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Use of Hyperlinks in PowerPoint Presentations as an Educational Tool

Posted Sep 30, 2017 Updated Apr 10, 2023
By Gregory Scott Stacy MD , Steven G. Thiel MD
6 min read

PowerPoint software (Microsoft, Redmond, WA) has become a popular tool for creating and displaying electronic presentations. The “hyperlink” function in PowerPoint allows users to advance from one slide to another slide in the presentation when they click on a predetermined word, shape, or image, thereby allowing for a more dynamic and interactive experience than can be obtained with serial presentation of slides alone. The objective of this article is to provide a tutorial describing the necessary steps to create hyperlinks and incorporate them in a variety of ways into a PowerPoint presentation. Hyperlinks can turn a passive learning experience into an active one by allowing the participant to become more engaged with the presentation.

PowerPoint software (Microsoft) has become a popular tool for creating and displaying electronic presentations. Such presentations typically consist of a series of “slides” that are presented in sequential order by a lecturer to the audience (using a computer, projector, and screen), or are viewed in sequential order by an individual at a computer workstation. The “hyperlink” function in PowerPoint, however, allows users to advance from one slide to any other slide in the presentation when they click on a predetermined word, shape, or image. The hyperlink can also electronically “connect” the word or picture to a slide in a completely different presentation, as well as a web page, e-mail address, or another type of file. Using hyperlinks, therefore, can allow for a more dynamic and interactive experience than can be obtained with serial presentation of slides alone. This article describes the necessary steps to create hyperlinks and incorporate them in a variety of ways into a PowerPoint presentation. The article assumes that the reader is not familiar with the process of creating hyperlinks, but otherwise has a basic understanding of PowerPoint software, including how to enter text, images, and shapes onto a slide; many excellent articles are available that can serve as tutorials for creating effective PowerPoint presentations, some of which are listed in the following references: Barone and Tucker, 2002; Collins, 2004a,b; Dodds, 2004; Harolds, 2012; Scarsbrook, Graham, and Perriss, 2006; Tarpley and Tarpley, 2008 .

In our opinion, hyperlinks are best created after a presentation has been prepared, but they can also be incorporated into the presentation during the preparation process. We will demonstrate how to create hyperlinks using a premade four-slide PowerPoint presentation ( Fig 1 ). This simplified presentation consists of the following: (1) a title slide; (2) a slide containing a test question (“Which of the following radiographs shows a mallet fracture?”), as well as radiographic images of two types of finger fractures (mallet and volar plate fractures); (3) a slide with text describing a mallet fracture; and (4) a slide with text describing a volar plate fracture. This particular slide array is an example of one that might be found in a self-guided PowerPoint presentation; however, the basic process described for creating hyperlinks would also be applicable when creating a presentation to be used during a lecture or case conference.

Figure 1, Screenshot of a four-slide PowerPoint presentation consisting of the following: (1) a title slide; (2) a slide containing a test question (“Which of the following radiographs shows a mallet fracture?”) as well as radiographic images of two types of finger fractures (mallet and volar plate fractures); (3) a “correct answer” slide with text describing a mallet fracture; and (4) an “incorrect answer” slide with text describing a volar plate fracture.

