How to Hyperlink to another Presentation - Hyperlinks in PowerPoint

Question: How Do I Use a Hyperlink to Open Another Presentation Seamlessly?

The scenario
Two presenters are on the agenda. They both have PowerPoint presentations to accompany them. The first presenter finishes and then the second presenter fumbles around trying to find his presentation on the computer before he can start. The audience starts to fidget and talk among themselves and the momentum is lost.
How can you keep the flow going from one presenter to the next, without losing the audience's attention?

Answer: The simplest answer is to create a slide at the end of the first presentation that contains an invisible hyperlink to open the second presentation. When the second presenter steps up front and center, all he has do is click the mouse and his PowerPoint presentation will open.

A tiny bit of preparation is necessary before the big moment. A single slide needs to be added to the end of the first presentation. Generally, I like this to be a black slide, but rather than use PowerPoint's feature to add a black slide at the end of the presentation, you will add a new slide and cover it entirely with a black rectangle. This graphic object will be the source of the hyperlink to the second presentation.

Secondly, it is always in your best interest to have all the files for any presentation located in the same folder. So, create a new folder and copy all presentations and any linked components into that folder before you continue.

PowerPoint 2007
1. Add a new slide to the end of the first presentation.
2. From the Home tab of the ribbon click on the rectangle tool in the Drawing section of the ribbon.
3. Draw a rectangle large enough to cover the whole slide.
4. Right click on the rectangle and choose Format Shape...
5. In the Format Shape dialog box, select Fill > Solid Fill. Choose black from the Color drop down selections and then close the Format Shape dialog box.
6. Right click on the rectangle again and choose Hyperlink....
7. In the Link to: section on the left side of the dialog box, choose Existing File or Web Page.
8. Locate the second PowerPoint presentation file previously saved on this computer.
9. Click OK

Now when you run the first slide show, the new presenter simply clicks on the last slide (the black slide) when he is ready to go, and his presentation will open in slide show view, on the first slide.

PowerPoint 2003 and earlier
1. Add a new slide to the end of the first presentation.
2. Using the Drawing toolbar at the bottom of the PowerPoint window, click on the rectangle tool.
3. Draw a rectangle large enough to cover the whole slide.
4. Right click on the rectangle and choose Format AutoShape... and change the fill color to black.
5. Right click on the rectangle again and choose Hyperlink....
6. In the Link to: section on the left side of the dialog box, choose Existing File or Web Page.
7. Locate the second PowerPoint presentation file previously saved on this computer.
8. Click OK

Now when you run the first slide show, the new presenter simply clicks on the last slide (the black slide) when he is ready to go, and his presentation will open in slide show view, on the first slide.

From http://presentationsoft.about.com
By Wendy Russell