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How to Make a Video Presentation With Audio in 8 Steps

Written by: Orana Velarde

Wondering how to make a video presentation with audio?

You're in the right place.

In this guide, we’ll cover the 8 steps to creating video presentations with voiceovers, pictures and music. We've also included tips for powerful presentations to help you get maximum results.

Here’s a short selection of 8 interactive presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

Jump to your desired section in the table of contents below.

8 Steps to Creating a Video Presentation

What is a video presentation, what makes a good video presentation, step #1: plan and strategize, step #2: organize your content, step #3: log in to visme and choose a template, step #4: input your content into the slides, step #5: add animations and transitions, step #6: add audio to your presentation, step #7: review and edit, step #8: download and share.

A video presentation is a presentation that can be shared and viewed as a video. Technically, for a presentation to be a video presentation, it must be an MP4 or MOV file type.

A video presentation can be shared online on YouTube, Vimeo and other social media platforms . The best part of a video presentation with audio is that you can share it widely without the need of being there to present the information in person.

Even a live presentation can be improved with a video slideshow. Simply give a live introduction during your webinar or summit, and then play your video presentation to the audience.

A video presentation becomes even more valuable and high-quality when you add audio to it. For example, adding a music clip or a narrated voiceover can do wonders to help you get your message across and leave a lasting impact.

Check out this "2021 Year in Review" video presentation we created at Visme.

Made with Visme Presentation Maker

Make your own video presentation in Visme! Create Now

A good video presentation will capture your audience’s attention until the very end.

When it comes to creating a video presentation, there is no definite checklist as to what constitutes a good video presentation. But there are some things you can do to make sure that yours is good enough to keep the viewer engaged.

For example:

• Think of your presentation as a video from the very beginning.
• Take the time to create an outline or storyboard of your slides.
• Make sure the information flows from one slide, or scene, to another.
• Preview your presentation as you put it together, making sure it flows well.
• Add animations and motion graphics only if they bring visual value.
• Stay balanced with animations and transitions throughout the scenes.
• Tell a story to improve content retention.

Using the tips above, you’re well on your way to creating a video presentation that is sure to make an impact.

Ready? Let’s get started with a step-by-step tutorial!

If you prefer watching over reading, here's a short video tutorial on how to create engaging presentations in Visme.

For any successful project to be a success, including your new video presentation, you must plan and strategize. You and your team need to know the purpose of the video presentation before you even start putting together content or visuals.

Because you need to know the reason, the why, behind the project. That way, the creation process will reflect those goals and take you in the right direction faster.

For example, if you want to create an explainer video about your new product line, do you want the goal to be brand awareness or sales, or both?

If it’s sales, then the messaging and visuals must be created for that purpose. If it’s awareness, then you can take a different approach at how to portray the new product line.

If you want both, then you can do a bit of both and tell a story about the product that explains how it’s made and how it will improve your customers' lives.

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• Produce beautiful, effective marketing content quickly even without an extensive design skillset
• Inspire your sales team to create their own content with branded templates for easy customization

Sign up. It’s free.

Questions to ask before you create a video presentation.

Here are the most important questions to ask yourself and your team before you create a video presentation:

• Why do you need a video presentation?
• Who will watch this video presentation and where?
• What are you planning to convey?
• What story are you telling?
• Who do you want to convince, of what?
• How would you like the audience to feel when seeing your video presentation?
• Will it be in-house and private or public for the world to see?
• How can your company or brand sound like an expert in the topic?
• Do you want the audience to engage when they are done watching?
• Do you need a voiceover or maybe a music track will be enough?
• Is it necessary to hire voice talent or maybe a presenter you can film?
• Will you need to write a video script or not?

Write down a list of goals for your video presentation and make sure they are on-hand during every step of the process. Use these goal-setting worksheets and templates to get started.

Every person involved in the creation of the video needs to know about the purpose, goal and plan at all times — from stakeholders and designers to content creators, marketers and social media managers.

Here's a sample plan template you can use to keep up with your project goals, target audience, tactics and more. Share it with your team to help everyone stay on the same page.

Customize this template and make it your own! Edit and Download

Now that your team is on board and you know the purpose of your video presentation, it’s time to get organized.

This is a step with more value than you can imagine. In fact, it should be an un-skippable step to every visual project you create, along with the first step of planning and strategizing.

