Hyperlinks in PowerPoint

EXAMPLES Specific text in a sentence etc.sentence Text Box Shapes Pictures

COMMON QUESTIONS 1.What is a Hyperlink? According to Merriam Webster: A Hyperlink is: : an electronic link providing direct access from one distinctively marked place in hypertext or hypermedia document to another in the same or a different document In English, this means a Hyperlink is like a hyperdrive (if you are a Star Wars fan), wormhole (if you are a Star Trek fan), or like a door (for those of you who are neither fan). So, to continue with the “Door” theory, let’s go ahead and show you a few “Doors” (Hyperlinks), to other places in this document. 2. Where does a hyperlink take you? In short, a hyperlink will go pretty much wherever you want it to go. You can go to another webpage, you can go to an Excel document saved somewhere on your computer/network, you can even go inside of your current presentation, to another slide. This enables your presentation to become “Interactive” and is a great tool for enhancing teaching tools and self-taught classes.

HYPERLINK TEXT BASICS Alright, now I will show how to create a link that will lead to an external website. In our case, I will be linking straight out to our website ( first by using text, and then with an icon. If you notice, the text above appears in a different color already. This is an ACTIVE link. I have not added the hyperlink myself, PowerPoint did this by seeing the proper URL (website address) typed in. If you want to go to the link, you may right click and go to “Open Hyperlink” Not to over complicate things, but Hyperlinks are similar to “Trigger” effects. Click here to see a trigger effect. Yes, I’ll show you how amazing trigger effects are in another tutorial.

HYPERLINK TEXT BASICS Your next option is to add a hyperlink to a specific word or phrase. In our case, we are going to use “Word” below to add the hyperlink. Word Right click inside of the text box, highlight the text you wish to link, and right click. Select “Hyperlink”

HYPERLINKING TEXT CONTINUED The box that will pop up is the “Insert Hyperlink” box, and this is where you select WHERE you want your hyperlink to go to and what you want your text to read as (in our case, Word). We will leave it set to “Existing File or Webpage” and enter the appropriate URL (website) in the “Address” field. Click “OK” and the word you selected to hyperlink will change color, become underline, and be an active hyperlink!

TEXT BOXES Text Boxes can be transparent, opaque, or translucent, but make sure they you select “Send to Front” so the link can be clicked. You can use transparent text boxes to give the impression of hyperlinked “text” without needing the “exact” text to be clicked

HYPERLINKING OBJECTS Now that you’ve seen how to hyperlink specific text, take a look at the other things you can hyperlink: An entire text BOX (click anywhere and the link works) Shapes Pictures

EXAMPLES OF SHAPES

PICTURES

HYPERLINKING IN A DOCUMENT Next, we will take a look at using the Hyperlinking feature within a document so you can navigate a presentation (or even word document). I’ll put a few examples below, so you can see how Hyperlinking works inside of a presentation. Home WoodsLightningRain Drops Click any of the links above, and you will go to a different location in the presentation. “Home” will take you to the first slide, while “Woods”, “Lightning” and “Rain Drops” will all take you to different slides. Notice how this feels almost like a website in navigation, and the sky is the limit on how creative you can be inside the presentation.

WOODS Home List

LIGHTNING Home List

RAINDROPS Home List

SUMMARY Adding hyperlinks to your presentation can make it easier to navigate, as well as customize to your audience, and save you the hassle of opening websites on the side for display purposes later.

Thank you For Watching!