how to create video presentation using powerpoint

Turn your presentation into a video

When you make a recording of a presentation, all its elements (narration, animation, pointer movements, timings, and so on) are saved in the presentation itself. In essence, the presentation becomes a video that your audience can watch in PowerPoint.

So you have two options for turning your presentation into a video that's ready to view:

Save/export your presentation to a video file format (.mp4 or .wmv).

Save your presentation as a PowerPoint Show (.ppsx) file. (A PowerPoint Show appears full-screen in Slide Show, ready to view immediately.)

Save as a video file

After you've created your slides and recorded any timing and narrations and laser pointer gestures that you want to include, you're ready to create a video file.

On the File menu, select Save to ensure all your recent work has been saved in PowerPoint presentation format (.pptx).

Select  File > Export > Create a Video . (Or, on the Recording tab of the ribbon, select  Export to Video .)

In the first drop-down box under the Create a Video heading, select the video quality you want, which pertains to the resolution of the finished video. The higher the video quality, the larger the file size. (You may want to test them to determine which one meets your needs.)

* The Ultra HD (4K) option is only available if you're using Windows 10 or later.

The second drop-down box under the Create a Video heading tells whether your presentation includes narration and timings. (You may switch this setting if you like.)

If you haven't recorded timed narration, by default the value is Don't Use Recorded Timings and Narrations .

The default time spent on each slide is 5 seconds. You can change that timing in the Seconds to spend on each slide box. To the right of the box, select the up arrow to increase the duration, or select the down arrow to decrease the duration.

If you have recorded a timed narration, by default the value is Use Recorded Timings and Narrations .

Select  Create Video .

In the File name box, enter a file name for the video, browse for the folder that will contain this file, and then select  Save .

In the Save as type box, choose either MPEG-4 Video or Windows Media Video .

You can track the progress of the video creation by looking at the status bar at the bottom of your screen. The video creation process can take up to several hours depending on the length of the video and the complexity of the presentation.

Tip:    For a long video, you can set it up to be created overnight. That way, it’ll be ready for you the following morning.

To play your newly-created video, go to the designated folder location, and then double-click the file.

Save as a PowerPoint Show

When someone opens a PowerPoint Show file, it appears full-screen in Slide Show, rather than in edit mode. The viewer begins watching the presentation immediately.

On the File menu, select Save As .

Choose the folder location where you want to store your PowerPoint Show file.

In the Save as type box, choose PowerPoint Show (*.ppsx) .

Select Save .

Why turn your presentation into a video?

When you want to give a high-fidelity version of your presentation to colleagues or customers (either as an e-mail attachment, published to the web, on a CD or DVD), save it and let it play as a video.

You can save your presentation as either an MPEG-4 video file (.mp4) or a .wmv file. Both formats are widely supported and can be streamed over the internet.

Some tips to remember when recording your presentation as a video:

You can record and time voice narration and laser pointer movements in your video.

You can control the size of the multimedia file and the quality of your video.

You can include animations and transitions in your movie.

Viewers do not need to have PowerPoint installed on their computers to watch it.

If your presentation contains an embedded video, the video will play correctly without your needing to control it.

Depending on the content of your presentation, creating a video may take some time. Lengthy presentations and presentations with animations, transitions, and media content will likely take longer to create. Fortunately, you can continue to use PowerPoint while the video is being created

What parts of a presentation won't be included in a video?

The following items won't be included in a video that you create using PowerPoint:

Media inserted in previous versions of PowerPoint. To include these, you can convert or upgrade the media object.

For example, if you inserted the media using PowerPoint 2007, it will be linked and it will play in the presentation.  However, when you export the file as a video, the linked media will be dropped.  You can convert the file to the new file format (select the File tab, and under Info , select  Convert ), or you can right-click the media object and then select it to upgrade; it will embed the file and export it correctly.

QuickTime media (unless you have a third-party QuickTime codec named ffdShow installed and you have optimized for compatibility)

OLE/ActiveX controls

What to do with your video after creating it

After you create a video, you can share it with others by using the following methods:

Email your presentation to others

Save to a file share or other location

Upload it to your organization's Microsoft Stream video-sharing site , as described in the next section, "Save to a video-sharing site."

Save to the Microsoft video-sharing site

After you've created the video file, you can upload it to a video-sharing site. Microsoft Stream is an enterprise video service where people in an organization can upload, view, and share videos. Microsoft 365 business or education subscribers have access to this service from within PowerPoint for Microsoft 365. 

Select File > Export , and then select Publish to Microsoft Stream .

Type a title and a description for the video.

Set other options, including whether you want others in your organization to have permission to see the video:

Select the Publish button.

The upload process can take several minutes, depending on the length of the video. A status bar at the bottom of the PowerPoint window tracks the progress, and PowerPoint shows a message when the upload is finished:

Select the message to go directly to the video playback page on Microsoft Stream.

For more information about this service, begin reading with What is Microsoft Stream? It includes information about Office 365 Video vs. Microsoft Stream.

1 The Ultra HD (4K) option is only available if you're using Windows 10 or later. 2 In PowerPoint 2016, the Ultra HD (4K) option isn't available in the Volume License edition.

When someone opens a PowerPoint Show file, it appears full-screen in Slide Show, rather than in edit mode. The viewer begins watching the presentation immediately.

Burn your presentation to a disc

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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! 

Let’s create superb videos

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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

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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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Helping you with presenting, PowerPoint, and speaking

4 steps to create a video from PowerPoint slides

July 18, 2016 by Ellen Finkelstein 5 Comments

You can create great videos using PowerPoint! A common reason to create videos is to post them on YouTube but you can post them on a website or on social media as well.

