let’s look at how to make an interactive Google slide button.

Buttons often take the form of a shape. These are easy to insert in Google Slides and once you do, you can convert them into links. Begin by finding a shape on a slide. In this example, let’s use the computer icon on slide 7. To start, right-click on the shape and click Ungroup.

Then, click in the circular area to select the shape. Find the Insert menu on the Google Slides menu bar. Click on it, and you’ll see an array of options appear. The one you want is near the bottom: Link . Click once, and Google Slides opens the Hyperlink menu.

Here, you can paste in a URL and click Apply . Or you can link within your slide deck by clicking the options below.

When you’re finished, your shape will link to a website or slide. Clicking on it sends users to the linked destination. This is an excellent interactive feature that you can add to Google Slides easily.

4. How to Add Amazing Interactive Animations

Interactive animations offer two key advantages.

• They help you drive engagement by having audiences click through presentations at their own pace.
• They also help you control the pace of the narrative by displaying interactive content at your own chosen speed.

Consider a slide like 9 in the deck. Each yellow bar contains a different concept that you’ll want to address in more detail in your narrative. By default, all display simultaneously. But as a practical matter, you’ll likely want to introduce these one by one.

Begin by clicking on the first text box in the uppermost yellow bar. Then, go back to the Insert dropdown and choose Animation . You’ll see an Animation sidebar open on the right side of your Google Slides screen.

In the Object Animations section, choose an effect to add to your slide. Common options include Appear, Fade In, and more.

Choose your favorite style, and then you can specify how to trigger the animation. On Click is a great choice, which is why it’s the default option. This lets you (or another user) start the animation by clicking their mouse or a handheld remote when presenting.

To preview your animation effect, click Play at the bottom of the sidebar.

From here, repeat the animation steps for the remaining objects on your slide. This is a great way to make presentations more interactive. Audiences can move through your slides at their own speed. Try it as you think of how to make an interactive Google slide design.

As you can see, premium templates from Envato Elements are the best way to build interactive Google Slides presentations in 2021.

How to Make Google Slides Interactive (With Envato Elements Templates)

Are you a professional designer who knows how to make an interactive Google Slide deck? Chances are, you’re not. And even if you are, why spend the time inventing interactive templates from scratch?

Your best bet is to turn to a pre-built premium template. These are built by creative experts with you in mind. Here are five top Google Slides templates  for interactive presentations:

1. Meier - Clean Business Presentation Template

As you think about how to make interactive Google Slides presentations, think of Meier. It’s a sleek modern design with ample interactive features built in.

Begin by choosing from 30 custom slides designed for you. Then, explore the editable graphics that enable quick customizations. In a few clicks, you can build your own interactive features thanks to this template design.

2. Diagram Collection Google Slides Infographic Template

Wonder how to make an interactive Google slide graphic for your audience? A template like Diagram Collection is a great option. It’s an interactive layout packed with custom infographics. Customize each of these by adding in your own data. Then, your audience can explore over 30 slides, each in beautiful widescreen format.

3. Bizniz - Vertical Business Presentation

Bizniz is a top choice for anyone wondering how to make Google Slides interactive. It offers a streamlined design process, along with a modern look.

Slides are built around master layouts, which help you make bulk edits fast. Free fonts and resizable graphics feature throughout. This is an excellent option with many interactive features built into the slides.

4. Ushop Imoet Creative Google Slide

Consider this. You need to know how to make an interactive Google slide deck. You also need absolute creative flexibility. This is your template: with over 150 custom slides, you’re sure to find the perfect design. It features drag-and-drop image placeholders, portfolios, and much more. These interactive features are easy to customize and work well for any topic.

5. Education Presentation

Wonder how to make interactive Google Slides decks with maximum impact? Try using them in an educational setting. By interacting with students and learners, you can drive engagement. The Education Presentation is your perfect companion. This one has dozens of interactive slides that you can adjust to fit your subject of choice.

More Top Templates for Google Slides

If you've never used a template, this tutorial showed you just how much work they can save. Best of all, templates don't sacrifice customizations. You saw that you can customize them when you know how to create drag and drop in Google Slides options.

