thank you. i like this -- or better, add all of the shapes to a single slide, and use custom animation to reveal each shape in succession.
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how do I "tag" each shape to set the sequence and duration before next shape? where to read about this?

thank you.

There are many tutorials on using PowerPoint's animation features. Here's a link that should get you started:

http://presentationsoft.about.com/od...tom_animat.htm