You can make them as simple or as complicated as you want. Here are the basic steps to create a video from PowerPoint slides:

1. Create animated slides (including transitions)

Of course, you start with animated slides. The basic concept is to keep things moving like they would in a video. A video is a very different medium from a slide presentation, so you have to think differently.

For example, after you apply entrance animations, you can apply exit animations so that objects come in and go out. Use some of the more extreme animations that you would never use in a regular business presentation.

2. Add audio (narration and/or music)

Almost all videos have some type of audio–narration, music, or both. You have several choices when adding audio.

Insert audio files on each slide

I often use this method. I record the sound using Audacity , which makes editing easy. Here are the steps to insert the audio file you create onto a slide:

• Go to the Insert tab, Audio, Audio on my PC (the exact labels vary depending on your version of PowerPoint) and insert the audio file.
• Drag the sound icon off the slide.
• Click the Animations tab and click Animation Pane.
• Drag the sound file to the top and click the sound file’s down arrow on the right edge of the Animation pane and choose Start with Previous so that the sound plays immediately when you display the slide.

When you use this method, all other animations need to be set to Start with Previous; if you want them delayed, add a delay in the Delay box on the ribbon. This allows the sound to start at the beginning and continue to play while the animation happens.

Use the Narration feature

You can add your narration in PowerPoint. You can’t do much in the way of editing, although you can re-record. Here are the steps:

• Display the first slide.
• Choose Slide Show, Record Slide Show, Start Recording from the Beginning.
• Narrate the presentation, clicking as necessary to go from slide to slide. Click again on the last slide to end recording.

The nice part about this feature is that PowerPoint automatically saves the timing for each slide. You can now skip Step 3!

Add bookmarks

If you add separate audio files to each slide, you can synchronize the animation to specific points on the audio timeline by setting bookmarks. I explain the process in my blog post, “ Sync animation with a video or audio .”

3. Set slide timings

If you add individual audio files, you need to set the slide timings so that the video moves automatically from slide to slide. You do this on the Transitions tab, in the Timing section, under Advance Slide. Check the After checkbox and add the number of seconds. It’s usually easier to click the up arrow to increase the seconds.

4. Export to video format

When your animation and audio are done, click the File tab and choose Export. (In earlier versions, use Save & Send or Publish.) Choose Create a Video. You have some choices for quality and what to include, but the defaults are usually good.

Click Create Video and wait until it’s done. Be sure to check it over–you might find that the animation seems too slow or too fast. It’s pretty easy to make adjustments and export again.

What are you waiting for? Have you created videos from PowerPoint? Can you see a use for videos in your work? Leave a comment and use the Share buttons below to spread the word!

Related posts:

• Create a video zoom effect from photos in PowerPoint
• Sync animation with a video or audio
• Create a video effect
• Play music or narration throughout a presentation

5 Leave a Reply

[…] 4 steps to create a video from PowerPoint slides 4 steps to create a video from PowerPoint slides […]

Wow, thanks for this! I didn’t know you can do some of these things on PowerPoint!

Can you also do these things using Keynote? Just wondering.

This is just the info I need for my PowerPoint presentation in school. Thank you so much!

I don’t have Keynote but yes, you can export to video from Keynote.

How-To Geek

How to add a video to a microsoft powerpoint presentation.

If a picture speaks a thousand words, a video speaks a million words!

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

Home Blog Presentation Ideas Video Presentations: A Guide for Engaging Content

Video Presentations: A Guide for Engaging Content

In a time when the Millennials’ attention span can be measured as little as 12 seconds, how can we create genuinely engaging presentations? Is continuously changing slides the answer these days?

A skilled presenter has to master different techniques; therefore, we will examine the potential for video presentations. Join us to discover what video presentations are, the reasons why you should use them amongst your presentation tools, and exciting tips on how to drive engagement from them. 

Table of Contents

What video presentations are

Video presentation stats to consider, different types of video presentations, why should you use video presentations, what are the components of a winning video presentation, the role of accessibility: advanced research on video presentations, 5 tips on how to make your video presentations engaging.

• How to create a video presentation

Do you need special software to create video presentations?

Closing thoughts.

Presentations are a crucial part of business and academic environments. Thousands of presentations are delivered each day in different environments; still, many are doomed to fail. Although we can blame this on a lack of proper presentation skills , reality tells us there’s a change in how people prefer to see the content.

As a general rule, consider 10 minutes the Goldilocks Zone for traditional presentations in what comes to audience engagement . Inspirational presentations like the ones we see on TEDx don’t follow this rule, as the objective here is to share a compelling story as detailed as possible so the audience can relate. In some cases, academic presentations of the thesis defense style remain loyal to a specific format. Still, trends are also changing, and video presentations have much to offer in terms of exposing complex concepts more plainly.

A video presentation can be represented in multiple formats: as a compendium of animated slides in video format, video files and audio sources packed on a single video file, a video recording made in interview format, a video documentary, etc. Although this definition may sound redundant, the concept behind a video presentation is that they don’t require a presenter to change between slides or windows to browse different assets . Hence, the importance to create a story behind the video presentation, so the various elements don’t feel segregated without logic.

We can say people use the video format to convey information in courses, job training, edutainment, conferences, and any kind of message-sharing purpose that requires connecting with the audience for engagement.

Before dwelling on the specifics of building a video presentation, here we share some video presentation stats that speak about the importance of video presentations these days from a marketing perspective.

• Online search continues to be the most common way (45%) for users to find instructional and informational video content. ( source )
• The most commonly-created types of videos are explainer videos (72%) , presentation videos (49%), testimonial videos (48%), sales videos (42%), and video ads (42%). ( source )
• 57% of consumers said that product videos make them more confident in a purchase and less likely to return an item ( source )
• Millennials’ attention span can be measured as little as 12 seconds ( source )
• A minute of video is worth 1.8 million words in terms of information retention ( source )

As you can see, the effort of building a video presentation is well-paid in terms of consumption and content information retention from the audience.