Once you've learned how to make interactive Google Slides designs, you can master the art of working with templates. Check out even more articles below with tremendous templates:

Common Google Slides Questions Answered (FAQ)

As you work through learning how to make interactive Google Slides designs, you might have run into a few questions. Google Slides is a powerful app with many features, so it's okay if you still have unanswered questions at this stage of the tutorial.

We've put together a FAQ with some of the common questions that beginners face. With the help of answers to these common questions, you'll learn how to make Google Slides interactive. Here are five frequently asked questions plus resources to help you answer them:

1. Does Google Slides Support Importing PowerPoint Templates?

There's nothing worse than recreating work from scratch. That's all too common when you start with a template from another format, like PowerPoint, and need to make it work in Google Slides.

Here's the good news: Google Slides supports importing PowerPoint templates. Convert your template, then use the techniques you saw while learning how to make an interactive Google Slide:

2. Does Google Slides Support Exporting PowerPoint Files?

You just learned how to  import  PPTX files into Google Slides with the tip above. But what about when you need to save a finished PPTX file based on a Google Slides design?

Don't worry - Google has thought of practically everything. After you've finished interactive drag-and-drop options in Google Slides, export a PowerPoint file. Learn how in this tutorial:

3. How Do You Add Multimedia to Google Slides Presentations?

As you're learning how to make interactive Google Slides, you might want to spice up your slides. Often, that means adding multimedia like music and sound.

Google Slides supports this feature, too. Learn how to add music and sound effects with the help of this tutorial.

4. Does Google Slides Work Offline?

Here's a common misconception: as a browser-based tool, Google Slides doesn't work if you lose access to the Internet.

Google has truly thought of everything! Don't let learning how to create drag and drop in Google Slides stop when you lose connection. Learn how to use Google Slides offline with this tutorial:

5. How Can You Collaborate With Google Slides?

It takes teamwork to create the best presentations. Adding other collaborators gives you a second set of eyes to review content and makes changes. So, how do you do that in Google Slides?

It's easy to invite others to edit a Google Slides presentation. Use what you learned about how to make an interactive Google Slide while collaborating. Learn how to use collaboration features to work together seamlessly in Google Slides:

Keep Learning More About Google Slides

You've already learned how to make an interactive Google Slide. With only a bit of work, your slides become so much more engaging than flat, static designs. But there's no reason to stop learning now.

Check out these three tutorials with more information on Google Slides. You'll learn more key skills that help you master how to make interactive Google Slides that stand out.

You Just Learned How to Make Google Slides Interactive

It's time to re-think how we create presentations. Instead of the read-only presentations of past, think "interactive" first when creating slides.

With the help of the best templates from Envato Elements, you can master the art of how to make interactive Google Slides . You can also choose a pay-as-you-go download from GraphicRiver to learn how to create drag and drop in Google Slides designs.

Both marketplaces give you a major advantage as you help to transform a boring slide into one that's interactive. Start with a template today and add interactivity. Your audience is sure to thank you.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Can i drag an object in presentation mode?

I see this question was answered "no" over ten years ago. I'm hoping the program has been updated to include this ability since then.

Like many others I’m teaching from home over Zoom. I’d like to have the students control the Keynote screen (in presentation mode) and move around objects (shapes) to create rhythmic patterns that everyone can then read.

How can I get this to work? Thanks.

Posted on Oct 1, 2020 10:54 AM

Posted on Oct 1, 2020 12:55 PM

If you mean; move objects on screen when Keynote is in Play , then this is not possible or desirable in slide presentation software.

If you mean mean, move objects on screen when in slide layout (edit mode) then yes, just click and drag.