Start by organizing all the content for the presentation into a folder on your desktop. Include all the graphics, photos, video clips, audio bites and any brand assets. Create a document with all the written content and make notes on what the audio will be.

• For a voiceover, draft a script.
• For music, choose the perfect track.

With the written content, draft a simple outline or storyboard. For a video presentation, in particular, you should try a storyboard.

This step is especially important if you have stakeholders invested in seeing the final product and want to see the process.

How to create a storyboard in Visme.

It's easy! Use one of the Visme storyboard templates to put one together.

Remember, storyboards don’t need to be too detailed. The purpose of making one is to give an idea of what will be created. Don’t invest too much time in trying to perfect it.

Here are some templates to get you started.

Microwave Lunch TVC Storyboard

Public Library Storyboard

Thrift Shop Storyboard

Art Therapy Storyboard

Air Pollution Storyboard

Tree Plantation Program Storyboard

Create your storyboard View more templates

It’ll be easier to create a storyboard once you’ve already created the outline. The slide layout for a video presentation is much like the layout of a regular presentation.

For example, here is a broad outline for a regular presentation with sections:

• Slide1: Title and Subtitle
• Slide 2: Introduction - Table of Contents
• Slides 3: Section 1 Title
• Slides 4-7: Section 1 content
• Slide 8: Section 2 Title
• Slide 9-11: Section 2 content
• Slide 12: Summary or Review
• Slide 13: Conclusion and Closing

If your presentation doesn’t have defined sections to separate the content in, choose a good flow from one slide to another . For example:

• Chronological Order
• Problem and Solution
• Before and After
• Hero’s Journey progression

Browse presentation templates in Visme! Create Now

Now that you have a good idea of the purpose of your video, an outline or even a storyboard, it’s time to put it all together.

Log in to your Visme account and select a starting point for your video presentation. This could be:

• One of the four presentation themes with hundreds of slides and layouts to mix and match.
• A full-scale pre-designed presentation template with animation effects.
• One of our animated video templates.
• A previously created and imported PowerPoint presentation.
• An existing Visme slideshow without animation, video or audio.

Use your outline or storyboard to set up your slide order in the editor. Make sure you have all the slides you need to fit your content.

Now, it’s time to add the content to your slides. If you are starting with a blank canvas, you can use content blocks to help you layout the content in balanced compositions.

When adding the content to your slides, remember that people don’t want to read slides on videos. Keep the text to a minimum and use more visuals instead.

If you’ll be using a voice over for the online video presentation, then you’ll need hardly any text on the slides apart from titles and section titles.

For complementary visuals like images and backgrounds, look through the library on the left side menu of your editor. It’s also likely that you have a selection of images from your company that you want to use in your slides. Upload them to your library.

Add some uniqueness to your images by placing them inside frames or cropping them to fit next to colored shapes and sections.

For backgrounds, you have lots of choices — from full colors to gradients to animated and video backgrounds. Try photographs with filters for a subtle background that doesn’t compete with the foreground elements.

You can also add videos inside your video presentation, either uploaded or with a link to YouTube, Vimeo or Wistia. We suggest you use short videos in this case so that your final project isn’t excessively long.

Do you know how to make a video presentation that is impactful and fun to watch?

Just add animations and moving elements!

Visme comes with built-in with the following animated assets:

• Animated icons
• Shapes and lines
• Animated illustrations
• Animated characters
• Special effects
• Animated gestures
• Animated charts and data widgets

It’s time to bring it all to life and go from regular static presentation to video presentation.

At this point, you might already have some animated elements in your slides, maybe some animated icons or animated characters. Before you go ahead and animate anything else, review all the transitions between slides.

It’s important to understand that the animated elements, embedded or background videos, and audio you use must all match the transition between slides.

This is the magic sauce for transforming a normal presentation into a video presentation.

Let’s look at all the animation and transition options in your Visme dashboard and how you can use them to your advantage.

Animated characters, icons, illustrations and special effects.

All these elements have options to select the number of repetitions of their action and the speed. The higher number of repetitions you choose, the longer it will take to finish its action. The speed will make the action faster or slower. You can toggle both to find the perfect combination.

The completed action of any of these animated elements will override a timed transition. The transition will wait until the animation is finished to go ahead and start. You can adjust the final length of your animated elements by previewing your slide and taking note of its length.

