PowerPoint Text Animations - Animate Text One Word or One Letter at a Time

Is it Possible To Animate Text to Appear One Letter or One Word at a Time?

A reader recently asked -

Is it possible to animate text to appear on the PowerPoint slide by single word or one letter at a time?

The answer is "yes". Text can appear in both of these manners. Follow the steps below for your particular version of PowerPoint.

PowerPoint 2007

1. Select the border of the text box. (If you click inside the text box, PowerPoint is expecting you to edit the text. This is not what you will be doing, so you need to click on the border of the text box.)
2. Click the Animations tab of the ribbon.
3. Select Custom Animation.
4. In the Custom Animation task pane on the right of the screen, choose Add Effect > Entrance > Appear.
5. In the Custom Animation task pane, click the drop down arrow beside the new animation. Select Effect Options....
6. In the dialog box that appears, the Effect tab should be selected. Click the drop down arrow beside Animate text. Choose either By word or By letter. This will cause your text to appear either by individual letters or by individual words.
7. Click OK.

Optional - You may wish to add a sound (select the option in this same dialog box) to this text animation, such as Typewriter if you are choosing the "By letter" option. However, be aware that most audiences find this particularly annoying.

More on Animations in PowerPoint 2007
• Custom Animations in PowerPoint 2007

PowerPoint 2003 (and earlier)

1. Select the border of the text box. (If you click inside the text box, PowerPoint is expecting you to edit the text. This is not what you will be doing, so you need to click on the border of the text box.)
2. Select Slide Show > Custom Animations from the main menu.
3. In the Custom Animation task pane on the right of the screen, choose Add Effect > Entrance > Appear.
4. In the Custom Animation task pane, click the drop down arrow beside the new animation. Select Effect Options....
5. In the dialog box that appears, the Effect tab should be selected. Click the drop down arrow beside Animate text. Choose either By word or By letter. This will cause your text to appear either by individual letters or by individual words.
6. Click OK.

Optional - You may wish to add a sound (select the option in this same dialog box) to this text animation, such as Typewriter if you are choosing the "By letter" option. However, be aware that most audiences find this particularly annoying.

More on Animations in PowerPoint
• Apply Custom Animations in PowerPoint