how to make a video out of a powerpoint presentation

How to Make a PowerPoint into a Video in Under 5 Minutes

• how to make a powerpoint into a video

PowerPoint is, by far, the most popular tool people use to make presentations , whether for school projects or work-related activities, such as staff training or pitching a product idea to investors. 

PowerPoint is genuinely a great tool. It’s simple and easy to use, offers hundreds of themes, and if you spend a bit of time playing around with all the different options inside the program, you can make professional presentations that will captivate your audience. 

The only issue regarding PowerPoint—more specifically, presentations in general—is the limited usability of PPT files. You can’t upload a presentation on YouTube , for example. You could technically share it on your website or on social media, but a presentation without a presenter is just a random compilation of images.

Unless the person who created the presentation takes the time to weave the story, explain all the concepts, and expand on the bullet points the audience sees on the slides, the presentation won’t have the desired impact. 

Does that mean that presentations are only viable in a face-to-face setting? Not exactly. There are a number of different ways to utilize presentations, but they all involve converting the PPT file into a video . 

Now, the question begs itself— how do you make a video out of a presentation?

Turn PPTs into engaging videos

With InVideo’s online editor

Creating a Video from PowerPoint

The first thing that will go through most people’s minds is a webinar. When you stop to think about it, a webinar is nothing more than a glorified presentation. Someone takes the time to record themselves as they’re going through all the different slides and explaining everything in detail. 

A webinar is a rather specific form of content, and it takes a lot of time and effort to put one together and to get enough people to watch it to make it worthwhile. Unless you’re an experienced salesperson who is adamant about selling a product and firmly believes that the best way to do so is to blabber about it for two hours, you’re probably looking for a faster, less painstaking way to turn a PowerPoint into a video.

Thankfully, there are a number of different ways to do so. In fact, PowerPoint itself gives you the option to convert the presentation into a video. In this article, we’ll walk you through the entire process step by step and show you how to make a video PPT using all the different versions of the program. 

How to make a video from PowerPoint?(Office 365, PowerPoint 2019, PowerPoint 2016)

Although the option is there, keep in mind that it’s not as simple as clicking a Convert to video button. You do need to record narration and laser point gestures (mouse movement on-screen) beforehand.

The reason for that is simple and technical in nature—unless you record narration and timings beforehand, PowerPoint will default to five seconds per slide when creating a video. 

You can change this by clicking the upward arrow next to the Timing under the Create a Video option, but keep in mind that you’ll be adjusting the time for all slides simultaneously. There is no option to adjust how long each individual slide will appear on the screen.  

If you want to use different timings per slide, as well as record narration, select the Recording option inside PowerPoint and create a video. 

Here’s how you’ll enable recording inside Office 365 PowerPoint, as well as PowerPoint 2019 and 2016:

1. Click on File and select Options on the left-hand side of the screen 2. Choose Customize Ribbon (A) from the drop-down menu 3. Check Recording (B) in the pop-up window and hit OK (C)

Image source: Microsoft

You’ll see a new option appear on your screen under the Recording tab, titled Record Slide Show. Clicking on the downward pointing arrow will allow you to choose whether you want to start recording the slideshow from the start or from the slide you’re currently on. 

You can also choose to record the narration as audio or video, and you will be able to leverage a variety of different tools, such as pens and markers, to highlight certain elements on your slides.  

As you’re recording, the red circle next to the Record Slide Show button will be blinking, indicating that the audio and/or video is being captured. Once you go through all the slides, you can either:

- Click on the square Stop button - Press S on your keyboard. 

Exporting your video

The easiest way to export the video you just recorded is to navigate to the Recording tab and select Export to Video . This will open up a new menu, and PowerPoint will prompt you to choose the video quality. 

One thing to keep in mind is that the Ultra HD option is available only on Windows 10 . 

Next up, you’ll need to either set the timings for the slides or select the Use Recorded Timings and Narration option. 

Then, click on Create a Video , name your file, and choose where you want to save it. 

Finally, select the Save as Type option and choose between two available formats:

- MPEG-4 Video - Windows Media Video

PowerPoint will start converting the slideshow into a video automatically. Depending on the video quality and length, this process might take a while, so we suggest timing it so that you don’t have to use the computer during that time. For larger, Full HD or Ultra HD videos, it’s best to keep the program running overnight.

PowerPoint 2013

One notable difference with the 2013 version of PowerPoint is that the video quality options are slightly different. Ultra HD (4K) was just entering the scene, and not a lot of people owned devices that supported the 3840 × 2160 video resolution, so it’s no surprise that the option doesn’t exist in this version. 

The interface didn’t change much over the years, so if you happen to be running PowerPoint 2013, you’ll go through the exact same process as with the newer versions of the program:

1. Navigate to File , click Export , and choose to Create a Video 2. Select the resolution 3. Set timing parameters or use recorded timings and narration 4. Click on Create Video 5. Choose Save as Type and select between MPEG-4 or Windows Media Video 

PowerPoint 2010

If you are still using the 10-year-old version of PowerPoint, the options for creating a video out of your slideshow will be a bit different. 

The first thing to keep in mind is that PowerPoint 2010 only supports .mp4 files and that the maximum resolution for the videos is 1290 x 720, which isn’t exactly ideal. If you want to create a professional-looking video from your PowerPoint presentation to share with business partners or your audience, you might want to consider a less restrictive alternative. 

Here’s how you would turn your slideshow into a video in this outdated version of the program:

1. Select Save & Send under File 2. Choose the option Create a Video at the very bottom of the right-hand side of the screen 3. Find the Create a Video tab if you want to see the available video quality options 4. Click on the downward-pointing arrow next to the Computer & HD Displays option and choose from the three available options 5. Choose between Use and Don’t Use Recorded Timings and Narration depending on whether you want to use recorded timings and narration 6. Click on Create a Video , name it, choose the destination folder, and hit Save 

PowerPoint Video Drawbacks

It’s always great when you can use the same tool for various different tasks. In the case of PowerPoint, you can both create the presentation within the program and convert it into a video on the spot. 

That said, PowerPoint isn’t a video editing tool . What we mean by this is that you are severely limited in terms of what you can do with the video you create from your PPT. There are no transitions, you can’t leverage fade-ins and fade-outs, and there is no music, among other things.

No matter how you look at it, the videos created through PowerPoint will be bland. PowerPoint’s PPT to video conversion might get the job done if your only goal is to share a presentation internally with your team. Even then, it only makes sense in a remote work environment, where you can’t physically hold the presentation to your coworkers. 

If you’re planning on using the presentation as a core part of your marketing strategy , then the video quality—and we don’t mean the resolution here—you’ll get from PowerPoint won’t suffice. No matter how professional you sound during the narration, the videos created through PowerPoint will still give off the impression that you didn’t try all that hard. 

When you see the production value of the videos that businesses share on their websites, YouTube channels , and social media, it’s painfully obvious that PowerPoint videos can’t compete. This doesn’t mean you have to spend months learning video editing or spend a small fortune hiring a professional videographer to make and edit the videos for you. 

With InVideo, a powerful yet easy-to-use online video editor , you can create stunning videos from your presentations in minutes! We’ll walk you through the whole process to show you how easy it is to create breathtaking videos from presentations with InVideo . 

How to make a video from a PowerPoint Presentation using InVideo?

Videos are quickly becoming an integral part of every business’s marketing strategy. Whether you’re a startup, an enterprise, a medium-size business, or a solo entrepreneur, you will need to use videos if you want to attract as much traffic to your website as possible. The same goes for influencers and bloggers—videos beat any other type of content when it comes to user engagement. 

InVideo makes video editing quick, easy, and fun. Thanks to our intuitive, drag-and-drop video editor , professionally designed video templates , and an extensive library of photos and audio tracks, you can create killer videos in no time, even if you have absolutely no video editing experience.

Our platform is cloud-based, meaning you can access it from any browser on your computer and laptop. This also means that your video editing capabilities won’t depend on how powerful your machine is, meaning you can create HD and Ultra HD videos even with a low-end PC or laptop.

The best part about InVideo is the fact that you can export up to 60 videos per month for free! With our free plan , you’ll have access to all of InVideo’s features so that you can play around with all the different options and learn video editing at your own pace. We also have dozens of video editing tutorials for different use-cases, so you can get started right away. 

Creating videos from photos and PowerPoint presentations is one of many things you can do with InVideo. 

Here’s are the simple steps you can follow to create a stunning video from your presentation with InVideo:

Step 1: Create an account

To get started, you’ll need to create an account.  

Navigate to our website and click Sign Up in the top right corner. Input your email, set up your password, and you’re good to go. We’ll never ask you for your credit card information or phone number. We won’t bombard you with emails either—we hate spam as much as you do. 

Step 2: Select a Template or start from scratch

Once you log in, you’ll see several different options on the homepage:

The Pre-made Templates option will be selected by default. While there are over 5000 stunning video templates in our library, we strongly suggest that you go with the Blank Template option for this purpose. 

You will be starting from scratch, but it’s not as scary as it might sound. The blank template is the most convenient option since you’ll be treating each slide as a separate scene and editing them individually. Here’s how to do it: 

- Choose how long each slide appears on the screen - Add the appropriate narration - Throw in effects , filters, transitions , etc.

Step 3: Upload your media

Assuming you are the one who created the presentation, you should have all the necessary media on your device—photos, slides, and the script . To add it to the video, you’ll first need to upload it through our video editor .

From the menu on the left, select the Uploads option and click on the Upload button at the bottom of the screen. 

You can upload files up to 800MB at a time. If you have all the photos neatly sorted into a folder, you can upload the entire folder in one go. All the media you upload will be available immediately to the left of your video—for this and all future projects—and you can drag and drop images to the center of the screen to add them to the timeline.

Step 4: Add the photos

Let’s start with a single scene—the intro of your presentation. Drag and drop the desired image from the Uploads library onto the screen to add it to the scene. 

The video editor will show you what the image will look like in the video. When you drop the photo, you’ll need to select one of the two options:

- Replace - Add as a layer

If the slide consists of a single image, choose Replace. Since we’re not using a pre-made template here, the image you chose will replace the black background.

If you would like to add additional images on top of it—such as graphs, screenshots, product photos, or lifestyle images—drag and drop them to the center of the screen once again, but this time select the Add as a Layer option. This will put the new image on top (in front) of the background one, making the first one act as a backdrop. 

Step 5: Edit the Scenes and add text

By default, scenes will be about five to six seconds long, which probably isn’t sufficient for the narration. You can edit how long each slide—referred to as a scene in the video editor—will be on the screen for on the timeline.

The image above shows the basic timeline, which is great for having an overview of all your scenes. To edit a specific scene, click on it on the timeline and select the Advanced Timeline option in the top right corner. 

On the left side, you’ll see all the different elements that make up the scene. Select each one you’d like to edit, whether it’s a logo, the text, or the image itself. 

The middle of the timeline is reserved for the length of the scene. To adjust how long this scene will be in the video, move the sliders left or right. The duration of the scene will always be displayed in the center.