Depending on the requirements of the presentation itself, we can classify video presentations as follows:

In-Company Video Presentations

These video presentations belong to the business and corporate world, but their purpose is to distribute information among coworkers or to coach the personnel for a specific requirement. In-company video presentations are used in workspace training, as part of internal recruitment processes, or other kinds of internal presentations.

In-company video presentations usually carry the company branding; they have restricted access for people outside the organization, so their distribution methods happen in meeting rooms dedicated to these purposes. 

Business Video Presentations

Business video presentations are used for a variety of business purposes: business pitches, workspace training, advertisement, product releases, recruitment, and more. Business video presentations also include the ones dedicated to  B2B or B2C relationships. 

Like In-Company Video Presentations, they carry branding to identify the video presentation’s author quickly. They are shared through official mediums for the company (like a brand’s social media channels and website), during corporate meetings with investors or potential business partners, and through 3rd. party channels.

Examples of these kinds of videos are product launch sessions, much like what tech giants like Xiaomi do.

Another kind of business video presentation is the explainer video. Explainer videos can be defined as short online marketing videos that are used to explain the company’s product or service. Explainer videos are commonly used for sales, marketing, and training purposes. Here is a real example of a 1-minute video presentation introducing SlideModel.com.

Another application of business video presentations is when sponsorship deals are involved, as brands can present their value to influencers through short reels.

Resume Video Presentations

This is a relatively recent but incredible turn of resume presentations. In resume video presentations , the candidate offers a detailed introduction of their capabilities, skills, interests, and potential value to the employer in a visually engaging format.

Unlike traditional CV presentations, the video format gives little room for anxiety, answering most of the interviewer’s questions or even driving admiration for the effort and dedication to this job-hunting adventure. 

We recommend the usage of resume presentation templates for this purpose, as they save tons of time in crafting a high-quality resume video presentation. 

Educational Video Presentations

This category can be divided into three different sub-categories:

Academic Video Presentations

Intended for University-level presentations or post-Doctorate work, these presentations follow strict format guidelines. They are mainly designed to distribute data comprehensively, with proper documentation backup. Animations usually don’t take part in these video presentations.

Despite being commonly associated with business events, conferences also belong to the academic video presentations category, as the live sessions are recorded to spread the message about important research discoveries. 

Teaching & Training Video Presentations

Teachers introduce the presentations to their students on various topics to understand abstract issues better. Chemistry, Physics, and Geography are typical examples of subjects that use video presentations. However, subjects like History and Philosophy can save countless hours of whiteboard sessions by using educational video presentations. 

Webinars fall under this category, either being released to the public or in-company webinars, as they share common aspects in their structure. Do keep in mind that educational content recorded as video presentations is not the same as a webinar, as the latter requires the presence of a live audience, a moderator, and usually a Q&A session at the end of it. If we talk about educational content being recorded and released as a course platform, then we can say it is a workshop.

According to recent studies, visualizations through video presentations and video-based learning can enhance understanding. It is demonstrated that students who watched learning videos on Statistics, influenced engagement and motivation positively .

Student Video Presentations

Finally, students also make video presentations as requested by their teachers to present a lesson or project exhibition. These presentations vary as the students grow older, becoming less dependent on animated effects, setting the bases for future work or academic presentation formats.

Informal Video Presentations

If you remember seeing videos in situations like 50th birthday parties, baptisms, wedding anniversaries, etc., then you have already experienced informal video presentations. 

These informal presentations are free from any format restriction. As the term implies, they are used for any kind of meetup, making it simpler to share a story rather than to tell a lengthy story.

Inspirational & Motivational Video Presentations

The final category belongs to the video presentations with a strong emotional component. They are built to connect, to empathize with the audience in specific situations or problems. Examples of this are TEDx , Evan Carmichael, or similar influencing platforms.

In general lines, motivational video presentations are recordings of live events shared with the purpose of getting the message to the biggest audience possible (internet consumers). Another possible format for these presentations is recorded interviews or testimonials intended to speak about a person’s contributions to society. An example of this, from an organization’s point of view, are the videos produced by the UK’s NHS to highlight and thank their medical personnel for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Inspirational video presentations share common aspects with motivational speeches. A list of requirements for these video presentations would be:

• Have a clear purpose
• Make it personal
• Get the message tailored for the target audience
• A strong conclusion

Compared with traditional presentation methods, such as presentation slides or speaking in front of an audience, video presentations can offer a series of advantages. 

For starters, as you write the “ story ,” you are also rehearsing the points to be covered. In that way, anxiety or shyness won’t trigger you to forget about essential points or lose track of time. The length of the presentation can be predetermined, depending on the external requirements of the organization party, or how comprehensive or concise you need it to be. 

In the case of people struggling with camera shyness , an animated video presentation with voiceover is the answer to deliver quality work. Since psychologists and doctors agree the common point on fear of public speaking is the delivery of the presentation itself, video presentations shall reduce work-induced anxiety to a great degree. Since psychologists and doctors agree the common point on fear of public speaking is the delivery of the presentation itself, video presentations shall reduce work-induced anxiety to a great degree. You can also convert images to video online using video editor platforms to easily create video from images and voiceover on video.

Video presentations can be persuasive thanks to the usage of graphics and audio. It is far easier to convey emotions through video presentations than to put them in the presentation design. Also, research by Dr. James McQuivey proved that a minute of video is worth 1.8 million words in terms of information retention.

Regarding engagement, the popularity that both TikTok and YouTube gained among the younger generations reflects the behavioral changes in content consumption . It has come to the point that even professionals use TikTok to demystify health hoaxes and help users worldwide. Therefore, using video format for presentations can help to boost your presentation performance, making it attractive for your audience and less effort-demanding. 