The first step in creating a hyperlink is selecting the text or object that you want to use as the hyperlink. In this case, we will select each of the radiographic images on slide 2. To select the image showing the mallet fracture of the distal phalanx, we position the cursor over that image and right-click the mouse. A menu appears as shown in Figure 2a . From this menu, we select the “Hyperlink” option. At this point, the “Insert Hyperlink” box appears ( Fig 2b ). On the left-hand side of the box, under the words “Link to,” we see four options: (1) “Existing File or Web Page,” which allows us to browse our computer for another document (e.g., another PowerPoint presentation, a Microsoft Word or Excel file, or a PDF file) or web page and link our image to that file or web page; (2) “Place in This Document,” which allows us to link our image to another slide in our current PowerPoint presentation; (3) “Create New Document,” which allows us to name and open a new (“blank”) PowerPoint presentation; and (4) “E-mail Address,” which allows us to link our image to an e-mail address that we enter. We wish to link our image to another slide in our presentation, so we select “Place in This Document.” A list of the four slides in our presentation appears to the right of this button. Because we want to link our image of a mallet fracture to the slide with the text describing the mallet fracture, we select slide 3. At this point, a hyperlink has been created. We then repeat the same steps for the image of the volar plate fracture, but link that image to slide 4, which describes the volar plate fracture. When the slide show is viewed and advanced to slide 2, the user will now have the option of selecting either the image of the mallet fracture or the image of the volar plate fracture. If the user clicks on the image of the mallet fracture, the presentation will advance to slide 3. If the user clicks on the image of the volar plate fracture, the presentation will advance to slide 4.

Figure 2, Steps to create a hyperlink. (a) Shows a close-up of slide 2 from the presentation depicted in Figure 1 . After right-clicking on the image showing the mallet fracture (left), a menu with a “Hyperlink” option (arrow) appears. Selecting the “Hyperlink” option opens the “Insert Hyperlink” box, shown in (b) . On the left-hand side of the “Insert Hyperlink” box are four options (“Existing File or Web Page,” “Place in This Document,” “Create New Document,” and “E-mail Address”). We select “Place in This Document” in order to link the image of the mallet fracture to another slide in this presentation. A numbered list of the four slides in the presentation, with titles, appears to the right of this button. We select slide 3 (“Mallet Fracture—CORRECT!”) from the list in order to link the image of the mallet fracture to the slide with the text describing the mallet fracture. This process can be repeated for the image of the volar plate fracture on slide 2 ( a , right), but linking the image to slide 4 instead, which describes the volar plate fracture. When the slide show is viewed and advanced to slide 2, the user will now have the option of selecting either the image of the mallet fracture or the image of the volar plate fracture. If the user clicks on the image of the mallet fracture, the presentation will advance to slide 3. If the user clicks on the image of the volar plate fracture, the presentation will advance to slide 4.

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Multiple-Choice Questions

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Figure 3, Sample PowerPoint slide showing the process of creating a hyperlink to the ACR Appropriateness Criteria website. We begin by selecting the word “HERE” in the sentence “Click HERE to go to the ACR Appropriateness Criteria web page.” Right-clicking on the highlighted word “HERE” opens the menu with the Hyperlink option (see Fig 2 ), which, when selected, opens the “Insert Hyperlink” box. We select “Existing File or Web Page” on the left-hand side of the box in order to link the word “HERE” to a website. We type the desired URL (web address) in the “Address” field at the bottom of the box. When the slide show is viewed and the user clicks on the word “HERE,” the ACR Appropriateness Criteria web page will open (assuming Internet connectivity). Alternatively, the creator of the presentation can save a file to the computer that can be accessed directly if hyperlinked to the word “HERE” in the bottom sentence “Click HERE to open the Rib Fracture Evidence Table PDF file (from the ACR).”

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Identification Exercises

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Figure 4, Four-slide PowerPoint presentation depicting an example of an identification exercise using hyperlinks. A fat-suppressed T2-weighted coronal MR image of the knee is depicted on all slides. On slide 1, there are two structures for the user to identify: the iliotibial band (denoted by the arrow ) and the medial collateral ligament (denoted by the arrowhead ). The arrow on slide 1 (as well as on slide 3) is hyperlinked to slide 2; hence, clicking on the arrow advances the user to slide 2, on which the iliotibial band is now labeled (“ITB”). Similarly, clicking on the arrowhead on slide 1 (or slide 2) advances the user to slide 3, on which the medial collateral ligament is labeled (“MCL”). Clicking on the word “HERE” on slide 1, 2, or 3 advances the user to slide 4, with a new exercise and unlabeled arrowhead and arrow denoting anatomic structures to be identified.