Similar questions

• Moving Multiple Objects In Keynote Does anyone know how I make 2 different/ungrouped objects/shapes move together i.e. someone moving with a ball in hand. The move app only allows one object to be moved in an exact direction but I want both objects to stay together throughout. 875 1
• Can I add a Motion Template to Keynote ? Is it possible to insert templates (title, effects, transitions) created with Motion into Keynotes presentations ? 512 1
• One for the pros on Keynote I want to include a box that someone could enter text in while in presenting mode, is that possible. For example they can enter a password and then it moves to the next slide 279 1

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Oct 1, 2020 12:55 PM in response to fhorn101

Oct 1, 2020 2:22 PM in response to Gary Scotland

Yes, I meant the first. It would be very useful in the application I have. It could be an option turned off by default. I could see how kiosk presentations, too, could be made more interactive by having the user click and drag items. The locations could reset on loop. And only certain elements would be unlocked. If you've seen Smartboard or Mimio software, that's what I'm trying to simulate, but with the resources we have at home, which is where we are. Still. :-( Thanks for confirming.

Oct 1, 2020 11:54 PM in response to fhorn101

Try the numerous dedicated interactive white board software, many are free like this: https://openboard.ch/index.en.html

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PowerPoint Drag n' Drop Code - Modifications to affect multiple slides

I've been working through a YouTube tutorial for creating a Drag and Drop game in PowerPoint using VBA, and have got the VBA code working as expected, but I'm wondering if anyone could give me some advice on how to add to the code in order to do something that I'm trying to do. I have some programming experience in Python, but no experience scripting PPT files or VBA. Any help you can give here would be appreciated!

What I'm trying to do is apply the code to multiple slides in the same presentation. For example, I want to have some items on one slide be affected by the Drag and Drop code, and then move on to the next slide and do the same with other items. From looking at the code, and from my understanding, it's the sections that have

ActivePresentation.Slides(2)

that are what needs changing. Now, I know that the (2) refers to the slide number, but could you advise what to change this to in order for it to work on ANY slide number (I'm guessing this would need to refer to the current slide somehow). I've tried various commands that I've found online, but none seem to do what I want - anything I enter in the brackets that looks like it should affect the current slide results in the drag and drop not working at all on any slide, including the original slide that was working before the change to the code.

The relevant code is below:

• Perhaps I'm missing something, but it seems that the supposed problem line "ActivePresentation.Slides(2)" appears only in comments. In any case, if you need a reference to the slide that selectedShape is on, you can use selectedShape.Parent –  Steve Rindsberg Commented Oct 11, 2021 at 15:17
• I’ll try that at the weekend and get back to you. Thanks! The commented lines are just something I forgot to uncomment when posting here…they are the original lines of code, which I copied, changed, found didn’t work and deleted. They are active in the original file! –  Malcolm Kenworthy Commented Oct 12, 2021 at 16:06
• Assuming I’ve put that in the correct place, in the brackets replacing the slide number, that doesn’t work. None of the drag and drop on any slide, the original or otherwise, works at all. –  Malcolm Kenworthy Commented Oct 13, 2021 at 5:53
• How is the code triggered in the first place? –  Steve Rindsberg Commented Oct 13, 2021 at 14:09

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How to Drag Slides From One PowerPoint to Another: A Step-by-Step Guide

Dragging slides from one PowerPoint to another is a simple process. Open both presentations, select the slide or slides you wish to move, and drag them to the destination PowerPoint’s slide sorter or slide panel. After completing this action, the moved slides will appear in the second presentation, ready for further editing or presenting.

After you complete the action of dragging slides from one PowerPoint to another, the slides you moved will be incorporated into the new PowerPoint presentation. They will appear in the sequence you placed them, and you can then rearrange, edit, or style them as needed to fit the flow of your new presentation.

Introduction

Have you ever been working on a PowerPoint presentation and realized that a slide or two from another presentation would fit perfectly? Maybe you’re consolidating information for a big meeting, or maybe you’re a teacher who wants to reuse a particularly effective slide in a new lesson. Whatever the reason, PowerPoint makes it relatively simple to move slides from one presentation to another, ensuring you can create the most impactful presentation possible without having to recreate content from scratch.

Knowing how to drag slides from one PowerPoint to another can save you time and help maintain consistency across different presentations. It’s also a useful skill for anyone who frequently presents, whether in a business, academic, or personal setting. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without this handy little trick.

Step by Step Tutorial: How to Drag Slides from One PowerPoint to Another

Before diving into the steps, let’s clarify what we’ll achieve. We’ll learn how to efficiently transfer slides from one PowerPoint presentation to another. This technique is handy when you want to merge presentations or move content around without starting from scratch.

