24 min read

Automatic Timing and Rehearsed Slides

Rehearse Timings records your pace. Set slides to advance automatically for a lobby loop or timed Open Day intro.

Manual vs Automatic Advance

A timed intro loop can run in the lobby while families arrive — no clicker needed. James Okonkwo sets the first three slides of NorthgateOpenDay.pptx to auto-advance every eight seconds in the Main Hall before Dr. Helen Marsh starts speaking at 10:30 on Saturday 14 March 2026 . Mode How slides advance Best for On mouse click Presenter clicks or presses a key Live talk with Dr. Helen Marsh After timings Each slide waits for its recorded duration Lobby loop, kiosk display Mixed Some slides auto, some wait for click Intro loop then hand off to presenter Automatic timing lives on the Transitions tab under Advance Slide . Rehearse in a quiet room first — automatic timing is hard to fix live if a slide flies past too fast.

Mode	How slides advance	Best for
On mouse click	Presenter clicks or presses a key	Live talk with Dr. Helen Marsh
After timings	Each slide waits for its recorded duration	Lobby loop, kiosk display
Mixed	Some slides auto, some wait for click	Intro loop then hand off to presenter

Rehearsal captures realistic pacing for the welcome sequence. 1 Click Slide Show \to Rehearse Timings . 2 Expected result: Slide Show starts with a timer in the corner. 3 Read slide 1 aloud as you would on Open Day. Click Next or press N when ready to advance. 4 Continue through each slide at your natural speaking pace. 5 After the last slide, click Yes when asked to save timings. 6 Expected result: Thumbnails show the recorded seconds under each slide number.

The lobby loop runs without someone at the keyboard. 1 In the thumbnail pane, click slide 1, then Shift+click slide 3. 2 Click Transitions . 3 Clear On Mouse Click under Advance Slide . 4 Enable After and confirm the box shows your rehearsed seconds. 5 Click Slide Show \to From Beginning and watch without clicking. 6 Expected result: Slides 1-3 advance on their own. Later slides still wait for a click if you left On Mouse Click on. Fix: If slides advance too quickly, run Rehearse Timings again or manually increase After seconds on the Transitions tab.

Families arriving between 10:00 and 10:25 always see welcome content. 1 Select slides 1 through 3 in the thumbnail pane. 2 Set Transitions \to Duration to 0.75 seconds so fades stay gentle. 3 For a dedicated loop only, create a custom show with intro slides — covered in the delivery lesson. 4 Press Ctrl+S or Cmd+S . 5 Expected result: Intro slides auto-advance with rehearsed timings saved in the file.

Your laptop screen may feel fast enough at arm's length. The Main Hall screen is larger — parents need extra seconds to read text-heavy slides. Add one or two seconds to After on welcome and tour slides, then preview from the projector if possible before Saturday 14 March 2026.

Lobby loops use After. Live sections stay on click.

Example — Start recording timings: Slide Show \to Rehearse Timings records how long each slide stays up. Animations \to Animation Pane orders effects on one slide. File \to Export saves PDF — run Rehearse Timings first for lobby loops.

Practice

Where do you start recording slide timings?

Manual vs Automatic Advance

A timed intro loop can run in the lobby while families arrive — no clicker needed. James Okonkwo sets the first three slides of NorthgateOpenDay.pptx to auto-advance every eight seconds in the Main Hall before Dr. Helen Marsh starts speaking at 10:30 on Saturday 14 March 2026 . Mode How slides advance Best for On mouse click Presenter clicks or presses a key Live talk with Dr. Helen Marsh After timings Each slide waits for its recorded duration Lobby loop, kiosk display Mixed Some slides auto, some wait for click Intro loop then hand off to presenter Automatic timing lives on the Transitions tab under Advance Slide . Rehearse in a quiet room first — automatic timing is hard to fix live if a slide flies past too fast.

Mode	How slides advance	Best for
On mouse click	Presenter clicks or presses a key	Live talk with Dr. Helen Marsh
After timings	Each slide waits for its recorded duration	Lobby loop, kiosk display
Mixed	Some slides auto, some wait for click	Intro loop then hand off to presenter

Record Rehearse Timings

Rehearsal captures realistic pacing for the welcome sequence. 1 Click Slide Show \to Rehearse Timings . 2 Expected result: Slide Show starts with a timer in the corner. 3 Read slide 1 aloud as you would on Open Day. Click Next or press N when ready to advance. 4 Continue through each slide at your natural speaking pace. 5 After the last slide, click Yes when asked to save timings. 6 Expected result: Thumbnails show the recorded seconds under each slide number.

Turn On Automatic Advance

The lobby loop runs without someone at the keyboard. 1 In the thumbnail pane, click slide 1, then Shift+click slide 3. 2 Click Transitions . 3 Clear On Mouse Click under Advance Slide . 4 Enable After and confirm the box shows your rehearsed seconds. 5 Click Slide Show \to From Beginning and watch without clicking. 6 Expected result: Slides 1-3 advance on their own. Later slides still wait for a click if you left On Mouse Click on. Fix: If slides advance too quickly, run Rehearse Timings again or manually increase After seconds on the Transitions tab.

Build a Lobby Loop

Families arriving between 10:00 and 10:25 always see welcome content. 1 Select slides 1 through 3 in the thumbnail pane. 2 Set Transitions \to Duration to 0.75 seconds so fades stay gentle. 3 For a dedicated loop only, create a custom show with intro slides — covered in the delivery lesson. 4 Press Ctrl+S or Cmd+S . 5 Expected result: Intro slides auto-advance with rehearsed timings saved in the file.

Add Seconds for the Main Hall Screen

Your laptop screen may feel fast enough at arm's length. The Main Hall screen is larger — parents need extra seconds to read text-heavy slides. Add one or two seconds to After on welcome and tour slides, then preview from the projector if possible before Saturday 14 March 2026.

Lobby loops use After. Live sections stay on click.

Example — Start recording timings: Slide Show \to Rehearse Timings records how long each slide stays up. Animations \to Animation Pane orders effects on one slide. File \to Export saves PDF — run Rehearse Timings first for lobby loops.

Practice

Where do you start recording slide timings?