Additionally, you can customize the poses that the characters portray and also the color of their clothes and skin. These deep customization options will help you stay on brand when creating your video presentations.

Stock videos and video backgrounds.

Videos you add from the editor or import from your computer have the option to trim to a desired length, loop or autoplay.

Alternatively, use video as a background. Stretch it to fit the entire slide and position it behind all the other content. The edit settings are the same as a regular video.

Visme offers a large selection of quality video clips to use as backgrounds or as complementary visuals. it's also easy to upload your own video to the library.

Animated backgrounds.

These loop on their own and are ruled by the transition settings. Animated backgrounds stand out so make sure you are keeping a balance with the elements in the foreground.

Manual animations.

Animations can be added to everything on your slide, including the videos and animated icons. You can tweak the settings to control when elements enter and exit the slide.

There are lots of options for these animations and you can time them using the animation settings. Try to keep animations on the same slide to a minimum so they're not distracting.

Smooth transitions.

Transitions can be added slide by slide or to the entire presentation at once. If you don’t go into the transitions menu at all, Visme will apply a staggered enter from the side that already looks great for presentations that you have to click on to continue to the next slide.

For video presentations, you’ll need to edit your transitions to happen automatically according to what is going on in your slide.

In general, you can make the transition happen after a specific number of seconds but if you have an animated element or audio clip that lasts longer, the transition won’t happen until the longest one has finished its action.

For slides with added video, make the transition happen either when the video ends or at a calculated time after the video has ended. Both are available options in the transition settings.

Transitions can be set in different styles, slide from the side top or bottom, or a simple fade or zoom. For a balanced composition, use the same style of transition throughout.

But if you want to get creative, use different transitions to design a more creative flow. Just make sure you don’t go overboard.

In the section above, we already talked a little about how audio works together with the transitions for a seamless video experience.

Now, let’s take a look at how to add audio inside Visme.

As you work on your video presentation, you might feel the need to work on animations, transitions and audio at the same time so that it all fits together in the best way possible.

To add audio to your presentation in Visme, you have several options:

Adding audio in the background.

Adding audio to each slide., tweaking the audio inside video clips., adding a voice over or narration..

To add a background sound clip, click on the top-left hamburger menu and select “Publish Settings”. This is where you can tweak your project's main settings. Click on the third tab "Sound."

Toggle background music on to release a dropdown that shows the options inside the editor or any .mp3 file you’ve added to your library.

Adjust the volume of this clip and choose if it will loop, fade in or fade out. You can also choose if the background audio will play at a specific point in time.

Any background audio will play under all other audio or video you add to the presentation. So make sure these are balanced and make sense together.

Inside the editor, you have the option of adding individual audio clips to each slide.

Choose from any inside the editor or upload your own. You’ll have the option to trim the length of the audio, its volume and if it loops or fades in and out.

Similar to the background audio, you can choose to start at a specific time during that slide’s progression.

When you add a video file that has audio in it, you can choose to keep the audio or turn it off. The option is inside the video settings in the “muted” tab.

You can add voiceovers to your video presentation in three different ways;

• A track in the background
• An imported clip to each slide
• Recorded over every slide using the Visme voiceover recording feature

Whichever you choose, remember to calculate all the play lengths along with the transitions so that everything flows well.

Now it’s time to review everything and make sure it’s perfect.

First up, do some proofreading of your text to fix any typos or grammatical issues. Make sure all the text is in the correct font and size to stay on brand and maintain a visual hierarchy.

Use the Present button and watch the entire video presentation from start to finish. Take notes along the way of things you notice that need a fix or edit.

If you want to see what the final project will look like to your audience, download a video version and watch it on your video player. Once again, take note of any necessary edits.

You’re done! That was easy, wasn’t it?

It’s time to share your video presentation with its intended audience. Click on the download button and select the MP4 file option.

If your video is especially long or full of features, it will take a bit longer to download. We’ll send you an email when it’s ready so you don’t have to watch the progress bar.

Go get a coffee or take a break for a job well done!

Once downloaded, upload your video to YouTube, Facebook or any of your favorite social media platforms.

If you created the video as part of a larger Visme project, upload it back into your editor. Use your video as part of an interactive report, or for your website, landing pages or email campaigns.

Ready to Create Your Video Presentation with Audio?