Step 1: Open Both PowerPoint Presentations

First things first – open both the PowerPoint presentations: the one with the slides you want to move and the one where you want to move them to.

When you have both presentations open, make sure they’re both in a view that allows you to see the slides. A good view for this is the “Slide Sorter” view, which you can access from the “View” tab in PowerPoint. This way, you can see all slides at once, making it easier to select and move them.

Step 2: Select the Slides You Want to Move

In the presentation with the slides you want to move, click on the slide you wish to transfer. If you’re moving multiple slides, hold down the Ctrl key (Command on Mac) and click each slide.

Make sure you select every slide you want to move before you start dragging. If you accidentally miss one, you’ll have to repeat the process for the missed slide. Also, remember that any changes you make to the original slide will not be reflected in the copy once it’s moved.

Step 3: Drag and Drop the Slides into the New Presentation

Click and hold on the selected slides, then drag them to the other open PowerPoint window. Drop them in the desired location in the second presentation’s slide thumbnail pane or slide sorter view.

As you drag the slides over to the new presentation, you’ll see a faint outline or a cursor indicating where the slides will be dropped. Be precise with where you place them, as this will determine their order in the new presentation. If you make a mistake, don’t worry; you can always rearrange the slides later.

Time-efficiency is a significant benefit of dragging slides between PowerPoint presentations. Instead of spending precious minutes or even hours recreating a slide you know exists elsewhere, you can simply move it over. This leaves you more time to focus on other aspects of your presentation.

Ensuring consistency across presentations is another advantage. By moving slides, you can maintain the same formatting, branding, and messaging, which can be crucial in a professional setting. It’s also less prone to human error than recreating slides from memory.

Flexibility is key when working on presentations, especially if you’re collaborating with others. If someone else created a great slide, you can easily incorporate it into your presentation. This method keeps everyone on the same page and ensures the best content is used.

One potential issue with dragging slides between PowerPoint presentations is formatting discrepancies. Sometimes, slides may not look exactly the same in the new presentation, especially if you’re using different templates or themes. This can mean spending time readjusting the slides to make sure they fit in with the rest.

Version compatibility can also be a problem. If you’re moving slides from a newer version of PowerPoint to an older one, some features may not be supported, which could cause issues with how the slide appears or functions.

Finally, if your slide includes specific fonts, media, or other elements that aren’t available on the computer you’re moving the slides to, these elements might be missing or look different. It’s always a good idea to check for these discrepancies before finalizing your presentation.

Additional Information

When dragging slides from one PowerPoint to another, it’s essential to consider the design and layout of your new presentation. You might need to tweak the slides a bit to make them fit seamlessly into their new home. For example, the color scheme or fonts used in one presentation might clash with the other, so be prepared to do some editing to ensure a cohesive look.

Another tip is to use the “Reuse Slides” feature if you’re dealing with a large number of slides or want more control over the insertion process. This feature, found under the “New Slide” dropdown, allows you to browse and insert slides from other presentations with the option to preserve or discard formatting.

Additionally, remember that any animations, transitions, or embedded media will also be transferred with the slides. So, make sure everything works as intended in the new presentation. It’s always a good idea to do a quick run-through after incorporating the new slides to catch any issues.

Using the prompt keyword, remember that when you drag slides from one PowerPoint to another, you’re essentially copying and pasting content. This can be incredibly helpful for constructing comprehensive presentations without unnecessary duplication of efforts.

• Open both PowerPoint presentations.
• Select the slides you want to move.
• Drag and drop the slides into the new presentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can i move multiple slides at once.

Yes, you can move multiple slides at once by holding down the Ctrl key (Command on Mac) and clicking each slide you want to transfer, then dragging them together to the new presentation.

Will animations and transitions also be moved with the slides?

Yes, animations and transitions that are applied to the slides will also be transferred when you drag them to the new presentation.

What if the design themes of the two presentations are different?

If the design themes are different, you may need to do some reformatting after moving the slides to ensure they match the new presentation’s style.

Can I undo the action if I make a mistake?

Yes, you can undo the action by pressing Ctrl+Z (Command+Z on Mac) if you accidentally move the slides to the wrong spot or change your mind.