On the right side, you’ll be able to zoom in and out, so you can edit the timeline more easily. 

As far as text editing is concerned, you can do so either from the timeline or by selecting the text box on the screen. You’ll be able to drag and drop the text box to adjust the positioning, rotate the text, change the colors and font, and more. To add multiple text boxes, select the Text option from the left-hand menu and drag and drop the new box onto the screen.

Step 6: Add narration

All that’s left to do is add narration. If you’ve recorded the audio already, you can add it through Uploads , the same way you did with photos. If not, you can add a voice-over to each individual scene. Select the Add VO option and import an existing voice-over or choose to record it on the spot. 

Step 7: Export the Video

After you record or upload the VO, add the photos, and edit the length of each scene, you’re good to go. You can play around with filters, effects, and transitions if you’d like, but the base video is complete and ready to be shared with the world! 

All that’s left to do is to click on Export in the top right corner and wait for the video to render. After a few minutes, depending on the video’s length, you’ll be able to download it, post it on YouTube and social media, or copy the shareable link and use the video in your marketing campaigns. 

Turn your PPTs into epic videos

Without spending hours on editing

That’s how easy it is to create stunning videos with InVideo. Click here to get started today for free and turn your PowerPoint presentations into breathtaking videos in no time! 

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Tutorial: Save your PowerPoint as a Video

It pays to know how to save PowerPoint as video. Whether you are preparing a PowerPoint presentation for work, school , non-profit, staff training or investor relations. Content marketing is one of the biggest trends of the past couple of years and knowing how to distribute your content via various media is critical to business success. This article will guide and show you, step by step, how to save your PowerPoint presentation in video format. Next, we discuss the advantages of PowerPoint to video conversion and how you can put a single presentation to greater use. This guide is written by 24Slides’ Powerpoint experts and includes instruction on using PowerPoint for Mac.

6 Reasons to save PowerPoint as video

So you are considering saving your PowerPoint presentation as video? Before we show you how to do it, let’s talk about why it’s a great idea to convert your PowerPoint to video.

• You can show your presentation to a wider audience by sharing the video on YouTube and other video platforms.
• Your audience do not need to have a copy of Microsoft PowerPoint to view your presentation.
• Burn your presentation video on CD or DVD and giveaway as promotional material to clients or potential customers.
• Leverage your presentation and increase the return on investment (ROI) of your presentations by distributing them as video.
• The technical ability of your audience will not become a barrier to delivering your message. Your video becomes easy to access without the knowledge and understanding of powerpoint.
• Your audience will see your presentation exactly as you have intended it to be seen. Unlike sharing it as a presentation, some slides may get deleted or changed.

Now that you know why you’re on the right track by learning how to save PowerPoint presentations as video, let’s get into the process of exactly how to do it.

How to save PowerPoint 2010 as a video

If you are still using PowerPoint 2010 to create your presentations, you’ll be pleased to know you can still convert your PowerPoint to video. The process is som simple that you’ll wonder why you haven’t been doing this all along.

Whether your presentation contains just text or is a multimedia presentation with sound narration, transitions and video, you will be able to convert it into video. Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to save PowerPoint as video in Windows Media Video (.wmv) file format. If you plan for sharing your presentation as a video before creating it, you can decide whether to record the narration before creating the presentation.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

• Create your PowerPoint presentation as normal and save it.
• If you’re using narration for your presentation, record the narration and add timings to the slideshow.
• Select the File menu and click on Save & Send .

• Under the Save & Send menu, find and click on Create a Video .

• Click on the Computer & HD Displays option to customise the video size and quality (small, medium and large size & quality).

• Click the Don’t Use Recorded Timings and Narrations to select if you’re using timings and narrations.

• Click Create Video and another dialogue box opens.

• Enter appropriate filename and saving location to save your newly created video.

Once your presentation to video conversion is complete, the video is ready to share via Facebook, Youtube, Vimeo or email.

How to save a PowerPoint 2007 presentation as video

There are many users still running Microsoft Office 2007, hence PowerPoint 2007 on their computers. If you are one of them, don’t worry, there are ways to convert your PowerPoint to video using a bundled Microsoft product, Windows Movie Maker.

If you want to convert a PowerPoint 2007 presentation to video and you are running a newer version of the program, you can open the file within PowerPoint 2013. You can then use the Create a Video feature to convert your PowerPoint to video.

Alternatively, if you only have access to PowerPoint 2007 and have a copy of Windows Movie Maker installed, you can save your presentation as image files (.jpg). Once you’ve saved each slide, fire up Windows Movie Maker and start a new project.

Next, import all the slides you saved as images into the new project and create your video.

Note: You can include transitions in Windows Movie Maker. However, animations will not convert when you save the slides as image (.jpg) files. Make sure you modify your slides to remove any animations and ensure you do not lose vital parts of your message before saving as images.

If your presentation has narration, you can import the the sound file directly into Windows Movie Maker. If you do not have the source audio file, you can save the presentation as a web page (a separate .wav file is created). You can then import the .wav file into your Windows Movie Maker video.

How to convert your PowerPoint to video in PowerPoint 2013 in 7 Steps

Turning your PowerPoint 2013 presentation slides into a video is easier than you think. In seven simple steps, you can turn your presentation into a video you can share with viewers wherever they are. Here’s how you do it.

• Access Powerpoint’s Backstage View by clicking on File.

• Select Export and click on Create a Video to access the video export menu.

• Click on the Create a Video option and expand the Computer and HD Displays option to select output video size and quality settings.

• Click on the drop down arrow to expand the Use Recorded Timings and Narrations menu. Use this to select whether you’re using recorded timings or not. If not using recorded timings and narrations, set the duration of each slide using the timings option at the bottom.

• Click the Create Video button to show the Save As dialogue box.

• Select the location where you want to save your video and choose a suitable filename for the video file. Also choose the video file type.

• Click Save and PowerPoint will begin converting your presentation to video. This may take a couple of seconds or a few minutes depending on the size of your presentation.

When the video creation is complete, the video is ready to view, upload to your website, Facebook, YouTube or sharing by email.

How to save a presentation as a movie file in PowerPoint For Mac

If you have an Apple computer running a Mac version of PowerPoint, you can convert your presentation into a movie for easier and wider distribution. The process is similar to Windows system with the inevitable differences between the operating systems. In just a few simple steps, you will be able to turn your powerful presentation into a movie file. The following limitations apply:

• The output is a .mov file compatible with only the Quicktime player or 3rd party converting programs.
• You will lose transitions and animations within the presentation and so make sure you modify your presentation prior to converting it.
• You will also lose narration during the conversion process, you may wish to add the narration as an audio soundtrack to the movie.

The steps are as follows:

• Click on File and choose Save as Movie .

• Click Movie Options to add a background soundtrack (music or your narration) or credits.

• Click Movie Settings to adjust the output quality and video size settings. You can also choose the slide durations, to create a looping video and slide transitions under this option.

• Click OK to close the Movie Options dialogue box.

• Click Save to start creating your video. The process will take a couple of seconds or longer depending on the size and quality options you select.

Once the process is complete, your movie is ready for playback or to convert into other file formats and share via Social Media or other outlets. If you’re using PowerPoint for Mac 2008 and 2011, these steps will work for either.

How to create a video from PowerPoint 2016

You can create a full-fidelity video from your presentation in PowerPoint 2016 in MPEG-4 (.mp4) or Windows Media Video (.wmv) format. In just six steps, you can turn your presentation into a video you can share and distribute on Facebook, YouTube, burn to DVD or via email. Here’s how you go about it:

• Click on the File tab to show file options.

• Scroll down and select Export and navigate to Create a Video.

• Select your video settings preference (video quality, timings and narration, video size).

• Click on Create a Video.

• Choose a filename, saving location and video type (.mp4 or .wmv).

• Click on Save to start video creation process.

This article has shown you how to convert and save PowerPoint as video. Once you’ve delivered a powerful presentation to an audience, making it available afterwards is always a great idea, especially for training presentations. To maintain the presentation in its entirety, saving it as a video and distributing it is the best option. By converting a presentation to video, you are able to reach a wider audience through YouTube, Facebook and other video hosting and sharing sites. We hope you’ve gained some useful insights on how you can achieve that following the simple, step by step guides for the version of PowerPoint you are running.

Did you know?

At 24slides, we provide stunning Powerpoint presentation services and are able to help you and your team have an incredible presentation to film. Take a look at some examples of our work and let’s get in touch . Alternatively, feel free to browse and download hundreds of free Powerpoint templates from our library.

You might also find this interesting: How to Create Social Media Videos With PowerPoint

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• Presentations

Why Make Your PowerPoint Into a Video ?

PowerPoint isn't marketed as a video tool. There are many advanced video tools out there like Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro X. With all of these options, you might be wondering why you would use PowerPoint to create a video file.

Here are four great reasons to use PowerPoint to create video presentations:

• The device you want to show your PowerPoint file on doesn't support PowerPoint files (think Smart TV's or handheld game consoles).
• You already have a finished PowerPoint presentation and don't have the time to recreate it from scratch in a video editor.
• Your recipient doesn't have PowerPoint installed on their device, but can open it in a standard video player app.
• You don't have the time to learn a new piece of video editing software to create a presentation video.

How to Quickly Convert Your PowerPoint to Video (Watch & Learn)

Let's walk through how to convert a PowerPoint (PPT) file into a video. In the quick, two minute screencast below, you can watch me cover the process step-by-step:

Keep scrolling to see more tips for making videos with PowerPoint, including compression tips that weren't mentioned in the video.

How to Export Your PowerPoint to Video

Start off by opening your PowerPoint presentation. Exporting a PowerPoint presentation to a video file should be the last step of your process. This is because you'll need to convert the PowerPoint presentation to video each time you make changes.

As I mentioned earlier, PowerPoint will export animations and transitions when you export the file as a video. 

To begin the export, go to the  File > Export > Create a Video  menu option.

From this menu, there are several key settings to choose before you export your finished video. The dropdown boxes on the right side control the quality and timing of your presentation.

Here are the key choices you'll need to make before converting your PowerPoint to video:

1. Set PowerPoint Video Quality

Choose a quality setting from the dropdown to find the sweet spot between file size and video quality.

The better the quality setting you choose, the larger the finished file will be. If you're going to upload the video online to a service like YouTube, it's fine to export at the highest quality and let them handle the compression.

If you're sharing this video with a colleague via email or posting it on your own server, a smaller file size might be the right choice. Here are my recommendations for when to use each of the settings:

• Presentation Quality.  When keeping the file size small is no object, use Presentation Quality. It will render a video that looks extremely close to your original presentation alongside a large file.
• Internet Quality. This is ideal if you want to upload quickly to a social service like Facebook or Twitter. Using Internet Quality is a good middle ground between file size and clarity.
• Low Quality. This is the right choice when you're trying to save space, such as when you'll attach a video to an email.

Choose a quality setting from the dropdown option to make your selection.