Are you ready to create your video presentation with audio? Visme offers all you need to create professional-looking video presentations with audio for any purpose and industry.

With plenty of ready-made presentation templates , you don't need video editing experience. And, since Visme is a web-based app, it doesn't matter if you use a Mac or PC computer.

Video presentations with audio are great for projects like:

• Annual reports
• Explainer videos
• Sales pitches
• E-learning courses
• Pitch decks
• Informational reports
• Advertising
• Explanations
• School reports
• Medical reports

If you’re still doubting if you know how to make a video presentation, just remember to follow the steps in this guide and use the tips in the first section to guide you through the process.

Don’t forget that the ultimate goal for your video presentation with audio is to leave a powerful, lasting impact on your audience.

Sign up for our presentation software and get started right away. Make simple video presentations or rich, interactive and memorable video presentations with audio, animations, characters, links, embedded content and other exclusive features.

Create beautiful presentations faster with Visme.

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About the Author

Orana is a multi-faceted creative. She is a content writer, artist, and designer. She travels the world with her family and is currently in Istanbul. Find out more about her work at oranavelarde.com

How to Record a Presentation with Webcam, Narration, and More

Everyone has, at some point, put a load of time and effort into creating the perfect PowerPoint presentation, only to use it once or twice. But isn’t it a shame for all that hard work to be discarded so quickly? Is every slide deck destined for deletion after just a couple of uses? 

Isn’t there a better way to make the most out of your presentations? Well, yes. Yes, there is. 

Rather than simply creating and presenting your work once or twice, recording your presentations can give them a new lease of life. Whether it’s a data report or a self-recorded PowerPoint, you can record a presentation in real-time, or in advance to make it available on-demand.

In this guide, we’ll explore two distinct ways of recording your presentation. First, we’ll discuss how to record a presentation from PowerPoint with audio and webcam, and then we’ll look at how to turn your .ppt slides into a video.

Benefits of Recording a Presentation 

As well as there being many different ways to record a presentation, there are also many benefits of recording them. So, before we show you the ‘how,’ let’s talk about the ‘why.’ 

• Encouraging asynchronous communication : One key benefit is fostering asynchronous communication . By recording presentations, you’re letting your audience engage with the content in their own time, breaking the constraints of time zones and scheduling conflicts. This also ensures your viewers can absorb information at their own pace, and revisit it as needed.
• Boosting SEO : You can use your presentation to create a YouTube video and share it on your website to increase your online visibility and attract prospective customers. This can be a great way to expand your audience, increase web traffic, and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
• Perfecting your presentation : Whether it’s in-person or over Zoom, you don’t get second chances with live presentations. However, a pre-recorded keynote lets you perfect the content and the narration before anyone sees it. This is a great way to combat stage fright while honing your presentation skills and building confidence.

With this in mind, turning your slides into a video is a no-brainer. It’s an easy way to grow your audience and make the information you’re sharing more accessible and easier to digest.

Record your presentation today!

Download a free trial of Snagit to quickly and easily record your presentation.

How to record your presentation (with Snagit)

Depending on your audience and the type of presentation you need to deliver, TechSmith’s Snagit could just be the perfect tool for recording your PowerPoint. With its user-friendly interface and advanced features, Snagit is ideal for capturing top-notch presentation videos, in just a few clicks. 

Now, there’s no denying that presentations are better when you can see the presenter… Fortunately, Snagit lets you capture your screen and webcam at the same time to create a Picture-in-Picture video.

In this section, we’ll guide you through the steps to record your presentation and webcam with Snagit. 

Step 1: Open video capture 

First, open Snagit and navigate to the Capture window. Select the Video tab, and start by clicking the big red Capture button.

Step 2: Select a recording area

Next, you’ll be prompted to choose which parts of your screen you want to record. Use Snagit’s orange crosshairs to select a specific region, window, or your entire screen. 

Step 3: Configure recording settings

With the Video Recording toolbar, you can set options like Cursor Capture and Effects, System Audio, and Webcam. 

If your webcam isn’t showing, click on the webcam icon. If you have an external webcam, select the one you want to use by clicking the dropdown arrow next to the webcam icon. 

Step 4: Adjust your webcam

Next, adjust your webcam options to ensure your Picture-in-Picture recording looks how you want it. Here you can change the Picture-in-Picture placement as well as the shape and size of your webcam recording. You can even toggle between Picture-in-Picture and fullscreen webcam modes as you like.

