This tutorial explains how to give a presenter on-demand access to supplemental material through the use of hidden slides. When slides are hidden, they do not display during normal scrolling in slide show mode. However, such hidden slides can be displayed at any time using a hyperlink.

A speaker might employ this technique to reveal an academic reference in larger print, access an optional example while answering questions, pull up additional detail that helps explain data in a graph or table, and so forth. On the other hand, if the speaker chooses not to display the hidden information, the audience never knows it's there.

Instructions and graphics appearing in this tutorial are tailored towards PowerPoint 2007 users. Nevertheless, very similar techniques are possible in PowerPoint 2003 as well. The following pages assume you already know the basics of building and operating a standard PowerPoint slide show.