Goal
You’ll be able to control animation timing and sequencing precisely, using the Animation Pane to manage multiple animations on one slide clearly.
Learn
Each animation has a Start setting (Animations tab → Timing group) controlling when it actually begins: On Click (waits for you to click before playing), With Previous (plays automatically, simultaneously with the previous animation), or After Previous (plays automatically, immediately once the previous animation finishes).
The Animation Pane (Animations tab → Animation Pane) shows every animation on the current slide as a genuinely visual, ordered list — each animation’s actual timing relationship to the others becomes immediately clear, which is genuinely difficult to track otherwise once a slide has several animations layered together.
A genuinely common mistake: using On Click for every single animation, requiring you to click repeatedly through a long sequence during an actual live presentation, when several of those animations could reasonably play automatically together using With Previous or After Previous instead — reducing how many manual clicks you actually need during delivery.
Animations can also be reordered by dragging them within the Animation Pane, directly changing the actual sequence in which they play, without needing to delete and recreate them.
Decision Task
You have four bullet points that should all animate onto the slide automatically, one after another, without you needing to click for each one individually. Before reading on: would On Click, With Previous, or After Previous best achieve this for the second, third, and fourth bullets?
Show Answer
After Previous — each subsequent bullet would play automatically immediately once the previous one finishes, creating the automatic, sequential effect you want without requiring a click for each one. On Click would require manual clicking for every single bullet; With Previous would make them all appear simultaneously rather than one after another.
Common Mistake
Setting every single animation on a slide to On Click by default, requiring repeated manual clicking through a long sequence during an actual live presentation, even when several animations could reasonably play automatically together. Genuinely consider whether each specific animation actually needs manual control, or whether automatic timing (With Previous/After Previous) would work just as well with less live-delivery friction.
Practice Questions
1. What does the “On Click” start setting require during the actual presentation?
Show Answer
A manual click before that specific animation plays.
2. What does “With Previous” do?
Show Answer
Plays the animation automatically, simultaneously with the previous animation.
3. What does “After Previous” do?
Show Answer
Plays the animation automatically, immediately once the previous animation finishes.
4. What does the Animation Pane show?
Show Answer
Every animation on the current slide as a visual, ordered list, showing their timing relationships clearly.
5. How do you reorder animations without deleting and recreating them?
Show Answer
Dragging them within the Animation Pane.
Try It Yourself
Without looking back, explain in your own words why using On Click for every single animation on a slide with many elements could create a real practical problem during an actual live presentation.
Show Answer
Requiring a manual click for every single animation means the presenter needs to remember and correctly time many individual clicks throughout the presentation, genuinely increasing the risk of clicking too early, too late, or losing track of the sequence — using automatic timing (With Previous/After Previous) where appropriate reduces this real live-delivery burden significantly.
Quick Check
1. What does On Click require?
Show Answer
A manual click to trigger that animation.
2. What does With Previous do?
Show Answer
Plays automatically, simultaneously with the previous animation.
3. What does After Previous do?
Show Answer
Plays automatically, right after the previous animation finishes.
4. If a slide has six bullet points that should all appear automatically in sequence without manual clicking, what Start setting would you use for bullets two through six?
Show Answer
After Previous — each one plays automatically right after the previous one finishes, creating an automatic sequential effect with no manual clicking required.
5. How do you reorder animations in the Animation Pane?
Show Answer
By dragging them.