The best part? You can make these adjustments even while recording.

Step 5: Manage recording

When you’re ready to roll, hit the Record button and click the Stop button when you’re finished. It’s that simple! 

And remember, if there’s an interruption (like an unexpected visit from the mailman), just hit Pause. It’s okay to take a break — your video won’t be ruined by a little interruption.

Step 6: Edit your video

Once you’ve finished recording, Snagit will automatically open your video in the Snagit Editor, which is super easy to use. From here, you can make light edits to the footage as needed. 

For example, if you need to cut or trim your footage , you can! Here’s how: 

• Set Start Point : Drag the Start handle (green) on the timeline to your desired starting point.
• Set End Point : Similarly, drag the End handle (red) to where you want to end the cut.
• Review the Segment : Before making any cuts, you can review the segment by dragging the Playhead (white) left and right across the timeline. This ensures you’re only cutting the footage you intend to.
• Make the Cut : Once you’re satisfied with the selection, click the Cut button, which will pop up once you’ve made a selection.

And that’s all there is to it! If you want to go the extra mile, you can also use Snagit to save individual frames of your video as images , which can be used to create a thumbnail for your video . 

How to record a presentation from PowerPoint with audio and webcam

Now, Snagit is great for recording less formal videos in a flash, but if your presentation is intended for a particularly large or important audience, you might be looking to create something more polished. This is where TechSmith’s Camtasia comes in. 

Camtasia is one of the smartest and most intuitive pieces of editing software out there, but it also makes for a pretty nifty screen recorder too. Camtasia is great for recording presentations when you need more control and editing powers over the final product. 

But best of all, Camtasia streamlines the process by letting you record your presentation and voice over directly within PowerPoint. 

Step 1: Set up your presentation video recording

If you’re a Windows user, you’ll have the option to include a PowerPoint Add-in Toolbar when you install Camtasia. While this feature isn’t currently available on MacOS, the Camtasia Add-in Toolbar allows you to start, stop, and control your recordings from within PowerPoint — so you don’t need to switch between applications.

Just open the presentation you want to record and locate the Add-in toolbar under the Add-ins tab. 

Don’t see the add-in toolbar? Go to File > Options > Add-ins, to enable it. Click on the Manage drop-down, select Disabled Items, then click Go. If the Camtasia Add-in is listed, select it, and click Enable.

If you’re an Apple user, don’t panic! You can still record your screen (with audio) on a Mac using Camtasia, and it’s just as easy. Alternatively, you can skip ahead to the next section and import your slides directly into Camtasia. 

Step 2: Customize your recording options

Now let’s walk through each of the options on the toolbar before we begin recording.

Record audio

The microphone button controls whether or not audio is recorded as part of your presentation. When you enable it, you’ll be able to record your narration using a microphone.

If you are planning to record audio, this is where you’ll select your microphone. If you want to record great audio , we suggest using an external microphone, rather than the one that’s built into your laptop. 

Some of the best microphones for recording video are likely to be less expensive than you think. But, if you’re on a shoestring budget, even the mic that’s built into your headphones could produce better audio than your laptop. 

Once you’re set up, be sure to test the mic and adjust the volume slider as needed. You’ll also need to decide whether or not to record your system audio, which is any sound that comes out of your speakers, such as email notifications. 

Record webcam

If you have a webcam, you can also record your camera during the presentation to create a Picture-in-Picture clip — just as you can with Snagit! 

To customize even more of the recording settings, click the Recording Options button. Here you’ll find settings that let you record with a watermark and adjust your video frame rate . There are a few more options too, but the default settings should work just fine.

When you’re ready, click OK to close this window and save any changes made.

Step 3: Record your presentation

The final step is as simple as clicking the Record button in the toolbar. This will launch your slides into the Presentation Mode and start recording.

When you exit Presentation Mode or reach the end of your slideshow, you can either continue recording your screen, or stop recording and save your file. Pretty easy right? 

Before you get started, let us show you another way to turn your presentation into a video, without recording your desktop . 

How to turn your PowerPoint presentation slides into a video

Another way to create a video from your presentation is to import your PowerPoint slides into Camtasia. This way you can adjust how long each slide appears on screen, as well as add Behaviors and Annotations to personalize your presentation and highlight important information. 