2. Control PowerPoint Slide Timings

Now, you need to set timings,  the runtime for each slide in your video. There are two options for timings on the dropdown menu:

• Don't use Recorded Timings and Narrations. Simply set a length of time for each slide to show in the video, such as 5 seconds each.
• Use Recorded Timings and Narrations. Setup specific lengths of time for each slide to show, and optionally record narrations for the video version.

Basically, these two options let you choose between setting specific timings or using the same runtime for each slide.

For this example, let's leave the option set to  Don't Use Recorded Timings and Narrations. 

When you choose this option, you'll need to set the  Seconds spent on each slide  option. This is how long each slide will show in the video version. The default is 5 seconds as you can see in the screenshot above.

3. Create Your PowerPoint Video

Finally, click on  Create Video. PowerPoint will open up a  Save As  window, and you'll need to set a folder and filename for your finished video.

You can also choose between an MPEG-4 video (.MP4 file) or Windows Media Video (.WMV) file when exporting, so choose the appropriate format if your device has any limitations. I typically leave this set to MP4.

How to Record Timings in PowerPoint

In the example above, we used the same amount of time spent on each slide (a flat 5 seconds in the example shown.) However, you can setup timings and narrations for your slide to customize how long each slide should show.

To setup timings and narrations, choose  Record Timings and Narrations  from the timings dropdown.

Then, a dropdown menu will appear. There are two options here:

• Slide and animation timings.  Leave this box checked to record the amount of time
• Narrations, ink, and laser pointer.  Leave this box checked if you want to record audio from your computer's default microphone.

Voiceovers are very helpful if you want to send a slide deck to a colleague and share your commentary while they watch the video.

Once you press  Start Recording,  PowerPoint will go into a fullscreen view of your presentation. Leave each slide on screen for the length of time it should show in the video. 

Basically, PowerPoint is recording a live version of your presentation. If you leave a slide on a screen for 10 seconds, it will appear for 10 seconds in the video version.

You can use the arrow keys to advance the slides and change slides. When you reach the end of the presentation, PowerPoint will exit to the menu.

Now, you can save your finished video presentation with your own timings and narrations. The finished video will use the same timings you used while rehearsing.

Create Powerful Video Presentations Fast With the iSpring Suite

If you need to make video-based presentations that are more robust from within PowerPoint, then why not use a quality tool designed for this? Plug the iSpring Suite into your PowerPoint setup today. 

With iSpring Suite, you can start recording video and audio directly from within the PowerPoint environment. Also, go one step further. Make use of a variety of iSpring Suite’s next-level eLearning presentation components. Then export to common video formats like MP4.

Take Your Video Presentations to the Next Level

Add more robust eLearning components into your presentation videos with iSpring Suite. Here are some of the advanced iSpring Suite capabilities you can tap into: 

• Edit your video right from within PowerPoint. You can trim, add titles, transitions, audio, graphics and merge your presentation videos.
• Record screencasts and software tutorials with voiceovers. Or create a webcam video that's directly embedded into your PowerPoint presentation.
• Create full video-based courses. Take lectures and combine them with video slides and iSpring’s tools to quickly make your online course material. 
• Build interactive assessments. You can pair your video material with a full assortment of quizzes. Use quiz templates, branching, and flexible scoring.
• Translate your text to speech to add professional voice-overs and localize courses in 42 languages.
• Take advantage of iSpring Suite’s adaptive player. It allows you to play your presentation on all devices seamlessly.

Quickly Add Videos and eLearning Components to Your Presentations

iSpring Suite will transform PowerPoint into a more powerful toolset. With it you can add videos to your presentations and edit them from within PowerPoint. 

Pair these videos with so much more. Turn your presentations into full courses, with quizzes, eLearning interactions, and interactive role-plays. Then export your presentation into common video format or deploy as fully interactive mobile-ready courses. 

The best way to get started is to sign up for the 14-day free trial , so that you can check out all the features at your own pace, without paying anything upfront.

Recap and Keep Learning More About PowerPoint

Maybe you're converting your PowerPoint presentation to go online, or maybe you're trying to make it easy for a co-worker that doesn't have PowerPoint installed. Either way, there are plenty of reasons to convert a PowerPoint file to a video for easy watching.

Don't stop here. There's much more to learn about PowerPoint. Check out these tutorials to do just that: 

We also have plenty of professional PowerPoint templates with great design options, if you need a quick start to making your presentation. Browse through these curated collections: 

What are your favorite tips for converting PowerPoint presentations? Let me know in the comments below.

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How to make a PowerPoint presentation into a video

Looking to turn your PowerPoint slides into a video? Well, you’re in luck. Microsoft PowerPoint has a built-in feature that lets you convert the presentation. This is especially useful if you want to share the presentation with someone, especially if they don’t have PowerPoint.

To get started, open the PowerPoint presentation you would like to turn into a video and click the “File” tab in the top-left corner of the window.

IDG / Marshall Gunnell

Next, click “Export” in the left-hand pane, and then select “Create a Video” under the Export options.

Now it’s time to pick the video quality and the recorded timings and narrations . There are four different options to choose from when it comes to video quality:

• Ultra HD (4K) : The largest file size available with ultra-high quality.
• Full HD (1080p) : A large file size with full high quality.
• HD (720p): A medium file size with moderate quality.
• Standard (480p): The smallest file size with the lowest quality.

Once you’ve selected the video quality, use the option below it to choose if you want to include recorded timings and narrations or not.

Next, you can adjust how many seconds each slide should be shown during the video. The default is 5 seconds. Click the up or down arrow to increase or decrease the timing by 1-second increments. When ready, click “Create Video.”

Finally, choose a location to save the video on your computer. Once selected, PowerPoint will then begin the conversion. The amount of time required to convert the presentation to video depends on the size of the presentation and the quality of the video you selected.

You can monitor the progress of the conversion at the bottom of the PowerPoint presentation. You’ll receive a notification when the conversion is complete.

Author: Marshall Gunnell

Recent stories by marshall gunnell:.

• How to add the Developer tab to the Microsoft Office Ribbon
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How to make a PowerPoint presentation into a video, so that it plays automatically without you having to click through each slide

• You can turn a PowerPoint into a video by making a few stylistic choices, then clicking an export button.
• Turning your PowerPoint into a video will allow it to play automatically without having to click through each slide. 
• Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories .

PowerPoint is an incredibly useful tool for giving presentations. With the click of a button, you can control how fast or slow you want the slides to progress, and when other extras like music or animation come in. 

However, if it is not your intention to give your presentation live and in person, this fact can be more of a hindrance than a help. If you intended, for example, to email it to your coworkers, or to post it online, it might be more helpful to simply have your PowerPoint be a video that people can press play on and simply sit back and watch.

Luckily, this is something that the Microsoft Office team has already thought of, and they make it just as easy to save your PowerPoint as a video as it is to save it regularly. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Microsoft office (from $149.99 at best buy), microsoft office 365 (from $69.99 at best buy), how to save your powerpoint as a video.

1. First, save your presentation to be sure that all of your most recent work is reflected in the most current file for your presentation.

2. From the main menu, click "File," then click "Export" on the left hand side.

3. In the "Export" menu, select "Create a Video."

4. Choose the quality you want for your video — the descriptions beneath each option will describe what they're best optimized for.

5. Optional: If you want to use recorded narrations with timings, you can choose to use ones that already exist — if you have them — or choose to record them now, using the dropdown menu. Doing this will make whatever you record play over the video as it plays. If you don't want to use narrations, leave this setting and skip to step 6.

6. Choose how many seconds you want the video to spend on each slide. Make sure you account for the longest slide in the show, to make sure your audience has time to read everything.

7. Click "Create Video" to save the new PowerPoint video to your computer.

Related coverage from  Tech Reference :

How to embed a youtube video into your microsoft powerpoint presentations using a mac or pc, how to convert a powerpoint to google slides in two different ways, how to convert google slides to a powerpoint presentation in 4 easy steps , how to copy or duplicate a powerpoint slide and put it anywhere in your slideshow, 'can you get microsoft word on an ipad': yes, you can — here's how to download and set it up.

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• Main content

How to video record yourself presenting a PowerPoint

What type of content do you primarily create?

Recording yourself presenting a PowerPoint can be challenging, especially getting the technical aspects right. You need to capture your screen, webcam, and audio seamlessly while delivering your content naturally and avoiding awkward transitions between slides.

Finding a tool that integrates all these components can seem daunting. However, recording yourself presenting a PowerPoint doesn't have to be reserved for the tech-savvy or professional speakers.

Whether you're a teacher creating online lessons, a marketer producing a product demo, or someone looking to improve their presentation skills, this guide will walk you through user-friendly tools and strategies that will teach you how to video record yourself presenting a PowerPoint.

• Recording yourself presenting a PowerPoint can be challenging, but it doesn't have to be reserved for experts.
• Video recording offers unlimited reach, repurposing opportunities, and a more engaging experience.
• Use PowerPoint's built-in recording feature or tools like Descript for a polished presentation.
• Other tools like Zoom, Loom, OBS Studio, Clipchamp, and Quick Time Player can also be used for recording.
• Tips include practicing your script, using slide notes, ensuring high-quality audio and lighting, and incorporating storytelling techniques.

Why video record yourself presenting a PowerPoint? 

Video recording your PowerPoint presentations offers several advantages:

• Unlimited reach : Unlike in-person presentations confined to a specific time and location, recorded videos allow your message to reach audiences globally at their convenience.
• Repurposing opportunities: Recorded presentations can be repurposed as evergreen content across multiple platforms, such as social media, online courses, webinars, and internal training materials, maximizing their value.
• Personal and engaging : Recording yourself narrating a presentation adds a personal touch and dynamic element that static slides alone cannot replicate. Your viewers can see and hear you deliver the content, creating a more immersive and engaging experience.

How to record your presentation with the PowerPoint app

Built-in recording feature in powerpoint.

1. Open the PowerPoint slide you want to record. 

2. Click on the Record tab of the top toolbar.

3. Click on the Record button and choose from any of the following options:

• From Current Slide
• From Beginning

4. You'll see the PowerPoint screen recording window.

5. Select the microphone and camera from the icon on the top-right.

6. Click the Stop and Replay buttons to end or replay your recording.

7. To export your presentation's recording, click Export to Video within the Recording tab.

Benefits : Easy to use, no external tools needed

Limitations : Limited editing capabilities.

How to make a more polished recording of your presentation with Descript 

While PowerPoint's built-in recording features are helpful, they may not produce the refined result you want for your presentation. That's where Descript comes in handy. 

It’s a whole production studio at your fingertips, with video recording, transcription, and editing capabilities, ready to transform dull PowerPoint slides into an engaging experience for your audience. Descript also has a built-in screen recorder.

You can use Descript on Windows, Mac, or even straight from your web browser. 

Here's step-by-step guide to recording your PowerPoint presentation with Descript.

Set up your screen recording

1. Install and open Descript. At the top of the editor, click and open the Record panel. 

2. Select Screen.

3. Set Recorder settings:

Adjust the default recording settings to your liking, including the transcription language, the maximum recording resolution, and more. 

