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All about custom shows

Custom shows is all about creating a presentation within a presentation. Instead of creating multiple PowerPoint files, nearly identical presentations for different audiences, you can group together and name the slides that differ and then jump to these slides during your presentation. The slides in the show can be re-ordered to appear in a customized sequence.

For example — you might want to give a presentation to two groups that work at two different locations. The slide show includes slides 1 through 15, which are identical for both groups, and two custom shows, each specific to one of the locations. You can show the first 15 slides to both groups and then jump to a custom show named "location 1" for the first group and to a custom show named "location 2" for the second group.

During a presentation, you can right-click, point to Go on the shortcut menu, point to Custom Show, and then click the show you want or you can jump to a custom show by using the Action Settings dialog box (Slide Show menu) or the Insert Hyperlink dialog box (Insert menu) to set up a hyperlink to the show 

PowerPoint uses an internal identification process to identify the slides. So re-positioning a slide,  which is a part of a custom show, in the presentation causes no problems to the custom show. After you create a custom show, you can edit it by adding or removing slides from the show. You can also set a presentation to display only a custom show when you start the slide show, even when the presentation contains many more slides.

Please note: The slides that make up the custom show must be a part of the current presentation file.

Create a custom show 

1. On the Slide Show menu, click Custom Shows, and then click New. 

2. Under Slides in presentation, select the slides you want to include in the custom show, and then click Add. To select multiple slides, hold down Ctrl as you click the slides. 

3. To change the order in which slides appear, select a slide, and then click one of the arrows to move the slide up or down in the list. 

4. Type a name in the Slide show name box, and then click OK.   

To view only the custom show. 

1. On the Slide Show menu, click Set Up Show. 

2. Click Custom show, and then select the show you want in the list. 

3. Click OK. 

4. Start the slide show.

Related topic:  

Custom Show Print Add-in for PowerPoint