Everything at once
With six steps and their detail on one slide, the text is small and the room reads ahead. You are on step two while they are already on step six.
To explain a process step by step in PowerPoint without losing the overview, keep the whole process on one slide and bring each step into focus in turn. SparkSpotlight does this in slide show: click a step, the slide dims, the step stays bright and a card explains it, then the whole process returns. The one requirement is that each step is its own shape.
Explain a Process Step by Step in PowerPoint
Keep the whole process in view, and walk through it one step at a time.
You know this slide. Six steps, arrows between them, a sentence of detail under each. It belongs on one slide, because the order and the connections are the point. But put it up and the room reads all six steps at once, while you are still explaining step two.
So you split it, and the big picture goes. Or you build it with animations, and spend an hour in the Animation Pane. Or you reach for the laser pointer, and the detail stays too small to read. SparkSlides built SparkSpotlight for exactly this: a click-to-open spotlight effect in PowerPoint that keeps the whole process on one slide.
Launching soon
See how it worksWhy the usual ways fall short
One slide per step
Split it into six slides and each step is readable, but the process is not. Nobody sees where step three sits in the whole.
Animations and a laser pointer
Entrance and exit animations can bring steps in one at a time, but they take an hour in the Animation Pane and are one misclick from the wrong step appearing. A laser pointer needs no build, but it points without explaining, and on a video call the dot is easy to miss.
One requirement: separate shapes
SparkSpotlight lights one element at a time, so each step must be its own element. Draw every step as a separate box or shape, with its label inside, and draw the arrows between them as their own shapes.
A SmartArt graphic is one element, so it spotlights as a whole. You cannot light one step inside it. If your process is a SmartArt graphic today, redraw its steps as separate shapes first.
Three steps to a process that explains itself
01
Draw each step as its own shape
Build the process from separate boxes and arrows. Put the step's short name inside its box, and keep the longer explanation for the card.
02
Add a spotlight to each step
Select a step, type a title (up to 60 characters) and its detail as a key point (up to 240), choose where the card sits, and click Add spotlight. Repeat for each step.
03
Present it in order
In slide show, click step one: the slide dims, the step stays bright and its card explains it. Click anywhere to close, and the whole process is back on screen. Then click step two.
Where it earns its place
Anywhere a sequence has to be explained in order without losing sight of the whole.
Onboarding
Show new starters the whole first-week process, then open each stage as you reach it.
Training
Teach a procedure step by step while the full sequence stays in view, so learners see what comes before and after.
Architecture reviews
Draw each component as its own shape and open them in turn, so the review moves through the design without losing sight of the whole.
Customer journeys
Lay the stages out left to right and spotlight each one to describe what the customer does and feels there.
What to know before you build one
Separate shapes. Each step must be its own shape. SmartArt is one element, so it spotlights as a whole.
Keep the boxes short. Put only a step's short name in its box and the explanation in its card, so the process stays readable from the back of the room.
You choose the order. Steps open when you click them, in whatever order you like. The right arrow or a clicker's Next continues the deck and does not open a spotlight.
Click to open. Spotlights open with a mouse click, or a tap on a touchscreen. One element carries one spotlight.
Microsoft 365 to add, any PowerPoint to present. Adding spotlights needs Microsoft 365 PowerPoint on Windows (version 2601 or later) or Mac (16.105 or later). Presenting works in any PowerPoint on Windows or Mac, with no add-in.
On Teams or Zoom. Run the slide show in desktop PowerPoint and share your screen or window.
Common questions
Can I spotlight a SmartArt step?
No. A SmartArt graphic is one element, so it spotlights as a whole. Draw each step as a separate shape to spotlight it on its own.
How many steps can one slide have?
One spotlight per element, and as many elements per slide as you like. In practice the number of steps is set by how many fit legibly on your slide.
Do the arrows need a spotlight?
No. Spotlight only the elements you want to explain. Elements without a spotlight stay on the slide and are dimmed while another one is open.
Do I have to explain the steps in order?
No. You open the steps in whatever order you choose.
Do my viewers need the add-in?
No. Anyone can present or view the deck in PowerPoint on Windows or Mac.
Walk the room through it, one step at a time.
SparkSpotlight is a one-time purchase, with no subscription. The price is announced at launch.
Launching soon
See how it worksKeep reading
More on spotlighting a slide, and on presenting it online.