4. Set recording options. Choose which audio and video sources to record (e.g., microphone, computer audio, camera). Remember to turn the camera on to capture your talking head video alongside your PowerPoint presentation.

5. Click the Additional Settings icon for

• Studio Sound (Optional): Enhance audio quality with noise reduction and background removal
• Transcription (Optional): Enable automatic transcription for easier editing
• Recording separate audio tracks

6. Add (optional) Speaker labels for each audio track (e.g., "Narrator," "Expert") by typing them in the text box next to your audio inputs. 

Capture your screen recording

1. Select the right recording option:

• Recording into script : Choose this if you haven’t recorded anything yet.
• Replace selection : Choose this if you already have a script and want to replace a specific section with a new recording.
• Record new layer : Pick this for recording your video as a new layer on top of an existing recording.

2. Click Record at the bottom of the Record panel.

3. Drag over the area of your screen you wish to record. Click Start Recording. Press Space to start recording the full screen.

4. Click Stop to finish recording

Bonus: Descript creates separate tracks for camera, microphone, and computer audio. You can edit each track individually for more precise control.

• Do a short test recording to ensure everything is set up correctly.
• Set your recording to transibe for easier editing.

Editing and polishing your PowerPoint recording in Descript

Descript's AI video editing tool makes it a breeze to trim, cut, and splice your video footage, ensuring a seamless flow from start to finish. You can add smooth transitions and other visual effects to make your presentation pop.

Here’s a glimpse of how to edit and polish your PowerPoint recording in Descript:

Edit your recording like a doc

Did you make a mistake during a slide transition? No problem. Just delete those sections in the text transcript (created automatically by Descript) and the video will adjust to match.

Remove filler words

Sound smoother and more confident by easily removing filler words like "um" and "uh" from the transcript.

Fix voiceover mistakes by typing

Didn't nail your delivery on a specific slide? No need to start from scratch! Descript's Overdub feature lets you simply type in the correct narration and replace the audio on that slide with AI voice cloning.

Boost video quality and engagement : 

• Crisp up audio quality by reducing background noise and room reverb with the AI-powered Studio Sound feature.
• ‎Replace your background completely with the Green Screen Video Editor —look like you're presenting in a sleek studio or broadcasting from a beach.
• Enable Eye Contact simulation with AI, so it appears you're making direct eye contact with viewers, even if you’re looking or reading something off-camera.

Other ways to video record yourself presenting a PowerPoint 

Use Zoom’s meeting recording feature to record yourself giving a PowerPoint presentation. Start a Zoom meeting with yourself, share your PowerPoint window, and enable recording

Loom is a handy screen recording tool that also offers a webcam overlay. Launch the Loom app or Chrome extension and set it to record your screen and webcam. Expect high-quality recordings but no advanced editing features. The free plan offers only five minutes of recording at a stretch.

3. OBS Studio

OBS Studio is a free, open-source screen recorder/streaming software with a steeper learning curve. It’s popular among advanced or tech-savvy users who need granular customization and control.

To record your presentation, add a "Screen Capture" source to capture your PowerPoint window and a "Video Capture Device" source for your webcam. 

4. Clipchamp: Recording natively in Windows

You can use Microsoft’s Clipchamp , the built-in screen recorder and video editor for Windows, to simultaneously capture your computer screen, webcam, and audio for recording your PowerPoint presentation. It’s also available as a browser-based app. You can record up to 30 minutes on screen and webcam recordings.

Users can also adjust the screen and webcam recordings in the editing timeline separately. 

5. Quick Time Player Recording natively in Mac

Use Mac’s Quick Time Player to record your PowerPoint presentation. It’s not as straightforward as the other options on this list, so here’s a quick guide to help you out:

• Launch Quick Time Player.
• Select File and go to New Movie Recording.
• You'll be recording your entire screen in addition to recording your face, so adjust the size and location of the recording window so that it's in a nonintrusive corner of your PowerPoint.
• Go to View and select Float on Top .
• Next, go to File and select New Screen Recording.
• On the menu that appears, select Record Selected Portion and drag a border around your PowerPoint and the webcam recording window.
• Press Record and start presenting.
• You can adjust the video quality and the audio source in the webcam recording window.

How to turn your PowerPoint presentation slides into a video 

Did you know PowerPoint lets you save your presentation as a video, too? 

Here's a breakdown of the two ways you can do so—keeping all the presentation elements (narration, animation, pointer movements, timings, and so on) intact in the presentation itself.  

Save your PowerPoint presentation as a video

This creates a separate video file (MP4 or WMV) that anyone can play, even without PowerPoint. 

Follow these steps:

• Save your presentation
• Go to File > Export > Create a Video
• Ultra HD (4K): Best for large screens (if you have Windows 10+)
• Full HD (1080p): Great for computers and TVs
• HD (720p): Good for streaming online or on DVDs
• Standard (480p): Smallest size, good for phones

4. Decide on narration

• If you haven't recorded yourself talking, choose "Don't Use Recorded Timings and Narrations" from the dropdown menu
• If you have a recording, choose "Use Recorded Timings and Narrations." You can also set how long each slide shows for (default is 5 seconds)

5. Click Create Video

6. Name your video, pick a folder to save it in, and choose a file type (MPEG-4 or Windows Media Video)

Creating the video might take a while, especially for longer presentations. You can even leave it running overnight. Once done, find your video in the chosen folder and double-click to play it.

Save your PowerPoint presentation as a slideshow

This saves your presentation as a special file (PPSX) that starts playing automatically on full screen when opened. It only works with PowerPoint.

Here’s how it works:

• Make sure your presentation is saved (regular PowerPoint file)
• Go to File > Save As .
• Pick a folder to save the slideshow in.
• Under Save as type, choose PowerPoint Show (*.ppsx) .
• Click Save .

Now when someone opens the file, it will automatically play the slideshow.

Pro tips for making better video PowerPoint presentations 

Practice your script.

Recording a flawless PowerPoint video rarely happens in one take. The key is practice.

Record practice run-throughs and watch them back. Make notes on areas that need improvement or parts lacking clarity. The more you drill your script, the more confident and natural you'll sound in the final recording.

Take advantage of PowerPoint's built-in Speaker Coach . The feature shows you whether your pace is too fast or slow, your use of filler words like "um," and suggestions to improve your voice modulation.

Use slide notes for coherent delivery

Wouldn’t a personal teleprompter make presentations so much easier? That’s what slide notes are for.

Having your thoughts and talking points organized within your PowerPoint file lets you have all crucial information and prompts readily available when recording.

Go ahead and add detailed notes or even a full script for each slide. This will help you stay on track and provide a handy transcript reference if you need to do any editing or voiceover work in post-production.

Use high-quality audio equipment or turn on Studio Sound

Poor audio recording quality is a surefire way to make even the most visually polished video feel amateurish. Do your presentation justice by investing in a decent external or Bluetooth microphone and audio interface to capture clear voiceover audio.

If you must use a built-in mic, record in a quiet environment to minimize background noise pickup. Or better yet, pair up with an AI-powered audio enhancement tool like Descript's Studio Sound , which reduces background noise , reverb, and other artifacts.

Ensure a clean background and even lighting

Ditch cluttered backgrounds. You want people to focus on the content of your PowerPoint and not be distracted by the funny shapes and colors in your video. 

Your video lighting and framing matters, too. Position yourself facing a natural light source or bring supplemental video lighting to eliminate weird shadows and squinting-level glare.

Look directly into the camera or turn on Eye Contact

Looking directly into the camera is essential to create a sense of connection with the audience. Position your webcam or camera at eye level and imagine you're talking to a friend. If you're using Descript, enable the Eye Contact feature to auto-adjust your gaze towards the camera.

• Dress professionally and maintain a good posture to project confidence and authority.
• Use visuals, animations, and multimedia elements to enhance your presentation and keep your audience engaged.
• Consider adding closed captions or subtitles to your video for better accessibility and engagement, especially for those watching without sound.
• Speak clearly and at a moderate pace, using vocal variety to emphasize key points and maintain interest.
• Incorporate storytelling techniques, real-life examples, or personal anecdotes to make your video presentation more relatable and memorable .

Take your PowerPoint presentations from amateur to amazing 

Recording yourself virtually presenting a PowerPoint allows you to distribute your message using the most engaging type of content: video. And there are many screen recording tools out there that can capture your screen and web camera footage with just a few clicks. 

But how do you stand out?

By focusing on the presentation's depth, your delivery, and the video's quality. The first two are the bare minimum to communicate your message effectively. 

But the right screen capture software and all-in-one video creation tool like Descript can help you with third. Use the tool to improve the quality of your recorded PPT presentations. 

With Descript, it's easier than ever to record your screen, polish up the audio, and create stunning visuals all in one place. So why wait? 

Sign up for Descript today and simplify your workflow while creating a PowerPoint presentation video that sticks with your audience in the long term.

How do you make a presentation video with your face?

To create a presentation video with your face, follow these steps:

• Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
• Go to the Slide Show tab.
• Click on Record and choose From Current Slide or From Beginning .
• Choose your microphone and camera by clicking on a sound icon on the top-right.
• Start recording by clicking on the record button.
• Speak into your microphone to narrate the presentation.
• Your webcam will capture your face during the recording.
• Click Stop when you finish recording.
• Export your recorded presentation by clicking on File> Export>Create a video.

How do you present yourself in PowerPoint?

To present yourself effectively in PowerPoint, follow these steps:

• Determine the key information to include in your presentation.
• Design and prepare your PowerPoint slides with a cohesive theme.
• Craft a compelling introduction to engage your audience.
• Tailor your presentation to different time constraints for flexibility.
• Capture the audience's attention before you begin speaking.

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How to run a lightweight command line speed test on windows, mac and linux, why do i use linux it's the apps, and here are 7 of my favorites, quick links, embedding videos versus linking to videos, supported video formats in powerpoint, how to insert a video into a powerpoint presentation, manage an embedded video's playback in powerpoint.

Videos can make presentations even more interesting or exciting. If you're looking to add a video to your Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, it's easy to do so. We'll show you how.

In PowerPoint, you can either embed a video or link to a video from your presentation. If you embed a video, your video becomes part of the presentation, which increases the overall size of the presentation file.

Related: How to Send PowerPoint Presentations With an Embedded Video

If you link to a video, PowerPoint only adds a reference to that video in your presentation. The downside of this method is that you need to send the video file separately if you share your presentation with someone. We have written a guide on how to send PowerPoint presentations with videos , so check that out.

In this guide, we'll focus on embedding a video in your presentation so you don't have to worry about sending separate files. And, if you're looking to add a YouTube video to your presentation , there's a way to do that, too.

Related: How to Embed a YouTube Video in PowerPoint

PowerPoint supports multiple video formats, including ASF, AVI, MP4, M4V, MOV, MPG, MPEG, and WMV. If your video is already in one of these formats, you can quickly add that to your presentation.

If your video is in another format, you can convert it to a supported format and then add it to your presentation.

Related: How to Use Handbrake to Convert Any Video File to Any Format

First, make sure the video you want to add to your presentation is saved on your Windows or Mac computer. Then, open your presentation with PowerPoint on your computer.

