How to create a "slides loading" intro message?

[Betty Hills]

My self-directed presentation has 84 slides and will be even larger
once I add sound. Thus, it takes a long time to load, leaving the
viewer looking at a blank, black or white screen.

Is there a way to show a single slide while the rest of the slides are
being stored in memory that says something like, "Please have patience
while the presentation loads" without buying an add-in?

I am using PowerPoint 2003, plan to "Pack and Go", burn to CD, and
distribute the presentation as a stand alone demo that recipients may
view at their own schedule.

Any help on how to produce an intro slide will be most welcome. TIA

 

[leef_me]

Hi Betty,
I am not sure what you mean about "self-directed"
But since you referred to "pack and go" and "stand alone demo", I
wanted to mention that PPT viewers don't support macros or add-ins. As
alternatives, please consider the following suggestions. 1) reduce the
size of pictures on slides if possible, 2) break the slide show up
into multiple shows that can be 'called' by clicking an object on a
slide.

These are referred to as 'hyperlinks' and they work in the normal
application and in the viewers as well. Try looking up the following
word/phrases in the powerpoint help application, using the 'Answer
Wizard' tab

table of contents
hyperlink

Either/both of these suggestions might remove the need for a 'please
wait' message, because the shows that the user is viewing are smaller
and thus load faster.

HTH,
Leef_me

 

[Bill Foley]

You might want to look at the culprit instead of a workaround. You may find
several fixes that greatly reduce your file size, and thusly, your loading
times. Especially, turning off "Fast Saves" and NEVER copying and pasting
in mages onto slides! Save images as JPGs or PNGs and always do an
"Insert", "Picture", "From file" to put them in.

"Why are my PowerPoint files So Big"

http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00062.htm