PowerPoint 2002 (XP) introduces Animation Triggers. It is an animation that can be set to play when a specified shape is clicked. The following steps show how to use Animation Triggers:

Step 1: Create two shapes

For the purpose of the tutorial, lets create an Oval and a Rectangle shape. We would display an Oval shape when the Rectangle is clicked.

Step 2: Set an entrance effect on the Oval shape

Set the Fade entrance effect on the Oval:

1. Select the Oval shape.
2. Select Slide Show | Custom Animation... menu item.
3. On the Custom Animation pane, click Add Effect | Entrance | Fade menu item. This would add the Fade effect to the Oval.

Step 3: Set the trigger for the entrance effect on the Oval

In this last step, we would setup the Rectangle to trigger the Fade entrance effect on Oval:

1. Click the dropdown box of the Fade effect on the Oval in the Custom Animation pane.
2. Select Timings... menu item.
3. Select On Click in the Start box.
4. Click Triggers button to show additional timing parameters.
5. Select Start effect on click of option.
6. Select the Rectangle shape in the box.
7. Click OK.

Start the slide show. When you click on the rectangle, the Oval will show using the Fade entrance effect. The presentation file that demonstrates these steps is available here .

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