On the PowerPoint window, in the left sidebar, click the slide in which you want to add a video.

At the top of the PowerPoint window, click the "Insert" tab.

In the "Insert" tab, under the "Media" section (which is to the extreme right side of the interface), click "Video."

You'll now see an "Insert Video From" menu. Here, select "This Device."

Your computer's standard "open" window will open. In this window, access the folder that has your video file. Then double-click your video file to add it to your presentation.

You'll see your selected video in your presentation. To resize this video, click it and use the handles around the video to change its size. Then drag the video to place it at its desired location in your slide.

If you'd like to test the video, at the bottom-left corner of the video, click the play icon.

And you're all set.

Now that you have added a video to your presentation, you might want to change how it plays in your slides. In PowerPoint, you have multiple ways to change your video's playback.

To access these playback options, first, click your video in your presentation. Then, at the top of the PowerPoint window, click "Playback."

In the "Playback" tab, under the "Video Options" section, you will find various options to manage your video's playback.

For example, to change how your video starts to play in your presentation, click the "Start" drop-down menu and select one of these options:

• In Click Sequence : This plays your video in the click sequence. This means if you press the button for the next slide, your video will play.
• Automatically : This option automatically plays your video when the slide with your video opens.
• When Clicked On : Select this option to play your video only when you click it.

The other options are "Play Full Screen," which opens your video in full screen, and "Loop Until Stopped" that plays your video over and over again until you manually stop it.

Before you close PowerPoint, make sure you save your presentation so that your embedded video is saved with it. Do this by clicking File > Save in PowerPoint's menu bar.

And that's how you make your PowerPoint presentations even more engaging by including videos in them. Exciting!

If you don't want to add a video but you do want audio, you can add music to your presentations . This also helps enhance your presentation quality.

Related: How to Add Music to Your PowerPoint Presentation

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How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation (Step-by-Step)

• PowerPoint Tutorials
• Presentation Design
• January 22, 2024

In this beginner’s guide, you will learn step-by-step how to make a PowerPoint presentation from scratch.

While PowerPoint is designed to be intuitive and accessible, it can be overwhelming if you’ve never gotten any training on it before. As you progress through this guide, you’ll will learn how to move from blank slides to PowerPoint slides that look like these.

Table of Contents

Additionally, as you create your presentation, you’ll also learn tricks for working more efficiently in PowerPoint, including how to:

• Change the slide order
• Reset your layout
• Change the slide dimensions
• Use PowerPoint Designer
• Format text
• Format objects
• Play a presentation (slide show)

With this knowledge under your belt, you’ll be ready to start creating PowerPoint presentations. Moreover, you’ll have taken your skills from beginner to proficient in no time at all. I will also include links to more advanced PowerPoint topics.

Ready to start learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation?

Take your PPT skills to the next level

Start with a blank presentation.

Note: Before you open PowerPoint and start creating your presentation, make sure you’ve collected your thoughts. If you’re going to make your slides compelling, you need to spend some time brainstorming.

For help with this, see our article with tips for nailing your business presentation  here .

The first thing you’ll need to do is to open PowerPoint. When you do, you are shown the Start Menu , with the Home tab open.

This is where you can choose either a blank theme (1) or a pre-built theme (2). You can also choose to open an existing presentation (3).

For now, go ahead and click on the  Blank Presentation (1)  thumbnail.

Doing so launches a brand new and blank presentation for you to work with. Before you start adding content to your presentation, let’s first familiarize ourselves with the PowerPoint interface.

The PowerPoint interface

Here is how the program is laid out:

• The Application Header
• The Ribbon (including the Ribbon tabs)
• The Quick Access Toolbar (either above or below the Ribbon)
• The Slides Pane (slide thumbnails)

The Slide Area

The notes pane.

• The Status Bar (including the View Buttons)

Each one of these areas has options for viewing certain parts of the PowerPoint environment and formatting your presentation.

Below are the important things to know about certain elements of the PowerPoint interface.

The PowerPoint Ribbon

The Ribbon is contextual. That means that it will adapt to what you’re doing in the program.

For example, the Font, Paragraph and Drawing options are greyed out until you select something that has text in it, as in the example below (A).

Furthermore, if you start manipulating certain objects, the Ribbon will display additional tabs, as seen above (B), with more commands and features to help you work with those objects. The following objects have their own additional tabs in the Ribbon which are hidden until you select them:

• Online Pictures
• Screenshots
• Screen Recording

The Slides Pane

This is where you can preview and rearrange all the slides in your presentation.

Right-clicking on a slide  in the pane gives you additional options on the slide level that you won’t find on the Ribbon, such as  Duplicate Slide ,  Delete Slide , and  Hide Slide .

In addition, you can add sections to your presentation by  right-clicking anywhere in this Pane  and selecting  Add Section . Sections are extremely helpful in large presentations, as they allow you to organize your slides into chunks that you can then rearrange, print or display differently from other slides.

The Slide Area (A) is where you will build out your slides. Anything within the bounds of this area will be visible when you present or print your presentation.

Anything outside of this area (B) will be hidden from view. This means that you can place things here, such as instructions for each slide, without worrying about them being shown to your audience.

The  Notes Pane  is the space beneath the Slide Area where you can type in the speaker notes for each slide. It’s designed as a fast way to add and edit your slides’ talking points.

To expand your knowledge and learn more about adding, printing, and exporting your PowerPoint speaker notes, read our guide here .

Your speaker notes are visible when you print your slides using the Notes Pages option and when you use the Presenter View . To expand your knowledge and learn the ins and outs of using the Presenter View , read our guide here .

You can resize the  Notes Pane  by clicking on its edge and dragging it up or down (A). You can also minimize or reopen it by clicking on the Notes button in the Status Bar (B).

Note:  Not all text formatting displays in the Notes Pane, even though it will show up when printing your speaker notes. To learn more about printing PowerPoint with notes, read our guide here .

Now that you have a basic grasp of the PowerPoint interface at your disposal, it’s time to make your presentation.

Adding Content to Your PowerPoint Presentation

Notice that in the Slide Area , there are two rectangles with dotted outlines. These are called  Placeholders  and they’re set on the template in the Slide Master View .

To expand your knowledge and learn how to create a PowerPoint template of your own (which is no small task), read our guide here .

As the prompt text suggests, you can click into each placeholder and start typing text. These types of placeholder prompts are customizable too. That means that if you are using a company template, it might say something different, but the functionality is the same.

Note:  For the purposes of this example, I will create a presentation based on the content in the Starbucks 2018 Global Social Impact Report, which is available to the public on their website.

If you type in more text than there is room for, PowerPoint will automatically reduce its font size. You can stop this behavior by clicking on the  Autofit Options  icon to the left of the placeholder and selecting  Stop Fitting Text to this Placeholder .

Next, you can make formatting adjustments to your text by selecting the commands in the Font area and the  Paragraph area  of the  Home  tab of the Ribbon.

The Reset Command:  If you make any changes to your title and decide you want to go back to how it was originally, you can use the Reset button up in the Home tab .

Insert More Slides into Your Presentation

Now that you have your title slide filled in, it’s time to add more slides. To do that, simply go up to the  Home tab  and click on  New Slide . This inserts a new slide in your presentation right after the one you were on.

You can alternatively hit Ctrl+M on your keyboard to insert a new blank slide in PowerPoint. To learn more about this shortcut, see my guide on using Ctrl+M in PowerPoint .

Instead of clicking the New Slide command, you can also open the New Slide dropdown to see all the slide layouts in your PowerPoint template. Depending on who created your template, your layouts in this dropdown can be radically different.

If you insert a layout and later want to change it to a different layout, you can use the Layout dropdown instead of the New Slide dropdown.

After inserting a few different slide layouts, your presentation might look like the following picture. Don’t worry that it looks blank, next we will start adding content to your presentation.

If you want to follow along exactly with me, your five slides should be as follows:

• Title Slide
• Title and Content
• Section Header
• Two Content
• Picture with Caption

Adding Content to Your Slides

Now let’s go into each slide and start adding our content. You’ll notice some new types of placeholders.

On slide 2 we have a  Content Placeholder , which allows you to add any kind of content. That includes:

• A SmartArt graphic,
• A 3D object,
• A picture from the web,
• Or an icon.

To insert text, simply type it in or hit  Ctrl+C to Copy  and Ctrl+V to Paste  from elsewhere. To insert any of the other objects, click on the appropriate icon and follow the steps to insert it.

For my example, I’ll simply type in some text as you can see in the picture below.

Slides 3 and 4 only have text placeholders, so I’ll go ahead and add in my text into each one.

On slide 5 we have a Picture Placeholder . That means that the only elements that can go into it are:

• A picture from the web

To insert a picture into the picture placeholder, simply:

• Click on the  Picture  icon
• Find  a picture on your computer and select it
• Click on  Insert

Alternatively, if you already have a picture open somewhere else, you can select the placeholder and paste in (shortcut: Ctrl+V ) the picture. You can also drag the picture in from a file explorer window.

If you do not like the background of the picture you inserted onto your slide, you can remove the background here in PowerPoint. To see how to do this, read my guide here .

Placeholders aren’t the only way to add content to your slides. At any point, you can use the Insert tab to add elements to your slides.

You can use either the Title Only  or the  Blank  slide layout to create slides for content that’s different. For example, a three-layout content slide, or a single picture divider slide, as shown below.

In the first example above, I’ve inserted 6 text boxes, 3 icons, and 3 circles to create this layout. In the second example, I’ve inserted a full-sized picture and then 2 shapes and 2 text boxes.

The Reset Command:  Because these slides are built with shapes and text boxes (and not placeholders), hitting the  Reset button up in the  Home tab  won’t do anything.

That is a good thing if you don’t want your layouts to adjust. However, it does mean that it falls on you to make sure everything is aligned and positioned correctly.

For more on how to add and manipulate the different objects in PowerPoint, check out our step-by-step articles here:

• Using graphics in PowerPoint
• Inserting icons onto slides
• Adding pictures to your PowerPoint
• How to embed a video in PowerPoint
• How to add music to your presentation

Using Designer to generate more layouts ideas

If you have Office 365, your version of PowerPoint comes with a new feature called Designer (or Design Ideas). This is a feature that generates slide layout ideas for you. The coolest thing about this feature is that it uses the content you already have.

To use Designer , simply navigate to the  Design tab  in your Ribbon, and click on  Design Ideas .

NOTE: If the PowerPoint Designer is not working for you (it is grey out), see my troubleshooting guide for Designer .

Change the Overall Design (optional)

When you make a PowerPoint presentation, you’ll want to think about the overall design. Now that you have some content in your presentation, you can use the Design tab to change the look and feel of your slides.

For additional help thinking through the design of your presentation,  read my guide here .

A. Picking your PowerPoint slide size

If you have PowerPoint 2013 or later, when you create a blank document in PowerPoint, you automatically start with a widescreen layout with a 16:9 ratio. These dimensions are suitable for most presentations as they match the screens of most computers and projectors.

However, you do have the option to change the dimensions.