By importing your slides into Camtasia, and recording your voice over separately, you get a lot more flexibility with the editing process, which means you have more control over the finished article. 

If you do decide to record your audio separately, you might want to take a look at TechSmith’s Audiate . This advanced audio recorder will transcribe your voice over in real-time and let you edit the audio file as if it were a text-based document. We don’t want to brag, but it’s probably the best way to add a voice over to a PowerPoint . 

Regardless of how you decide to narrate your PowerPoint, here’s how to turn your presentation into a video: 

1. Import your PowerPoint slides

First, start by importing your PowerPoint slides directly into Camtasia. Once your media is imported, you can edit it by dragging your slides into the Editing Toolbar.

You can now add the images to the Timeline, and edit them like any other media in a Project. 

If you drag your slides to the Timeline, the slides will be placed in the order of the presentation, each with a default 5-second duration.

With your presentation on the timeline, use Ripple Move to create space in between slides to adjust the timing of each one. To do this, hold shift, then click and drag.

Once you’ve imported your slides and adjusted the duration of each one to correlate with your voice over, it’s time to start editing. 

How to edit a presentation video (in Camtasia) 

Add behaviors.

Firstly, add some visual interest with Camtasia Behaviors . A Behavior is an animation that brings movement to your slides, making them stand out on screen. This is a great way to bring parts of your presentation to life and take it from ordinary to extraordinary — because nobody likes a boring presentation . 

To add a Behavior, click and drag the Behavior you wish to use onto the slide you want to animate. Once added, you can adjust the Behavior using the Properties tab.

Add annotations

Another good way to grab and direct your audience’s attention is to add some Annotations, which are great for highlighting important information.  

To insert an Annotation, click the Annotation tab on the left side of the screen and drag it into the designated slide. You can then re-position and edit the Annotation in the Properties tab as needed.

Recording a PowerPoint Presentation, the FAQs

Absolutely! Both Snagit and Camtasia are excellent choices for recording a professional and polished presentation. Snagit is perfect for no-fuss recording and editing. If you require more sophisticated editing capabilities, Camtasia is the ideal choice, offering the added convenience of recording your slideshow and voice over directly within PowerPoint.

Click the Record button in the toolbar to launch your slides into the Presentation Mode and start recording. When you exit Presentation Mode or reach the end of your slideshow, you can either continue recording your screen or stop and save your file.

If you’re planning to record audio, select your microphone in the recording options. The microphone button controls whether or not audio is recorded as part of your presentation. If you have a webcam attached to your computer, you can also record your camera to create a Picture-in-Picture clip, perfect for showing the presenter during the presentation.

With Snagit, you can conveniently record your voice over as you go through your presentation, capturing both the audio and visuals in one go. If you’re looking for more advanced recording and editing options, you might also consider using Camtasia, which allows you to record your voice over while presenting. For even more control, use Audiate to record your audio separately and then import it into Camtasia for fine-tuning.

Justin Simon

Global Content Strategy Manager at TechSmith. I play a lot of golf and watch a lot of football.

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How to make a show-stopping video presentation in 5 simple steps

Learn how to make a show-stopping video presentation to engage your audience, using Dropbox Capture to record your screen, voice, and camera simultaneously.

Whether you’re a teacher, student, business professional, or even a YouTube content creator—for many of us, delivering presentations quickly becomes a standard part of everyday life.

But what happens if you can’t be there to deliver your presentation in person, need a key point to land perfectly, or you need your audience to watch it asynchronously in their own time? Have no fear, video presentations can be a great solution to all these challenges.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything there is to know about creating your own high quality video presentations, so your audience can benefit from your content whenever they need it.

Jump to section

• What is a video presentation

What makes a good presentation video?

What tools do you need to make a video presentation, how to make a video presentation.

• Making a video presentation in PowerPoint
• Making a video presentation in Keynote

Starting from the top: What is a video presentation?

A video presentation is a method of communication through which information is delivered partially or entirely through video. In other words, it’s the process of using video to deliver a message or presentation.

Common formats for video presentations might include pre-recorded slide presentations, instructional videos, sales material, inspirational talks, entertainment, or anything you can think of.

