Create an Interactive Story Format with Multiple Endings

Start Microsoft PowerPoint.

Create a title page for your story.

On the Format menu, click Background.

In the Fill Effects dialog box, on the Picture tab, click Select Picture. Locate your image from your saved file, and then click Insert.

You can preview the image you chose. If it is the correct image, click OK.

You then preview the image as it will look on the screen as a background. If the background looks correct, click Apply. If the picture looks stretched, go back and select Lock picture aspect ratio on the Picture tab of the Fill Effects dialog box.

Type the title of your story in the text field and position the text to suit.

On the File menu, click Save As. Give your slide show a title and save it to the desired folder.

Tip: Save your slide show regularly to avoid losing changes.

On the Insert menu, click New Slide.

Type the opening scene to your story, remembering that by the end of the first paragraph, the reader is given two choices to follow the story line.

At the bottom of the page, we are going to present those two choices as visual links. By selecting one of these links, the reader is taken to the corresponding page where the story continues.

On the Insert menu, point to Picture, and then click Clip Art.

Type in the subject of your search.

Select the image you would like to insert by clicking it. The image is automatically inserted into your document.

Resize and reposition the image by dragging the resize handles and moving it to the position you would like on the slide.

On the Insert menu, point to Movies and Sounds, and then click Record Sound.

Type a name for your recording.

Ensure that a microphone is plugged into your computer and working. When you are ready, click Record and record a statement that you would like to accompany each image. For example, we have recorded the statement Follow the dog to match the corresponding image.

Click Stop to end your recording.

To preview your recording, click the play button. If you are happy with your audio file, click OK.

A sound icon appears on your page to indicate that a sound file has been included. Drag this to the front of the corresponding image.

Select the image that acts as the link. On the Insert menu, click Hyperlink.

In the Link to group of the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, click Places in this document. Select the page you would like the link to be attached to.

Click OK. The hyperlink has now been created.

Note: In our story, we created buttons by combining two elements—a Rectangle and a Text Box. A hyperlink can only be attached to one element, either the rectangle or the text box. There are two ways to solve this: Either attach the hyperlink to a single element or create a transparent rectangle that covers all of the elements and attach the hyperlink to it. The latter solution gives a larger area for the reader to click.

Continue creating hyperlinks until each image links to its corresponding page.