For example, your presentation might not be presented, but instead converted into a PDF or printed and distributed. In that case, you can easily switch to the standard dimensions with a 4:3 ratio by selecting from the dropdown (A).

You can also choose a custom slide size or change the slide orientation from landscape to portrait in the Custom Slide Size dialog box (B).

To learn all about the different PowerPoint slide sizes, and some of the issues you will face when changing the slide size of a non-blank presentation,  read my guide here .

 B. Selecting a PowerPoint theme

The next thing you can do is change the theme of your presentation to a pre-built one. For a detailed explanation of what a PowerPoint theme is, and how to best use it,  read my article here .

In the beginning of this tutorial, we started with a blank presentation, which uses the default Office theme as you can see in the picture below.

That gives you the most flexibility because it has a blank background and quite simple layouts that work for most presentations. However, it also means that it’s your responsibility to enhance the design.

If you’re comfortable with this, you can stay with the default theme or create your own custom theme ( read my guide here ). But if you would rather not have to think about design, then you can choose a pre-designed theme.

Microsoft provides 46 other pre-built themes, which include slide layouts, color variants and palettes, and fonts. Each one varies quite significantly, so make sure you look through them carefully.

To select a different theme, go to the  Design tab  in the Ribbon, and click on the  dropdown arrow  in the  Themes section .

For this tutorial, let’s select the  Frame  theme and then choose the third Variant in the theme. Doing so changes the layout, colors, and fonts of your presentation.

Note: The theme dropdown area is also where you can import or save custom themes. To see my favorite places to find professional PowerPoint templates and themes (and recommendations for why I like them), read my guide here .

C. How to change a slide background in PowerPoint

The next thing to decide is how you want your background to look for the entire presentation. In the  Variants area, you can see four background options.

For this example, we want our presentation to have a dark background, so let’s select Style 3. When you do so, you’ll notice that:

• The background color automatically changes across all slides
• The color of the text on most of the slides automatically changes to white so that it’s visible on the dark background
• The colors of the objects on slides #6 and #7 also adjust, in a way we may not want (we’ll likely have to make some manual adjustments to these slides)

Note: If you want to change the slide background for just that one slide, don’t left-click the style. Instead, right-click it and select Apply to Selected Slides .

After you change the background for your entire presentation, you can easily adjust the background for an individual slide.

Inside the Format Background pane, you can see you have the following options:

• Gradient fill
• Picture or texture fill
• Pattern fill
• Hide background

You can explore these options to find the PowerPoint background that best fits your presentation.

D. How to change your color palette in PowerPoint

Another thing you may want to adjust in your presentation, is the color scheme. In the picture below you can see the Theme Colors we are currently using for this presentation.

Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own color palette. By default, the Office theme includes the Office color palette. This affects the colors you are presented with when you format any element within your presentation (text, shapes, SmartArt, etc.).

The good news is that the colors here are easy to change. To switch color palettes, simply:

• Go to the  Design tab in the Ribbon
• In the Variants area, click on the  dropdown arrow  and select  Colors
• Select  the color palette (or theme colors) you want

You can choose among the pre-built color palettes from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.

As you build your presentation, make sure you use the colors from your theme to format objects. That way, changing the color palette adjusts all the colors in your presentation automatically.

E. How to change your fonts in PowerPoint

Just as we changed the color palette, you can do the same for the fonts.

Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own font combination. By default, the Office theme includes the Office font pairing. This affects the fonts that are automatically assigned to all text in your presentation.

The good news is that the font pairings are easy to change. To switch your Theme Fonts, simply:

• Go to the  Design tab  in the Ribbon
• Click on the  dropdown arrow  in the  Variants  area
• Select  Fonts
• Select  the font pairing you want

You can choose among the pre-built fonts from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.

If you are working with PowerPoint presentations on both Mac and PC computers, make sure you choose a safe PowerPoint font. To see a list of the safest PowerPoint fonts, read our guide here .

If you receive a PowerPoint presentation and the wrong fonts were used, you can use the Replace Fonts dialog box to change the fonts across your entire presentation. For details, read our guide here .

Adding Animations & Transitions (optional)

The final step to make a PowerPoint presentation compelling, is to consider using animations and transitions. These are by no means necessary to a good presentation, but they may be helpful in your situation.

A. Adding PowerPoint animations

PowerPoint has an incredibly robust animations engine designed to power your creativity. That being said, it’s also easy to get started with basic animations.

Animations are movements that you can apply to individual objects on your slide.

To add a PowerPoint animation to an element of your slide, simply:

• Select the  element
• Go to the  Animations tab in the Ribbon
• Click on the  dropdown arrow  to view your options
• Select the  animation  you want

You can add animations to multiple objects at one time by selecting them all first and then applying the animation.

B. How to preview a PowerPoint animation

There are three ways to preview a PowerPoint animation:

• Click on the Preview button in the Animations tab
• Click on the little star  next to the slide
• Play the slide in Slide Show Mode

To learn other ways to run your slide show, see our guide on presenting a PowerPoint slide show with shortcuts .

To adjust the settings of your animations, explore the options in the  Effect Options ,  Advanced Animation  and the  Timing  areas of the  Animation tab .

Note:  To see how to make objects appear and disappear in your slides by clicking a button,  read our guide here .

C. How to manage your animations in PowerPoint

The best way to manage lots of animations on your slide is with the Animation Pane . To open it, simply:

• Navigate to the  Animations tab
• Select the  Animation Pane

Inside the Animation Pane, you’ll see all of the different animations that have been applied to objects on your slide, with their numbers marked as pictured above.

Note: To see examples of PowerPoint animations that can use in PowerPoint, see our list of PowerPoint animation tutorials here .

D. How to add transitions to your PowerPoint presentation

PowerPoint has an incredibly robust transition engine so that you can dictate how your slides change from one to the other. It is also extremely easy to add transitions to your slides.

In PowerPoint, transitions are the movements (or effects) you see as you move between two slides.

To add a transition to a PowerPoint slide, simply:

• Select the  slide
• Go to the  Transitions tab in the Ribbon
• In the Transitions to This Slide area, click on the  dropdown arrow  to view your options
• Select the  transition  you want

To adjust the settings of the transition, explore the options in the  Timing  area of the Transitions tab.

You can also add the same transition to multiple slides. To do that, select them in the  Slides Pane  and apply the transition.

E. How to preview a transition in PowerPoint

There are three ways to preview your PowerPoint transitions (just like your animations):

• Click on the Preview  button in the Transitions tab
• Click on the little star  beneath the slide number in the thumbnail view

Note:  In 2016, PowerPoint added a cool new transition, called Morph. It operates a bit differently from other transitions. For a detailed tutorial on how to use the cool Morph transition,  see our step-by-step article here .

Save Your PowerPoint Presentation

After you’ve built your presentation and made all the adjustments to your slides, you’ll want to save your presentation. YOu can do this several different ways.

To save a PowerPoint presentation using your Ribbon, simply:

• Navigate to the  File tab
•  Select  Save As  on the left
• Choose  where you want to save your presentation
• Name  your presentation and/or adjust your file type settings
• Click  Save

You can alternatively use the  Ctrl+S keyboard shortcut to save your presentation. I recommend using this shortcut frequently as you build your presentation to make sure you don’t lose any of your work.

This is the standard way to save a presentation. However, there may be a situation where you want to save your presentation as a different file type.

To learn how to save your presentation as a PDF, see our guide on converting PowerPoint to a PDF .

How to save your PowerPoint presentation as a template

Once you’ve created a presentation that you like, you may want to turn it into a template. The easiest – but not technically correct – way, is to simply create a copy of your current presentation and then change the content.

But be careful! A PowerPoint template is a special type of document and it has its own parameters and behaviors.

If you’re interested in learning about how to create your own PowerPoint template from scratch, see our guide on how to create a PowerPoint template .

Printing Your PowerPoint Presentation

After finishing your PowerPoint presentation, you may want to print it out on paper. Printing your slides is relatively easy.

To open the Print dialog box, you can either:

• Hit Ctrl+P on your keyboard
• Or go to the Ribbon and click on File and then Print

Inside the Print dialog box, you can choose from the various printing settings:

• Printer: Select a printer to use (or print to PDF or OneNote)
• Slides: Choose which slides you want to print
• Layout: Determine how many slides you want per page (this is where you can print the notes, outline, and handouts)
• Collated or uncollated (learn what collated printing means here )
• Color: Choose to print in color, grayscale or black & white

There are many more options for printing your PowerPoint presentations. Here are links to more in-depth articles:

• How to print multiple slides per page
• How to print your speaker notes in PowerPoint
• How to save PowerPoint as a picture presentation

So that’s how to create a PowerPoint presentation if you are brand new to it. We’ve also included a ton of links to helpful resources to boost your PowerPoint skills further.

When you are creating your presentation, it is critical to first focus on the content (what you are trying to say) before getting lost inserting and playing with elements. The clearer you are on what you want to present, the easier it will be to build it out in PowerPoint.

If you enjoyed this article, you can learn more about our PowerPoint training courses and other presentation resources by  visiting us here .

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How to Embed a Video in PowerPoint and Elevate Your Slides

Senior Marketing Manager at Loom

Have you ever sat through a dull PowerPoint presentation that left you struggling to keep your eyes open? Static slides crammed with text and bullet points aren’t enough to captivate your audience. 

You can turn a monotonous presentation into an engaging one by embedding videos into your slide deck. Not only do they attract attention, videos also create stronger feelings of connection between viewers and presenters.

Learn how to embed a video in PowerPoint and hold your audience’s attention during your presentation. Plus, get ideas for alternative ways to engage your audience, like using video creation tools to add visual demonstrations and explanations to your slide deck.

How to embed a video in PowerPoint

Ready to spice up your presentation? Let’s look at how to embed a video file saved to your laptop and how to embed an online video in your slides using the online version of Microsoft PowerPoint. 

Embed videos from your laptop

If your video is saved to your computer, embedding it in PowerPoint only takes a few steps:

1. Open your PowerPoint presentation and click on the slide where you’d like to embed your video, then click “Insert” to open a new toolbar at the top of the window.

2. With the Insert tab open, tap the arrow beside “Video”, and then select “This Device” or “Video on My PC.”

3. A new window will open. Search your computer for the video file you want to embed, tap the file name, and then choose “Insert.”

4. You can now drag and resize your video thumbnail to position it on your slide. You can also select your video thumbnail and open the Video toolbar to use the built-in PowerPoint video trimmer and add video captions.

Embed an online video

Have PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, PowerPoint 2021, or PowerPoint 2019? Then you can embed an online video from YouTube and similar sites into a presentation slide. Here’s how to do it:

1. Find the video you want to embed and copy the video URL. On YouTube, you can do this by tapping the Share button below the video and then tapping the blue “Copy” link in the new window that pops up. You can also choose to copy the video embed code that appears when you tap the Embed option.

2. Open your PowerPoint presentation and select the slide where you want to embed the video. Then tap “Insert” to find the video embed options.

3. In the Insert toolbar, choose “Video > Online Video.” This should open a new window where you can paste the video link.