What should I do if a font or media doesn’t transfer correctly?

If a font, media, or any other element doesn’t transfer properly, you may need to manually add it to the new presentation or choose suitable replacements that are available on the second computer.

Mastering the art of dragging slides from one PowerPoint to another can revolutionize the way you create presentations. It’s a skill that’s easy to learn but has a significant impact on your workflow, saving you time and helping to ensure your slides are always up to snuff. Whether you’re a student, a business professional, or just someone who likes to create killer slideshows for family and friends, knowing this trick can make all the difference.

For further reading, consider exploring more advanced PowerPoint features like the “Reuse Slides” function or diving into tutorials on how to make the most of PowerPoint’s vast array of tools. And, of course, never underestimate the importance of practice. The more you work with PowerPoint, the more seamless and intuitive these processes will become.

Remember, dragging slides from one PowerPoint to another is just one of many ways to enhance your presentations. Stay curious, keep learning, and your next slideshow might just be your best one yet.

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

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Adobe Reimagines PDFs by Integrating Adobe Firefly into Acrobat and Adding Support for Chat Across Multiple Documents in Acrobat AI Assistant

• Adobe brings new Firefly-powered features designed to be commercially safe into Acrobat – allowing customers to easily generate and edit stunning visuals directly in PDFs
• Acrobat AI Assistant supercharges productivity with support for multiple documents and enables customers to ask questions, get insights and create content across PDF, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, text documents and more
• Adobe is offering free, full access to Acrobat AI Assistant features June 18 - June 28, 2024

SAN JOSE, Calif. — June 17, 2024  —   Today, Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) unveiled major AI innovations in Adobe Acrobat, bringing unprecedented creativity and productivity to digital documents. Starting on June 18, Acrobat customers can create and edit images in the nearly 3 trillion PDFs currently in circulation using text prompts, powered by Adobe Firefly. Acrobat is the first PDF solution to offer in-app generative image capabilities. New features in Acrobat AI Assistant , a conversational engine deeply integrated into Reader and Acrobat workflows, will allow customers to ask questions, get insights and create content from information across groups of PDFs – and other document types – including Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, text files and more. Adobe also announced enhanced meeting transcript capabilities in AI Assistant. 

“From Edit and Share to Protect and Export, Adobe has consistently innovated PDF, transforming it from a static page into a collaborative workspace,” said Abhigyan Modi, senior vice president, Adobe Document Cloud. “With generative AI we can advance the category again with image creation and insights across a new range of document types, empowering every customer with a deeper understanding and ability to transform information into compelling content – with the ease and speed of a simple prompt.” 

Bringing Adobe Firefly Generative AI to PDFs for the First Time

The new Acrobat features enable customers to easily enhance existing images and generate stunning new images in their PDFs with generative AI – all without leaving the app. Features include: 

• Edit Image in Acrobat offers easy-to-use tools like the Firefly-powered Generative Fill, Remove Background, Erase and Crop to add, remove and revitalize content in document images in a snap. From erasing unwanted objects to removing backgrounds or adding new images, customers have full, easy control over the visuals in their PDFs.
• With Generate Image in Acrobat, customers can effortlessly add stunning new images to their PDFs, powered by Adobe’s Firefly Image 3 Model. Customers can quickly adjust the size and style and add images to any part of a document. The easy-to-use yet powerful design tools enable customers to add a professional, creative polish to their documents with images. 

Edit Image and Generate Image will provide everyone with a fast and easy way to create compelling visuals in Acrobat – no creative expertise required. Sales teams can use Generate Image to add images to text-heavy business plans, making it easier to read and more impactful. Entrepreneurs can use Generate Image and Edit Image to update existing visuals in investor pitch decks, customizing presentations for each specific opportunity. Small business owners can easily update promotional materials, using Generate Image and Edit Image to instantly change backgrounds to reflect different seasons or cultural moments. 