While the reaction to a video presentation will be subjective, there are a few general qualities that can be beneficial to keep in mind:

• Make your video valuable —have a clear intended outcome for the viewer and be sure to reach it
• Make sure your audio and video are clear —you want your audience to focus on your message, not your video quality
• Bring your key points to life —use stories, questions, and examples to illustrate key concepts and engage viewers
• Establish expectations —use your introduction to set clear expectations, either with an agenda or teasing where the session is heading
• Don’t rely on slides —if the slides added all the value, you could just send your audience a PDF. Ask yourself: what are you adding to the content by presenting it?
• Keep an eye on time —don’t make your video presentation longer than it needs to be.
• Mix it up —break the monotony and change pace at appropriate intervals
• Don’t start over for the sake of perfection —if you make a mistake during recording, you can always edit it out later

Before you can start creating your own video presentations, you’ll first need a few basic tools.

Hardware for a video presentation

Let’s start with the basics, your tech. In most cases, you’ll have everything you need if you have a standard laptop or desktop computer.

Here’s what you’ll need to start making video presentations:

• A laptop or PC —you’ll need something to make the presentation recording on
• A microphone —to record your voice-over, either built-in or USB
• A camera —if you want to include video of yourself, either as a built-in webcam or a USB camera

Video recording software

With your tech set up, you’ll need software to record your presentation. Depending on your needs, this might be something to record your screen, record your voice, or record yourself with your camera.

With Dropbox Capture , you can do all three at the same time .

Dropbox Capture is video and screen recording technology, designed to make it easy to quickly capture whatever you need. All without needing advanced editing skills or specialist equipment.

With Capture, it’s easy to:

• Record your screen, webcam, and microphone simultaneously
• Create GIFs
• Draw on or annotate recordings
• Automatically generate closed captions
• Share in just a few clicks

While presentation applications like PowerPoint and Keynote have some built-in screen and presentation recording capabilities, they only allow you to record the presentation.

Whereas with Dropbox Capture, you’re free to jump between windows and applications throughout your presentation recording—giving you greater freedom on what you present. 

File storage and sharing tools

Ultimately, you’re going to want to make your video presentation available for viewers somewhere.

With Dropbox cloud storage , this is as easy as copying a link , with full control over access and permissions for your files.

We’ll now cover all the steps to create an impactful video presentation, starting from the very beginning—your plan.

1. Plan your topic, examples, and intended audience

You likely already have an idea of what you’ll want to cover in your video presentation, but it can help to formally get this down on paper:

• Presentation aim —what do you want your audience to understand by the end of the video?
• Approach —broadly, what will you cover to help them understand this concept?
• Resources —what examples will you be able to share to illustrate the key concepts?

To help with the planning process, Dropbox Paper has a number of pre-built templates to get your creative juices flowing, like the brainstorming template .

2. Create your presentation slides and your video presentation storyboard

If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to create your slides.

While doing this, you should also think about the overall storyboard of your video presentation—what are the key beats, how will you present them, and what slides do you need?

A storyboard is a visual tool, used by video producers to map out the narrative flow of a video and the visuals that will accompany it. In many cases, your presentation will almost act as a storyboard, but it might help to get this down on paper first.

You can learn more about the storyboarding process in our in-depth guide to storyboards .

3. Record your video presentation

With your storyboard and presentation ready, it’s time to go about creating your recording.

You can record your screen first, then later record a voice-over or video narration and edit the two together. Or with Dropbox Capture , you can record your screen, webcam, and microphone simultaneously. Using Dropbox Capture makes it easy to create your pre-recorded video lesson in one take. Perfect, if you don’t have access to advanced video editing software.

To record with Dropbox Capture , it’s a simple as the following steps:

• Open Dropbox Capture
• Click Screen recording & camera
• Choose which part of your screen you’d like to capture
• Click the Record icon to start recording, click it again to stop recording
• Click the Pause icon in the side panel while recording to pause or resume recording
• Click the Draw icon in the side panel while recording to draw on your recording

4. Edit your video presentation

If you’re already happy with your recording, there is no further editing required.

In any other cases, you can use video editing software to apply finishing touches to your video as you see fit. These edits might include:

• Editing your screen recording and voice-over together (if you have separate files)—with Dropbox Capture you can record your microphone and camera simultaneously, without the need to use editing software
• Cut and delete unwanted sections of video—like an awkward pause or a dog barking, with Dropbox Capture you can do this directly within the app, no editing software required!
• Remove awkward filler words—clean up those pesky “ums” and “ahs”, with Dropbox Capture you can do this automatically, directly in the app
• Adding text overlays to emphasize key points of video sections
• Additional flair and visual elements
• Adding background music to create an atmosphere

5. Share your video presentation

With your video presentation finished, you’ll need a way for your viewers to access it.