4. Paste your video link in the highlighted dialog box. PowerPoint should load a thumbnail preview of the video—if it doesn’t, double-check that you’ve copied the correct link. Tap “Insert” to embed your video.

5. You can now drag and resize your video thumbnail to position it on your slide. 

Embedding a video link allows you to view and play the video from the hosting website. But keep in mind you won’t be able to apply PowerPoint playback features like fade, bookmark, and trim. You’ll also need an internet connection to play the embedded video.

How to ensure your embedded video plays during your presentation

The best way to make sure you don’t run into any hiccups during your presentation is to test out your embedded video beforehand:

1. Follow the tutorial to embed your video into your PowerPoint presentation. 

2. Select the slide where your video is embedded and tap the video thumbnail to play it. This is also a good time to test controls such as pause, fast forward, and rewind.

3. Next, tap the “Present” button in the top-right corner of the PowerPoint window to open a full-screen version of your presentation and click through your slides until you get to your embedded video.

4. Depending on your video playback settings, your video should either play automatically or when you click. If it’s not set to play automatically, click to make sure it plays properly.

How to automatically play embedded PowerPoint videos

If you’re using the PowerPoint app, you can change the video playback settings so your video automatically plays or only plays when you click it.

1. Select the embedded video thumbnail on your PowerPoint slide. This should open a Video Tools toolbar at the top of the window.

2. Tap the “Playback” tab and then tap the drop-down menu next to “Start.”

3. Choose how you want PowerPoint to play your video:

In Click Sequence: This is the default setting when you’re using the PowerPoint app. It plays your video anytime you click on the slide to advance to the next step.

Automatically: This plays the video automatically. If you include animations on the same slide, this setting completes any animations you’ve set to play first and then plays your video.

When Clicked On: This is the default setting when you’re using the PowerPoint browser app. It requires you to click on the video thumbnail to play it.

Note that if you use the browser version of PowerPoint, you won’t have any playback options and your video will only play when you click on it.

Pros and cons of embedding a video link versus a file

Should you embed a link to an online video or upload your video file? Take a look at these pros and cons to decide the best approach for your situation: 

Embedding a web video link

You don’t have to worry about video or audio file compatibility.

No storage space is required to save the video on your device.

You must have an internet connection to play the video.

You can’t use PowerPoint’s built-in video trimmer or add captions.

Embedding a video file

You don’t need internet access to play the video.

You can further edit the video using PowerPoint’s built-in tools.

An embedded file increases your PowerPoint presentation file size.

You need to ensure you use the right video and audio file formats.

How to troubleshoot common video embedding issues

Having trouble embedding your video or getting it to play? Here are some common PowerPoint video issues and how to solve them.

Issue: PowerPoint can’t insert a video

1. Double-check that you’ve grabbed the full link for the video you want to embed, including “https://” at the beginning of the link.

2. Check that you’re using a version of PowerPoint that supports video embedding . PowerPoint for Android, PowerPoint for iOS, and PowerPoint Mobile for Windows, as well as some PowerPoint versions for Mac, don’t let you insert videos and play them.

3. If your version of PowerPoint supports video embeds, check if there are any updates available for it, then download and install them.

Issue: My YouTube video won’t play

If your embedded YouTube video won’t play, you can try copying and pasting the embed code instead of the video link. To do this:

1. Find the YouTube video you want to embed and tap the “Share” button.

2. A new pop-up window should appear. When it does, choose “Embed” from the options.

3. Copy the entire embed code.

4. Open PowerPoint and select the “Insert” toolbar, then tap the down arrow next to “Video” and choose “Online Video.” A new window should appear.

5. Paste the embed code and select “Insert.” Click the video thumbnail to see if your video plays correctly.

Issue: PowerPoint says I need Internet Explorer to play my video link

If you’re embedding an online video link, PowerPoint requires Internet Explorer to play the video. 

Wait, wasn’t Internet Explorer retired in 2021 ? Yes, but don’t worry, there’s a workaround. Here’s how to turn on Internet Explorer mode in Microsoft Edge and fix your video link playback issues:

1. Open Microsoft Edge and type “edge://settings/defaultbrowser” into the address bar, then hit “Enter.”

2. Toggle on the option to “Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer.”

3. Restart Microsoft Edge and PowerPoint, then try to play your video again.

Issue: PowerPoint won’t embed my video file

If you’re trying to embed a video file from your device into PowerPoint and running into issues, the problem could be the video format. PowerPoint supports the following video file formats :

.asf and .avi

.mp4, .m4v, and .mov

.mpg and .mpeg

.avi and .vfw

.mp4 and .mpg4 as well as .mpg, .mpeg, .mpe, .m75, and .m15

.m4v, .m2v, and .ts

.mov and .qt

While it supports a number of video formats, you’ll likely get the best performance if you use PowerPoint’s recommended format of .mp4.

Upgrade your presentation with a Loom video

Trying to embed a video in your slide deck but the site you’re using isn’t supported by PowerPoint—or the file doesn’t load correctly? Record a Loom video while you present your PowerPoint presentation instead.

Loom video presentations give you the freedom to present any content you want. As long as you can share it on your screen, Loom records it alongside your webcam and audio to create memorable explanations, pitch decks , and training videos .

In addition to being able to personalize your slideshow, your teammates can view your Loom recording at any time. Plus, time-stamped comment and emoji reaction features give them a chance to respond to your video. So go ahead, ditch the slide deck, cancel that meeting, and create a captivating presentation with Loom’s screen recorder.

Aug 1, 2024

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Jeong Lee works in Marketing at Loom.

Save embedded media from a presentation (audio or video)

If there's an audio or video clip in a PowerPoint file that you want to reuse elsewhere, you can do so by saving the clip as a separate media file (.mp4 or .m4a).

Right-click (or Control-click on macOS) the audio icon or video, and click Save Media as .

Tip:  Ensure your disk has enough space to save the media file, otherwise you'll have to free up space and try again.

In the Save Media as dialog box, choose a folder and also enter a name for the media file.

If the Save Media as option doesn't appear on the menu, then you have an older version of PowerPoint that doesn't support this feature. 

Select Save .

Note:  Starting in PowerPoint for Windows version 2211 and PowerPoint for Mac 16.67, if closed captions or subtitles in separate files have been inserted for the audio or video, then those files will also be saved alongside the audio or video file. All the files will be saved into a new folder with the name that you specify.

Extract files or objects from a PowerPoint file

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How can I create a visually captivating PowerPoint presentation that stands out?

June 25, 2024 /

To create a visually captivating PowerPoint presentation that stands out, follow these key steps:

• Start with a clear and concise message: Define the main objective of your presentation and structure your content around it.
• Use high-quality visuals: Incorporate eye-catching images, charts, and graphs that support your message and engage your audience.
• Choose a visually appealing design: Select a professional PowerPoint template or create a custom design that aligns with your content and enhances its visual impact.
• Utilize effective color schemes: Opt for a harmonious color palette that complements your content and ensures readability.
• Keep it simple and uncluttered: Avoid overcrowding slides with excessive text or visuals. Use bullet points, concise phrases, and minimalistic design elements to maintain clarity.
• Incorporate multimedia elements: Embed videos , audio clips, or animations to add dynamic elements and enhance audience engagement.
• Ensure consistent branding: Use your company’s logo, fonts, and colors to maintain a cohesive visual identity throughout the presentation.
• Practice effective slide transitions: Employ smooth and seamless transitions between slides to create a cohesive flow and maintain audience attention.
• Test your presentation: Before presenting, review your slides for any errors, typos, or formatting issues. Conduct a trial run to ensure smooth delivery and identify any areas for improvement.

By following these guidelines, you can create a visually captivating PowerPoint presentation that stands out and effectively communicates your message to your audience.

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How to Compress Videos in PowerPoint for Smaller File Size

Learn how to effectively compress videos in PowerPoint without losing quality. Get tips on optimizing file size... read more

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In today’s fast-paced digital world, efficient communication is key, and that includes the way we prepare and share presentations. With the growing trend of remote work and digital collaboration, the need for small-sized presentations has surged. This is not just to accommodate the varying bandwidth limitations faced by individuals but also to optimize for mobile device compatibility where every byte counts. Smaller PowerPoint file sizes mean quicker load times, easier sharing via email or cloud services, and ultimately, a smoother presentation experience for both the presenter and the audience.

Key Takeaways

• Open your PowerPoint file and go to the “File” menu, then choose “Save As.” Click on the “Tools” menu within the “Save As” dialog box and select “Compress Media” to initiate the compression process.
• By knowing how to compress videos in PowerPoint, you reduce file sizes, making the videos easier to share via email or online platforms, and the files occupy less storage space on your computer or hard drive.
• Compressing media in PowerPoint helps enhance performance and ensures your presentation is more likely to be compatible with different devices and platforms, while also considering the balance between compression and maintaining video quality.

Compressing Videos in PowerPoint

Compressing videos within PowerPoint is like giving your presentations a performance boost. It cuts down on unnecessary bulk, ensuring your slides glide smoothly from one to the next without the dreaded loading lag or compatibility issues. Imagine not having to worry about video playback stuttering during an important pitch or educational session. That’s the value of understanding video compression in PowerPoint. Below, I’ll walk you through the straightforward process of reducing your video size without compromising the impact of your visual aids. Whether you’re preparing for a boardroom presentation or a classroom lecture, mastering this skill can make a world of difference.

Table of Contents

The Art of Reducing Video Size in PowerPoint

Review the quality of your images and videos.

Reflecting on the quality of the images and videos embedded in our presentations is a step we must not overlook. As we endeavor to compress them, reviewing their current state is crucial as it serves as our benchmark for post-compression results. By scrutinizing the resolution, frame rate, and audio clarity, we gain insights into what the audience will experience. A resolution that’s too low can render imagery pixelated, frame rate drops may disrupt smooth playback, and poor audio can overshadow the visual narrative.

It’s important to note how compression affects each element. Compressing your video files too much might lead to a fuzzy picture or muffled sound, which can detract from the overall impact. We must ensure the final version maintains a professional polish—it should look crisp on a big screen and clear through a projector—but not at the expense of file portability. Hence, it’s about striking that sweet balance.

Inserting Videos Directly vs. Linking to External Sources

When considering how to incorporate videos into a PowerPoint presentation, we’re faced with a crucial choice: embedding the videos directly into the slideshow or linking to external sources. Both methods have their merits, and the decision hinges on various factors such as the presentation’s purpose and the audience’s access to the internet.

Embedding videos ensures that the presentation is self-contained. There’s no reliance on internet connectivity which means zero buffering issues during playback. However, this comes with a significant increase in file size. On the other hand, linking to external sources, such as YouTube, helps maintain a slender file size. Accessibility becomes contingent on an active internet connection, which may not be ideal in all scenarios.

My recommendation is clear. If you are not transferring the presentation elsewhere or if internet access is reliable, link to the videos. Doing so is quite straightforward: under the Insert tab, click on the Video button and explore your options. But if you need a presentation that works offline, then consider embedding and compressing your videos. Remember, a presentation should not only capture the audience’s attention but also be approachable and sharable with ease.