Delivering More Productivity and Value with Acrobat AI Assistant

When doing research, studying for an exam, analyzing data or catching up on meeting notes, information rarely lives in a single document or file type. New Acrobat AI Assistant features remove obstacles and make it quick and simple for everyone to get insights and format and share content from the information in their documents. New capabilities include: 

• Insights across documents : From quick answers to thorough research, users can now identify key themes, trends and relationships from a group of documents they select and synthesize and format information from different sources into impactful content. For example, a marketer is researching ways to reach Gen Z customers from the information across a group of PDF, Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint documents. The marketer can drag and drop those documents into Acrobat AI Assistant, which quickly generates suggested questions like “ Give an overview of the key themes presented in these documents.” The marketer can also ask their own questions, “ What are the social media habits of Gen Z? ” AI Assistant generates answers based on the information in the group of documents and includes intelligent citations , allowing the marketer to easily verify the source of the answer or quickly navigate to a specific location for deeper exploration. The marketer can also ask to have the information formatted into compelling content for a specific purpose. For example: “Convert key points of these document into an email ,” which they can easily share with the broader team to inform their marketing campaign.
• Enhanced meeting transcripts : Virtual meetings are a staple for today’s knowledge workers and whether they’re leading a meeting, participating – or miss it altogether – new enhanced meeting transcript capabilities automatically create generative summaries for a quick understanding of main topics, key points and action items, empowering meeting participants to stay up-to-speed and keep teams moving in the same direction.

Building Trust in AI

Adobe does not train the company’s generative AI models on Adobe customer data. Adobe AI features, including Firefly and Acrobat AI Assistant, are developed in alignment with Adobe’s AI Ethics principles  of accountability, responsibility and transparency. Adobe Firefly is trained on licensed content, including moderated Adobe Stock content and public domain images where the copyright has expired and is designed to be commercially safe. To provide transparency around the use of generative AI in the creative process, Content Credentials are automatically attached to digital content created or edited with Firefly-powered features in Adobe Acrobat, providing a digital nutrition label that builds trust with audiences. Adobe has created standardized processes from design to development to deployment, including training, testing and a review process overseen by a diverse AI Ethics Review Board so customers can use the features with confidence. These include: 

• Data Security Protocols : AI Assistant features in Reader and Acrobat are governed by data security protocols, including testing and evaluation methodologies in engineering processes and pre- and post-processing.
• Enhanced Reliability:  Adobe supplements LLM technologies with the same artificial intelligence and machine learning models behind the award-winning Liquid Mode to provide a highly accurate understanding of document structure and content, which enhances the quality and reliability of Acrobat AI Assistant’s outputs.
• Guardrails for LLMs : When working with third-party LLMs, Adobe takes an agnostic approach, selecting best-in-class technologies that address a range of customer use cases. Adobe contractually obliges them to use confidentiality and security protocols that match Adobe’s own standards and prohibits third-party LLMs from manually reviewing or training on Adobe customer data.
• Streamlined AI Data Governance : Acrobat AI Assistant keeps companies in control of their information, delivering insights based on documents users provide versus insights from broad enterprise information, helping guard against other types of data being analyzed and used for unintended purposes. 
• Keeping Humans in the Loop : Acrobat AI Assistant includes attributions in generated responses, making it simple for employees to confirm where the information came from; an in-app message reminds them to double-check the source of the answers AI Assistant provides.
• A Shared Responsibility : The generative AI output of AI Assistant in Reader and Acrobat is based largely on documents provided by users themselves. When users leverage Acrobat AI Assistant they agree to use the features responsibly.

For more information about the steps Adobe is taking to protect enterprise customers' data,  visit this blog.

Pricing and Availability

Adobe is offering free, full access to all Acrobat AI Assistant features June 18 - June 28, after which time free Reader or paid Acrobat customers have the opportunity to purchase an AI Assistant add-on subscription. Early access pricing for the AI Assistant add-on subscription starts at US$4.99 per month and is available until September 4. Acrobat AI Assistant subscription plans are available on desktop, web and mobile in English—other languages to follow. Starting June 18, 2024, all individual Acrobat Standard and Pro customers will receive 250 generative credits per month at no additional cost for a limited time to use with Edit Image and Generate Image features. Edit Image and Generate Image will initially be available in English on desktop. 

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PR Contact Brian Domingo Adobe [email protected]

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