The most significant factor in delivering a successful video presentation is keeping the audience engaged. To ensure this, make sure the presentation doesn’t feel robotic-like but that it conveys a personal message. Don’t get this point wrong if we talk strictly about business or academic scenarios; making video presentations to deliver your personal touch can become as simple as selecting the proper color combination to enforce your message . Other solutions come from watching your voice tone not to make it too monotonous. 

Structure your presentation accordingly. In business or academic video presentations is a good idea to introduce a slide in the fashion of a table of contents . It is an extra touch that brings the audience closer to the topics due to be discussed. 

Consider the audience’s perspective as a vital element in video presentations. Check relevant examples of the topic discussed on platforms such as YouTube or DailyMotion. Compare their approach to yours and assert if you would watch your presentation as a spectator or not. This simple test gives insights into which aspects you should work on.

Winning video presentations never miss the usage of CTAs. It’s a good method to direct the audience’s interest to a specific goal.

Video presentations can become an incredible tool for driving engagement, yet there is a problem that not so many presenters address: accessibility. Think about how many times a presenter ends a phrase like “over here,” assuming the audience is watching the item being shown. But what if members of the target audience have visual impairments?

Much like we consider the importance of adding Closed Captioning (CC) to our videos, accessibility in terms of the narrative is a must. On this behalf, we want to introduce an interesting research that led to the production of a tool named Slidecho . Using state-of-the-art technology like video scene detection, AI, and OCR, Slideshow follows these very steps:

• Step 1: Extract slide frames
• Step 2: Selecting slide elements
• Step 3: Detecting described elements from the slide elements
• Step 4: Aligning slides with the speech

Therefore, Slidecho uses an algorithmic methodology to extract the visual elements from the slides, converting them to an audio reading format whilst aligning it with the original speaker’s narration. Moreover, its interface instantiates new interactions that augment the plain video interface with synchronized slide information and audio notifications to alert users to undescribed elements.

This technological advance helps the audience better understand what is being presented, regardless of the context of the presentation. Imagine an award ceremony where many references apply to visual cues. People with visual impairments get half of the message, with luck, when presenters fall into colloquial language usage, not understanding the context or having to ask for clarification. If instead, the synced narration is available, we then talk about making presentations available for everyone. This is an accurate definition of enriching an event experience.

If we talk about attending to the needs of people with hearing impairments, we have to consider the social factor as a motivator in presentations. It is a common mistake to leave slides filled with text and voiceover narration in the background providing detailed information. A study made by Stanford University speaks about the value of having the presenter’s face available through these slides, as it delivers both social cues plus helps users through lip reading. The human factor also reduces distractions since the audience must check the presenter’s input on written slides.

Tip #1 – Be mindful of the presentation topic

It’s not the same to create a presentation for a business audience as an inspirational presentation. The category of the presentation shall determine items like

• Background music
• Color theme
• Visual hierarchy
• Videos to include

Tip #2 – Limit the number of words to include

The whole idea behind the video presentation is to make a dynamic presentation, not having to pause every 5 seconds to allow the spectator to read.

Instead, use words to transmit powerful messages, such as quotes relevant to the presented topic, key information, or CTAs. Use the 7×7 rule: no slide should have more than 7 lines of text, and no sentence should have more than 7 words. 

Tip #3 – Voiceovers can become your best friends

The whole point behind a video presentation is not to create a boring one-person video speaking in front of the camera. Use voiceovers effectively to introduce charts, data feedback, etc., with your voice connecting the points of the entire presentation.

Be mindful of the tone. A monotonous or flat tone can divert attention and induce people to ignore your work. Your voice skills should articulate the importance of the point being discussed as well as your interest in it.

Tip #4 – The power of transitions

Adding suitable transitions and animations makes the presentation more engaging . However, this isn’t equal to adding countless effects. Less is more.

Ask a professional for guidance if you don’t have experience with animation effects. The transition can be part of the conversation, being subtle if the presentation is flowing between data sets or similar topics, or contrasting and powerful to deliver a persuasive message. You may also want to insert a transition when you’ve used a video cutter to remove an unwanted part to smooth out the video flow. Don’t abuse any of the two extremes, or the audience may find it uncomfortable.

Tip #5 – Make video presentations accessible

As we mentioned before, quite often presenters assume the audience can understand every part of a video presentation. Reality tells us to attend to the needs of people with visual and auditory impairments by making audio and video media accessible .

Subtitles or translator screen-over using sign language is a perfect opportunity to help people with auditory impairments feel part of the presentation, making the message available to them as well. 

For people with visual impairments, be mindful about how you create the narrative for your presentation, in particular, avoiding visual cues like: “over here,” “this,” and “there” and gesticulating over an object or person, assuming everyone can get the same reference information. Instead, opt to be descriptive in your speech; software solutions can help a great deal, but you can also use native PowerPoint or Google Slides tools such as voiceovers .

How to create a video presentation & recommended video presentation templates

You can create your own video presentations as easily as using Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynotes, or Google Slides.

Check these links for relevant information on how to create a video presentation:

• How to Convert a Google Slides Presentation to a Video
• How to Convert a PowerPoint Presentation to a Video
• How to Embed a YouTube Video in PowerPoint

In case you feel stuck about which content to input or how to make your video presentation outstanding, a brainstorming technique can do wonders for interactive presentations and creative thinking. It is known as the SCAMPER technique .

Since video presentation templates make our life easier, we also recommend you check the following product categories to access extremely visually appealing designs created by professionals to help you deliver your message in style:

• Animated PowerPoint Templates
• Animated Text Banner Templates
• Academic PowerPoint Templates
• Business PowerPoint Templates
• Marketing PowerPoint Templates

Additionally, here you can preview some of our presentation templates that you can use to create a video presentation in PowerPoint.