Step-by-Step Instructions to Compress Videos

Accessing compression features in powerpoint.

STEP 1: First, embed a video into your PowerPoint slide.

Fine-Tuning Compression Settings for Optimal Results

Fine-tuning compression settings in PowerPoint is akin to being a skilled artist carefully mixing paint—it’s all about getting those details right for the perfect finish. Once you’re in the ‘Compress Media’ options, you’ll see choices such as ‘Presentation Quality,’ ‘Internet Quality,’ and ‘Low Quality.’ These settings are your paintbrushes for crafting the desired output.

‘Presentation Quality’ preserves the highest video quality suitable for, say, large screens and projections—it’s your go-to for a boardroom presentation. ‘Internet Quality’ strikes a reasonable balance, understandable for online sessions where file size matters but quality can’t be sacrificed. And ‘Low Quality’ minimizes the file size, a feasible option when sharing via email or other restrictions.

Remember to carefully experiment with these settings. If you choose a setting that’s too low, your video may seem a tad impressionistic when full resolution is needed. But a setting that’s too high can result in a bulky file, impeding easy sharing and playback.

After the compression, we must verify the output. Play the video to ensure the quality still conveys your message effectively, and remember, this isn’t a ‘set it and forget it’ task. Every video, every audience and every presentation may demand a different setting. Keeping this in mind, we can master the fine art of compression, ensuring our presentations are both visually stunning and remarkably optimized.

Tips and Tricks for Efficient PowerPoint Compression

Converting images to jpeg format before insertion.

Before dropping images into our PowerPoint masterpiece, consider this: format plays a huge role in the file size. I’ve found that converting images to JPEG format before insertion can significantly reduce the overall size of the presentation. JPEG is ideal for detailed photographs, and its compression algorithm excels in maintaining an acceptable level of quality with a smaller file footprint.

Do Image Edits Outside PowerPoint for Smaller Files

Taking the time to edit images outside of PowerPoint is a game-changer for keeping files lean. I’ve observed many of us tweak pictures directly in the presentation software, perhaps for convenience. However, it’s worth noting that PowerPoint retains all the original data of the edited images, which can bloat your file size considerably.

To avoid this, I strongly recommend using a dedicated image editor—be it Photoshop for the pros or simpler tools like Paint or GIMP for basic adjustments. Make all your crops, color adjustments, resizes, or filters there. Only once you’re satisfied with the image, bring it into PowerPoint.

This practice has a two-fold benefit. First, it preserves the optimal quality of your visuals because dedicated editors offer finer control over the edits. And second, it keeps your PowerPoint file size in check, as the software only stores the final version of your image.

Let’s remember to tell PowerPoint to discard all excess editing data once the images are in place. It’s an additional precaution to ensure our presentations remain as lightweight as possible.

Alternate Methods for Slashing PowerPoint File Size

Turning a bulky ppt into a compressed pdf or zip file.

When all else fails and you’re still grappling with a sizable PowerPoint file, consider flipping the script—turn that bulky PPT into a compressed PDF or ZIP file. The process is straightforward and can drastically reduce your file size, making it manageable for email and online sharing.

Transforming your PowerPoint into a ZIP file is essentially archiving it. Archive by right-clicking on the file, selecting ‘Send to’, and then choosing ‘Compressed (zipped) folder’. By doing this, you can reduce the size of the entire project, which is particularly useful when it’s chock-full of media and other hefty elements.

Another clever move is to convert the PPT to a PDF, especially when it’s heavy on text and static images. By using online PDF conversion tools like Adobe Acrobat, the process is a breeze. The resultant file is not only lighter but also more secure against unwanted modifications, and it maintains a consistent format across devices.

Here’s what to remember: subsequent compression of the PDF can further slim it down if needed. In essence, these techniques are the ace up our sleeve for sharing content-rich presentations without the bulk.

Real-world Applications for Compressed PowerPoint Files

When is compressing a powerpoint file beneficial.

Compressing a PowerPoint file is not just a best practice; it’s a strategic move that’s advantageous in myriad scenarios. For instance, when you’re gearing up to email a presentation, size limits can be your nemesis. A compressed file slips elegantly under those maximum capacity ceilings that email services impose.

Another situation where it shines is in facilitating smoother collaboration—think cloud storage and file sharing platforms. When working in teams, especially with bandwidth discrepancies, a smaller file ensures swift uploads and downloads, making the flow of ideas seamless.

Moreover, for those of us constantly on the go, a compressed PowerPoint is a must. Aside from freeing up valuable space on mobile devices, it also opens the door to remote accessing without painful waiting times. It’s an all-around win, enhancing accessibility, preserving quality, and boosting productivity. Whether presenting in person, sharing for review, or archiving, a lighter PowerPoint file is often the smarter choice.

Strengthening Your Presentation Profile with Reduced File Sizes

Reducing the file size of your presentations can significantly beef up your presentation profile. In a world where digital competency is paramount, being known for sleek, efficient, and easy-to-handle presentations can set us apart. A compressed PowerPoint lifts the burden on the recipient’s storage, conveys professionalism, and displays an understanding of digital etiquette.

Moreover, it can underline your skills in creating impactful presentations without overloading them with unnecessary data. This streamlining can directly affect your audience’s engagement and ensure smooth delivery whether you’re presenting in person or virtually.

By keeping your file sizes compact, you show a respect for people’s time and bandwidth limitations. Not to mention, smaller files are less likely to encounter compatibility issues, ensuring your content reaches your audience just as you intended—intact and effective.

Compressing PPT Files on Different Operating Systems

Differences between macos and windows compression techniques.

Navigating the maze of presentation file compression reveals one stark truth: the methods can differ greatly between operating systems, specifically macOS and Windows. Knowing these differences is not only empowering, it’s practically essential for achieving optimal results.

macOS users typically leverage built-in tools like iMovie and QuickTime Player to compress their media files before integrating them into PowerPoint. The advantage here lies in the seamless ecosystem of Apple products. However, macOS PowerPoint has a limitation—it doesn’t allow users to compress music or video files directly within the application, unlike on Windows.

On the Windows side, PowerPoint comes equipped with a dedicated ‘Compress Media’ option that’s highly intuitive and doesn’t require external tools. It’s just a few clicks within PowerPoint’s interface to shrink videos to your desired quality. This built-in functionality caters well to users who prefer a one-stop solution without toggling between different software.

Having this cross-operating system awareness when it comes to compression is not trivial, as it nudges us toward tailored approaches rather than one-size-fits-all solutions. Being adept at using the specific techniques of both macOS and Windows ensures we are versatile presenters, capable of smart file management no matter the platform.

Cross-Platform Tools for Universal File Reduction

In the quest for universal file reduction, cross-platform tools are our knights in digital armor. These stalwarts bridge the operating system divide, making video compression a cinch whether you’re a macOS devotee or a Windows warrior.

One such savior is HandBrake, an open-source video transcoder available for both macOS and Windows. HandBrake shines with its ability to convert video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs. It’s a favorite for its granular control over compression settings, plus it’s free.

Then there’s the stalwart Adobe Premiere Pro, recognized for professional-grade video editing and compression capabilities, with consistent performance across both platforms. It’s a bit more advanced, and while it might be overkill for simple compression tasks, it offers unparalleled fines autonomy for those desiring the highest precision.

Tools like these dispel the friction sometimes encountered when sending presentations across different OS environments. By adopting a cross-platform mindset, we take a significant step towards creating universally accessible PowerPoint files without worrying about file bloat or compatibility issues.

Achieving Stunning Presentations without Compromising Quality

Achieving stunning presentations without compromising on quality may seem like a balancing act, but it’s definitely within reach with careful planning and understanding of compression techniques. The goal is to create slides enriched with media that captivate your audience while ensuring the file remains manageable and functional.

Here are some indispensable tips to hit that sweet spot: consider the resolution of your images and tailor them to your presentation medium, use video clips judiciously, and compress only to a level that maintains professional quality. Optimization tools in PowerPoint, such as the ‘Compress Media’ feature, should become your allies in this endeavor.

Remember, a high-quality presentation isn’t solely defined by pixel counts or decibels—it’s about coherence, relevance, and delivery. By striving for a harmony between visual excellence and file efficiency, we can craft presentations that are both visually impressive and technically sound.

Exploring More Resources and Articles on File Compression

As we venture further into the digital realm, expanding our knowledge on file compression becomes crucial. Fortunately, the landscape is abundant with resources and articles that delve into the intricacies of compressing PowerPoint files effectively.

For those looking to deep dive, Adobe’s blog offers a treasure trove of insights about file compression. Websites like TechRepublic or Computerworld often publish tips and tricks on handling large files. Additionally, Microsoft’s own support pages provide guides tailored specifically for PowerPoint users.

It’s essential to stay abreast of the latest discussions in forum sites like Stack Exchange or Reddit, where tech enthusiasts and professionals frequently share their real-world experiences and hacks.

By making use of these resources, we not only hone our technical skills but also enrich our understanding of best practices, ensuring our presentations are the epitome of efficiency and engagement.

Frequently Asked Questions About Video Compression in PowerPoint

What’s the most effective way to compress powerpoint videos without losing quality.

The most effective way to compress videos in PowerPoint without losing discernible quality is by using the built-in ‘Compress Media’ feature. Rather than compressing blindly, I recommend choosing ‘Internet Quality’, which retains a high level of visual fidelity while significantly reducing the file size. This strikes a good balance between clarity and manageability, which is ideal for most situations. Always preview the video post-compression to ensure it meets your expected standard.

Are There Any Free AI PPT Tools to Help with Video Compression?

Yes, there are free AI-powered tools like Winxvideo AI that can help with video compression for PowerPoint. These tools leverage AI to maintain quality while dramatically reducing file size, sometimes by up to 90%. This is especially useful when dealing with large videos, as the AI can intelligently optimize frames and audio to keep the essence of the video intact despite the size reduction.

How to reduce File size in PowerPoint?

To reduce file size in PowerPoint, compress your media files via the ‘Compress Media’ feature under the File and Info tab. Also, resize and edit images externally, saving them as JPEGs before inserting, and where possible, link to videos instead of embedding them. Don’t forget to remove unnecessary fonts, animations, and transitions that can add to the file size.

How do I send a compressed powerpoint file via email?

To send a compressed PowerPoint file via email, first reduce its size by using the ‘Compress Media’ feature in PowerPoint. If it’s still too large, turn the file into a ZIP by right-clicking and selecting ‘Send to Compressed (zipped) folder’ (Windows) or ‘Compress [file name]’ (macOS). Attach the ZIP file to your email as you would with any other document. If the file still exceeds your email provider’s limit, upload it to a cloud service and share the link instead.

John Michaloudis

John Michaloudis is a former accountant and finance analyst at General Electric, a Microsoft MVP since 2020, an Amazon #1 bestselling author of 4 Microsoft Excel books and teacher of Microsoft Excel & Office over at his flagship MyExcelOnline Academy Online Course .

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