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Figure 5, Creating an invisible hyperlink. (a) Shows a screenshot of a PowerPoint slide consisting of a fat-suppressed T2-weighted coronal MR image of the knee. The white arrowhead points to an articular cartilage defect. The black arrowhead points to the rectangle drawing tool at the top of the toolbar. After selecting the rectangle from the toolbar, the shape can be positioned and sized such that it covers the cartilage defect, as shown in (b) . Before making the rectangle invisible, however, a hyperlink can be made by right-clicking on the rectangle and linking it to another slide congratulating the user for finding the articular cartilage defect, using the methodology already described. Once the hyperlink is created, we can make the rectangle “invisible” while maintaining the hyperlink by right-clicking on the rectangle and selecting “Format Shape” from the bottom of the menu that appears (arrow in (c) ). A “Format Shape” window appears (d) , at the bottom of which is a slide bar ( black arrow ) that adjusts the transparency of the rectangle . Slide the bar all the way to the right, so that the transparency is 100%. One could also simply select the “No fill” button instead of the default “Solid fill” on the same window. Note that the rectangle becomes transparent, with visualization of the underlying cartilage defect, although the outline of the rectangle remains. To remove the outline, select “Line Color” from the options in the left-hand column of the “Format Shape” window (e) . Once again, slide the transparency bar ( black arrow ) all the way to the right (100%), or select the “No line” option (instead of the default “Solid line”). The outline of the rectangle disappears. Now, when the presentation is viewed, the hyperlink overlying the articular cartilage defect will be invisible. The users can be asked to “find the abnormality” on the knee MR image without arrows or outlines to guide them. MR, magnetic resonance.

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Kiosk Mode

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Figure 6, Screenshot showing a nine-slide PowerPoint presentation with black arrows depicting functions of hyperlinks created to simulate a “Jeopardy”-like game. The center slide (slide 5) represents the “game board” from which “contestants” can select a category and a difficulty level (“dollar amount” of 100 or 200). In this case, a simple “game board” slide of four squares was created. Each “dollar amount” is hyperlinked to a slide with an image. After the contestant selects a category and dollar amount, the “host” operating the computer simply clicks on the appropriate square to advance to the slide with the pertinent image. After the contestants give their answers, the presentation can then be advanced to a text slide describing the findings. A word (e.g., “RETURN”) or shape on this slide can then be hyperlinked to the original game board slide so that play can continue. Note that the black arrows are for illustrative purposes only, and will not be seen on the PowerPoint presentation.

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References

  • 1. Barone J.E., Tucker J.B.: Some tips on slide-making and electronic presentation. Curr Surg 2002; 59: pp. 106-111.

  • 2. Collins J.: Making a PowerPoint presentation. Radiographics 2004; 24: pp. 1177-1183.

  • 3. Collins J.: Giving a PowerPoint presentation: the art of communicating effectively. Radiographics 2004; 24: pp. 1185-1192.

  • 4. Dodds C.: PowerPoint presentations. Curr Anesth Crit Care 2004; 15: pp. 69-73.

  • 5. Harolds J.A.: Tips for giving a memorable presentation, part IV: using and composing PowerPoint slides. Clin Nucl Med 2012; 37: pp. 977-980.

  • 6. Scarsbrook A.F., Graham R.N.J., Perriss R.W.: Expanding the use of Microsoft PowerPoint: an overview for radiologists. Clin Radiol 2006; 61: pp. 113-123.

  • 7. Tarpley M.J., Tarpley J.L.: The basics of PowerPoint and public speaking in medical education. J Surg Educ 2008; 65: pp. 129-132.

  • 8. Jerardi K., Solan L., DeBlasio D., et. al.: Evaluating the impact of interactive and entertaining educational conferences. Perspect Med Educ 2013; 2: pp. 349-355.

Academic Radiology, Volume 24, Issue 10
Journals General Radiology
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.
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