1. Animated PowerPoint Charts Collection Template

Present data in a visually appealing format by using this collection of animated charts in PowerPoint. Fully customizable, this template brings ease to speak about data-driven presentations; hence becoming a vital asset for any presenter in the corporate world.

Use This Template

2. Animated Network Diagram PowerPoint Template

Simplify the different streams that take part in your project or product release with the help of this animated template design. This Animated Network Diagram template can help you expose the processes that, with integrated effort, evolve into a successful outcome. It has animations applied to the objects, plus transitions to make the presentation more fluid.

Fully editable with any version of PowerPoint.

3. Free Animated Editable Professional Infographics PowerPoint Template

Infographics are a powerful tool that every presenter must consider for their work. This Free Animated Infographics template allows presenters to communicate complex data pieces, build marketing strategies, or prepare professional-looking reports. 

You can find a broad variety of charts and graphs. These are fully editable by using the chart filter option to edit on a spreadsheet.

4. Free Animated Editable Infographic PowerPoint Slides

If you intend to present financial data or KPIs for your marketing projects, look no further: this Free Animated Editable Infographic Template for PowerPoint has it all. 

Arranged in an 8-slide deck, we find a compendium of graphic elements to represent complex data in a visually compelling manner. Fully editable in all versions of PowerPoint

5. Free Animated Business PowerPoint Template

This versatile free presentation template for PowerPoint makes the perfect tool for more than business presentations: it works perfectly for educational video presentations and even inspirational video presentations.

With 9 fully editable slides, you can build your video presentation by using a unique combination of graphic elements, animations, and transitions. The graphics elements on this template are oriented to highlight leadership concepts.

6. Free Animated Business Infographics PowerPoint Template

Use this free template to create powerful statements backed by data in your video presentations. With a broad selection of graphs, diagrams, and charts, this fully editable template can help presenters to discuss topics ranging from demographics, economy, marketing indicators, or other relevant research results in an easy-to-understand format.

Compatible with all versions of PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote.

You also need to consider the output format of your video presentations. For maximum compatibility, you can use  MP4 or MOV. Other alternatives include:

• MKV : The native format of most 4K videos due to being able to store multiple audio tracks. Ideal for presentations with different voiceover languages that presenters can pick from.
• WMV : It’s a quality format for rendering videos to be shared via e-mail, although not compatible with some devices. Installing codecs is advised. 
• WebM : This format is one of the preferred choices for online video libraries or live streaming services, but it can present compatibility issues. 

The answer to this question entirely depends on your aim for creating video presentations. For most presenters, PowerPoint and Google Slides will do a good job, allowing them to use features such as voiceovers, transitions, animations, and high-quality graphics.

If instead, you desire to make advanced effects, screen recordings, or toon-like animations with voiceovers, then you should check the following list of solutions:

• Camtasia (Techsmith) : It is a professional video editing software, much lighter and easier to use than Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas. You can create professional transition or animation effects, work with layers to add multiple sounds or video sources and create screen recordings.
• Adobe Premiere Pro : The industry-leading software in video editing. This often intimidating software by Adobe has all the requirements for professional video editing, plus full integration with third-party plugins or other software from the Adobe suite to enhance the video result.
• Sony Vegas Pro : It is considered a direct competitor to Adobe Premiere Pro, less demanding in hardware requirements, and somewhat more user-friendly.
• Final Cut Pro : For Mac users, this is the option to consider if we talk about video editing. Powerful and tailored for the hardware the Mac device has.

As we have seen in this article, video presentations are far from obsolete. It is a truly engaging method to divulge our ideas, especially if we target a younger audience. 

Take your time to write a compelling story to tell rather than spilling animations and transitions along the way. Professional-made video presentations always care about details and the takeaway message for the spectator. 

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How to create a video presentation in PowerPoint?

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What is a video presentation in PowerPoint?

Why make video presentations, tips to create killer video presentations on powerpoint, how to create a video presentation in powerpoint, graphy, the online course creation, and selling platform.

In this blog, we’ll take you through each and every step on how to create a video presentation in PowerPoint.

Video is one of the best ways to get people’s attention. People like it because it’s entertaining, easy to digest, and evokes strong emotions. 

Videos have challenged other mediums like images, articles, infographics, and other plain media to become the most engaging form of interaction. 

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That’s why marketers spend 49% of their time creating video presentations. Videos have become an irreplaceable part of every business’s marketing strategy. Research has revealed that people are more inclined to videos when learning about new products or services. 

That’s why we are here to help you create a video presentation in PowerPoint step-by-step. 

Table of Contents

A video presentation consists of all the slides played sequentially from beginning to end. Users that opt for video presentations often use them to explain the slides in detail.

Video presentations are used in onboarding and training new team members, marketing campaigns, internal meetings, product launches, or direct presentations with clients.

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PowerPoint slides are an excellent way to create video presentations. You can add graphics, animations, videos, text, charts, and other elements to slides for users to create holistic videos. 

Also read: YouTube tools for creators in 2022

It’s no secret that videos are the most popular choice to consume content today. But, there are many more reasons why you should make more video presentations, including:

Higher retention rates

A report by Insivia says that viewers retain 95% of the message when they watch it in the form of videos, compared to 10% when reading it in text. That’s why more businesses are including video presentations in their methods of conveying ideas. 

They understand that people are bored of reading just text and want the content to be story-driven. Simply adding text and infographics won’t have much effect compared to appropriate narration and animation for better understanding. 

Persuasive 

Before you even think of persuading someone into doing anything, you need their attention. 

Humans have an attention span of 8 seconds, making it impossible to grab their attention. But that’s where videos come in. Video information is processed 60,000 times faste r than text. This makes it easier to transmit information with higher inspirational quotes through videos. 

