The Issue: The sound played just fine the first time through the PowerPoint slide show. However, when the presenter returned to the same slide during the question period of the presentation, the sound would not play again. Why?
The presumption seems to be that once the presenter returns to a slide a second time, he/she wants to remain there to make a point. Or perhaps another slide contained a hyperlink to this earlier slide and it is now redisplayed by clicking on the link.
Whatever the reason for revisiting a slide during a slide show, when the slide is shown a second time, Microsoft has disabled sounds, animations and any timings set on the slide, so that there are no distractions.
The Good News:
There is a workaround for this PowerPoint sound issue. Rather than inserting a sound onto the slide, instead, attach a sound to a transition. The sound will play each time the slide is shown.
Add a Sound to a PowerPoint 2007 Transition
Note - The sound file used must be in WAV file format in order to be attached to the PowerPoint transition.
- Access the slide that you wish to add the sound to.
- Click on the Animations tab of the ribbon.
- Click the drop down list beside Transition Sound: and select one of the following options.
• Choose one of the sounds listed. These sounds are already in WAV format.
• Or click on Other Sound... and locate a WAV sound file on your computer.
Now each time the slide is displayed, the sound will also play.
Interesting Side Note
It is not necessary to actually apply a transition to the slide for this process to work. You may choose simply to attach a transition sound.
Related Article - How Do I Remove Extra PowerPoint Transition Sounds From the List of Sounds?