Compared to other mediums, videos are still the most persuasive form of content available on the internet. 

Easy to digest 

Videos are entertaining and easy to digest. Users are tired of reading through text and understanding graphics without context. Video presentations are often termed boring because of their inability to grab attention and retain information. 

However, including videos charges the viewer, and they will be part of a conversation. You will find people more attentive while watching videos than reading text. Video gives you a platform to combine storytelling with multimedia to create exceptional content. 

Also read: How to add a video to PowerPoint?

Powerpoint is a staple software used in business presentations. Here are some tips on how to create a video presentation in PowerPoint-

Keep videos short and simple

Business people often make the mistake of keeping a video too long, leading to an unengaged audience. There is no strict rule about the length of your video, but 3-6 minutes is considered ideal. 

Keep your videos long enough to deliver the required information, but not too long; it takes away the curiosity. Your goal when creating a PowerPoint video presentation is to maintain the viewer’s interest until the end. 

The simpler, the better 

Simplicity is the key to getting complex things done. When creating your video presentation in PowerPoint, you will have many templates and tools to choose from. However, doing so isn’t always the right option. 

Keep your video presentation simple. You don’t need various functions; just some simple designs and an eye-appealing color palette are enough for your presentation to shine.

Also read: 11 ways to get more views on YouTube in 2022  

Use fewer words and animation

It’s easy to over-board your presentation with too many words and animations. However, doing so makes the audience read rather than listen. And, you don’t want that, right?

Instead, have fewer words and simpler animations so that your audience is glued to what you are saying. Cut down on all the not-so-needed words, and you can use them during your presentation.

Have a good visual contrast 

People often lose interest in the presentation because of its overpowering backgrounds and light fonts. They can’t stand such bad visual contrast and seem disengaged. 

If you want your audience to join in your presentation, then make sure to use the best visual contrast. Some of the best color schemes to use while creating a video presentation in Powerpoint are teal and white, shades of grey and yellow, minimalist light colors, orange bursts, dark with splashes of color, and more. 

Do a test slide to check your color combination. See if you don’t have to put in much effort reading through your PowerPoint slides. 

Now, let’s jump into the steps of how you can create a video presentation in PowerPoint.

Step #1: Go to your device’s video and audio settings where you plan to record the video. Check whether your microphone and camera are connected and working properly. 

Step # 2: Open Microsoft PowerPoint slides which you will present

Step #3: Click “Record Slide Show” under the Slide Show tab. 

Step #4: Once you click on it, choose whether you want to start recording from the beginning of the current slide. After selecting, you will see the following view with your selected slide at the center and the recording button at the top left corner.  

Step #5: If you wish to highlight specific information during your presentation, you can do it using these tools. 

Step #6: Once done recording your video presentation, click on the stop button on the top left corner beside the record button. 

Step #7: You can preview your presentation and, once satisfied with it, go to file->export-> create a video to save your presentations in PowerPoint. 

Step #8: Make sure you select “Use recorded times and narrations” while saving your video in PowerPoint. Now name your final video file and store it in your preferred location. 

And, you are done. See how simple it is to create a video presentation in Powerpoint. 

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Graphy offers a load of features that will definitely add stars to your success, features like:

• Branded website and mobile app
• Advanced-level marketing and sales tools and features
• Multi-layer content security
• Rich multimedia
• 24*7 customer support
• Customizable landing/sales pages
• Personalized course completion certificates for your learners
• Integrated payment gateways and country-specific pricing

Isn’t it amazing?

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• PowerPoint Insertions

5 Ways to Embed a Video File in Microsoft PowerPoint

Last Updated: March 27, 2024 Fact Checked

Embedding a Web Video

Embedding a video file, embedding a stock video, using android, linking movie files (powerpoint 2007).

This article was co-authored by Mitch Harris and by wikiHow staff writer, Rain Kengly . Mitch Harris is a Consumer Technology Expert based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mitch runs his own IT Consulting company called Mitch the Geek, helping individuals and businesses with home office technology, data security, remote support, and cybersecurity compliance. Mitch earned a BS in Psychology, English, and Physics and graduated Cum Laude from Northern Arizona University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,133,073 times.

If you want to spruce up your PowerPoint presentations, you can add a video to your slides. If you have a video file on your computer, you can easily embed it into your presentation. You can also embed YouTube videos, use looping stock videos, or, on older versions of PowerPoint, link to the videos. This wikiHow will show you how to add a video to Microsoft PowerPoint using your Windows, Mac, or Android device.

Things You Should Know

• Copy a YouTube URL. In PowerPoint, click "Insert' → "Video" → "Online Videos/Movie". Paste the URL and click "Insert".
• To embed a video file, click "Insert" → "Video" → "This Device" → select a file → "Insert".
• To use a stock video, click "Insert" → "Video" → "Stock Videos" → select a video → "Insert".

• You must have a subscription to use Office 365 . [1] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
• Adding a video to your PowerPoint can help you make a great presentation .

• You can insert a video from supported websites such as: YouTube, SlideShare, Vimeo, Microsoft Stream, and Flip.

• On Mac, this will look like Online Movie .

• You'll see a preview of the video.

• To adjust when the video plays, click the drop-down menu next to Start: . Select In Click Sequence , Automatically , or When Clicked On .
• Check the boxes to apply any of the following: Play Full Screen , Hide While Not Playing , Loop until Stopped , and/or Rewind after Playing .
• Click Volume to adjust the video's volume. Select Low , Medium , High , or Mute .

• Select the web video and click the Video Format tab.
• Click Poster Frame on the left of the toolbar.
• Click Image from File… .
• Select From a File , Stock Images , Online Pictures , or From Icons .
• Select the image source from the chosen method, and then click Insert .

• Stock videos work best as a background graphic to your PowerPoint text, since these videos loop seamlessly

• The stock video will be added to your slide. By default, it will cover the entire slide.

• PowerPoint is available for Android in the Google Play Store .

• The menu will open.

• If you want to take a video using your camera, tap Open Camera instead.
• The video file will be added to your PowerPoint.

• Videos can only be "embedded" (included in the presentation file itself) in PowerPoint 2010 or newer.

• Click the Office button and select "Publish."
• Select "Package for CD" and then select your presentation.
• Ensure that "Linked files" is selected in the "Options" menu.

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• ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/insert-a-video-from-youtube-or-another-site-8340ec69-4cee-4fe1-ab96-4849154bc6db#OfficeVersion=Windows
• ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/insert-audio-or-video-in-powerpoint-for-android-95e0a2af-35fb-405a-8536-cdcd934f659a
• ↑ https://support.office.com/en-us/article/My-movie-doesn-t-play-190cf574-183d-4b7f-b627-3783a14b7b07?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US
• ↑ https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Add-and-play-a-movie-in-a-presentation-f3fcbd3e-5f86-4320-8aea-31bff480ed02

About This Article

1. Open the slide. 2. Click Insert . 3. Click Movie . 4. Click Movie from File or Video on my PC . 5. Select the video and click OK . 6. Click Playback . 7. Choose how to play the video. 8. Save your presentation. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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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 Create Pro-level PowerPoint Videos with Audio

Senior Marketing Manager at Loom

The power of a presentation lies in its ability to educate and inspire.

But why limit access to inspiring ideas because of the time slot in which they were presented? Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote slides have become the go-to formats for delivering supporting content to help audiences from classrooms to boardrooms engage with ideas. But once the content is complete, what happens to it? 

Getting used to the sound of your own voice can take some time, but the benefits of using Loom to record PowerPoint presentations are worth it.

Depending on the content and intended audience, a few will be published, stored, or made available on a marketplace. However, many will be lost, all your hard work never to be seen again. PowerPoint slides that aren't accompanied by a presentation are incomplete and don't do a sufficient job of expressing the author's ideas.

If you want to get ahead of the curve and preserve the integrity of your hard work, learn how to record a presentation by recording your screen .

Loom is one of the most popular choices for recording a video presentation—and for a good reason. The user interface is straightforward and easy to use. Mastering it requires little effort.

The benefits of presenting a PowerPoint in video

There are several reasons someone would want to learn how to record a PowerPoint presentation. Whether they’re explaining the quarterly statistics in a sales meeting , creating a webinar as a marketing tool , or recording training sessions for onboarding new hires, communicating ideas clearly and succinctly via video becomes more crucial every day. 

With Loom, you can engage directly with your audience, allowing you to interact with a large group of people in a small, intimate environment. Let's look at some advantages of knowing how to record slide show presentations and the procedure for doing so.

Scheduled attendance is not guaranteed

Unless your presentation is a mandatory work meeting or you're teaching a paid course, many individuals will drop out before or during the presentation. However, by providing a presentation recording for them, you can still interact with those people, and they’ll feel supported by your accessibility.

Provides on-demand access to your presentation

Using Loom's video recording capabilities, you provide access to your material long after you've presented it. Giving your audience access to resources is one of the best ways to build trust and support. 

Enhances your search engine optimization (SEO)

If you don't want to make your recorded presentations available on-demand but want to reap the benefits of SEO-driven traffic, you may post all or part of it on YouTube as a free resource in the future to attract new prospects. 

Practice makes perfect

Another reason to learn how to record a presentation is that you can review your work before showing it to a live audience. By recording yourself before a meeting or lecture, you can review the footage to ensure you cover every aspect of the topic, make improvements, and eliminate those pre-performance jitters. 

Tips for video recording yourself presenting a PowerPoint

While technology and practice are your two best allies in confidently presenting PowerPoint video presentations, a few extra tips can make yours even more effective and professional. Consider following these best practices:

Choose the right equipment

Video communications technology has flourished in the last few years. There are more options than ever to record presentations and deliver them digitally to a worldwide audience. A tool like Loom makes it easy to record webcam videos, screen captures, and recorded narration quickly and easily. This lets you present your PowerPoint or any other content to a digital audience without extensive and time-consuming video editing.

Include direct-to-camera (DTC) content

Personalization is the heart of every good video—nothing builds a personalized experience like a friendly face. Use a simultaneous webcam and screen capture to record yourself explaining the slides and information on the screen. Adding picture-in-picture DTC elements creates rapport and trust with your audience and ensures they stay engaged with your presentation.

Slide text: Less is more

Text is great for outlining the major themes of a presentation and adding context to discussions, but with a PowerPoint presentation, treat text as the seasoning in a recipe. Use what you need to enhance the experience, but don’t overwhelm. 

Build your slides as an outline for each discussion topic and a home for visual elements like charts, infographics, and embedded video clips. But you, as the presenter, should do most of the talking. Building your presentation this way keeps viewers focused and engaged instead of hurrying to keep up with the reading. 

Structure your presentation

Well-structured content is vital to the flow and digestibility of your presentation. When building your slides and video script, organize your information similarly to a blog post or an ebook. Start with an introduction to share your personal info and a general topical overview. Create segments that logically lay out each point or step in the process. Wrap things up with a conclusion and (if needed) a call to action that invites the viewer to take the next step—booking a call, downloading a resource, or signing up for a service.

Keep videos concise and skimmable

Digital fatigue is real. With so many videos and messages competing for our attention, creating a streamlined presentation results in longer view duration . The average view duration of a YouTube video may be as short as 40 seconds, with the median watch time averaging just over a minute and a half . 

Another trick to increase viewability is to make it easy for viewers to skim. A well-structured presentation offers natural segments to help viewers zero in on the information they need. YouTube offers a Chapters feature that lets you insert a linkable outline so viewers can easily skip to specific timestamps. 

Basic recording in PowerPoint

Microsoft offers basic tools to start recording your PowerPoint presentation. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to recording a simple presentation:

Step 1: From PowerPoint, open the slide with which you want to start your presentation. 

Step 2: Select Record from the upper right hand corner of the PowerPoint window.

Step 3: Make sure your recording and voice settings are set properly, then click the round Record button. Begin your presentation.

Step 4: Click through your slide presentation and record your audio. Be sure to pause during slide transitions, as PowerPoint will not record audio during slide changes.

Step 5: Save your finished PowerPoint video to your local device and share it through email or upload it to sharing platforms like Vimeo, YouTube, etc. 

An important note: PowerPoint’s native recording features offer some editing and highlight features. You’ll need a screen recorder app like Loom to film direct-to-camera or make substantial edits. 

How to use Loom’s presentation recording software

It's simple to record yourself and your screen presentation side-by-side using only your laptop, a built-in camera, a mic, and Loom. Using Loom to record presentations on a computer is a fantastic way to save time and guarantee that your presentation goes precisely as planned. Loom's basic version is free to use and provides users with different options to meet their unique needs best. You may record the material on your screen and even take a video of yourself presenting alongside your screen capture.

Loom is available as a PC screen recorder , Mac screen recorder , iOS screen recorder , and Android screen recorder . The two primary methods are through the Desktop Client or the Chrome Screen Recorder . The desktop versions offer a higher recording resolution (4k compared to 1080p in the Chrome extension) and additional features like camera frames and backgrounds.

In either case, learning to record a presentation is simple with Loom’s easy-to-use presentation recorder. Here’s some information to help you get started. 

You can create a Loom account using a variety of methods. Users may log in with their Google account information, or connect their Slack account information, email address, password, and name. You must first complete the registration process to have access to the program.

What is the Loom desktop client, and how can I use it?

Search for Loom in the Windows search box or click the red pinwheel Loom logo to launch the Loom Desktop Client. After you've opened it, choose the type of video recording you wish to make. Cam Only, Screen Only, and Screen + Cam are the three possibilities for the basic Loom version. As their names suggest, Cam Only and Screen Only allow you to record the material on your screen or yourself through a camera. Screen + Cam will enable you to make a presentation recording with both yourself and the information in real time, allowing others to watch your reactions to the material and connect with you as the presenter.

If you wish to record your screen, the presentation recorder has three options for defining the parameters of your video: Full Screen, Window, and Custom Size. 

Full Screen captures everything on your monitor or display, allowing others to watch and follow along. 

You may use the Window option to record a single computer application if you want to construct a more restricted lesson without interruptions. 

Custom Size is exclusively available to Pro account holders, allowing users to build custom windows to capture particular areas of their screen.

To record your Loom videos, use the built-in webcam and microphone on your smartphone or computer or additional devices as needed. Loom recommends using high-quality microphones for better audio.

Using the Loom Google Chrome Extension to capture videos

First, download and install the Loom Google Chrome Extension from the Chrome Web Store. Then launch the extension's user interface by clicking on the red pinwheel Loom logo in the browser's top right corner. You can choose Cam Only, Screen Only, and Screen + Cam, the same as the desktop client. Unfortunately, users of the Google Chrome Extension can only record their entire screen or the contents of a single tab.

The Video Control menu differs from the desktop extension, appearing in the bottom left corner of the browser window. Users may only utilize three buttons: Start/End Recording, Pause Recording, and Delete Recording.

Using the Loom desktop client to record videos

Each option lets you use Loom's camera bubble , which allows you to see and record yourself as well as a video. There is no set limit on the duration of the video, but Loom will provide you alerts to ensure you don't keep recording by accident. Once you've decided on your selections, go to the four-button Video Control menu on the left side of your screen. To start your video, press the Recording button at the top of the menu. This button has two purposes: When the button is red, it indicates that you’re currently recording, and it stops the recording when clicked a second time.

The Pause button is located beneath the Recording button and is used to pause your video. However, depending on your computer, you may alternatively use Alt + Shift + P or Option + Shift + P . The Delete option is represented by a garbage can icon, which pauses the recording and completely deletes the video once you confirm your decision via a dialog box.

How to use the speaker notes feature

Loom makes presentations easier with speaker notes , an on-screen cue card feature visible only to you. Speaker notes are bullet points or full scripts written by you and activated during recording. These prompts allow you to deliver your message with confidence, without the need to remember your whole script or utilize physical note cards. 

From the desktop app, open Loom and click Speaker Notes. Use the pop-up window to type in your notes, then resize the notes window to suit your needs before recording. Speaker notes are always presented on top, so there’s no need to switch windows during your presentation.  

How AI-generated chapters work

Want your viewers to be able to skip to the most useful portion of a presentation? The AI-generated chapter feature allows viewers to select important topics within your presentation and navigate to them easily. These time-stamped chapters also allow users to link and respond to content. 

How to use the drawing tool

Finally, the drawing tool , symbolized by a pen icon and available with the Pro subscription, can assist you in focusing on certain facts and numbers. Using this button, which includes picking a preset color, lets you make graphics that will draw your viewer's attention to key information.

Preserve your ideas with Loom’s Presentation Recorder

If you’re just starting out, learning to record a presentation with Loom is an excellent tool for creating quality content. As the world continues to move towards remote work environments, the ability to give an online presentation (and record it for posterity) becomes more essential every day.

Loom is free, so don’t wait to see how you can enhance your video presentation with video capture software.

Jan 8, 2024

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Jeong Lee works in Marketing at Loom.

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