If you're using Dropbox Capture, sharing your presentation couldn’t be easier, simply click the Share button and the sharing link will automatically copy to your clipboard.

If you’re not using Capture, Dropbox cloud storage makes it easy to share your video files with anyone and see who’s viewed your video presentation. All you need to do is copy a link to the file.

If you want to send a copy of the full video, complete with its cumbersome file size, Dropbox Transfer makes it easy to send large files securely. 

How to record a video presentation in PowerPoint

It’s worth keeping in mind that, when recording directly within PowerPoint, you can only record your slides and your editing options will be limited. The best way to give yourself complete control over what you record—and how you edit it afterwards—is with a purpose-built screen recording app like Dropbox Capture .

If you’d still prefer to record directly in PowerPoint, you can do this by following these steps:

• Open PowerPoint and open your presentation file
• Navigate to the slide you’d like to start recording from
• Select Record in the top-right corner of the PowerPoint window
• Click the red Record button, wait for the countdown, then start your presentation

With your presentation recorded, you can then save it to your Dropbox cloud storage , making it easy to share your video files with anyone and see who’s viewed your video presentation.

How to record a video presentation in Keynote

If you’re a Mac user and would prefer to record directly in Keynote, here’s how to do it:

• Open Keynote and open your presentation file
• Select Record Slideshow from the Play menu at the top of the screen

With your Keynote presentation recorded, you can then save it to your Dropbox cloud storage and share it simply by copying the link.

Again, your control over what you record and how the final edit turns out will be limited when recording directly within the Keynote app. To give yourself complete control over how your video presentation turns out, a purpose-built screen recording app like Dropbox Capture will be more suitable.

Elevate your video presentations with Dropbox Capture

It’s never been so simple to create an engaging and memorable video presentation, with Dropbox.

With Dropbox Capture , it’s never been easier to get your message across with video recordings of your presentations. So you can clearly say what you mean and nail the delivery, every single time.

Capture your audience’s attention.

Try Dropbox Capture

From ideas to screen: How to make presentation videos that shine

What type of content do you primarily create?

Visuals can mean the difference between a killer presentation and a lost opportunity.

For salespeople, it’s difficult to close a deal without business presentations to back up your pitches. For marketers and business owners, video presentations help communicate ideas and share results from projects to ensure future success. 

Customers also love high-quality visuals, like branded explainer videos and product tours. They’re the fuel that drives eight in 10 people to make online purchases. 

But what makes a good presentation? And how can you engage viewers throughout your video? This guide covers what you need to know about creating video presentations, no matter the purpose.

What is a video presentation ?

A video presentation refers to a sequence of visuals combined with audio to convey information, arguments, ideas, or narratives. It can be about a product, service, internal business reports, or even a topic of interest.

Video presentations can range from simple slideshow-style videos with voiceovers to more complex productions involving animations, live-action footage, music, sound effects , and more.

A good video presentation provides information clearly and concisely. But the best video presentations engage your target audience with professional video quality: a good camera and mic, skilled editing, and a confident presenter. 

There are a ton of different types of video presentation formats you can choose from, including:

• Animated explainer videos
• Employee onboarding videos
• Screen recordings
• Training videos
• Product demos
• Microsoft PowerPoint presentations with a talking head
• Sales presentations
• Awards presentations

Benefits of a video presentation 

These are great reasons to put in the effort to produce this type of video content.

Enhanced engagement

Video recordings—whether on social media or hosted on your website—are great for engagement and getting your audience’s attention. Wyzowl found that 95% of marketers have said video marketing has helped them increase brand awareness, 90% say it has helped generate leads, and 87% said it has helped them increase sales.

Visual clarity

There's a reason many people suggest something like "If you can learn it, you'll find it on YouTube." The presentation video format is unique in its ability to teach and demonstrate, similar to the in-person experience you'd get with a tutor or salesperson. 

The same Wyzowl report found that 96% of marketers say videos have helped increase user understanding of products and services. In short: video helps customers retain your information.

Global reach and accessibility

Video presentations are a great way to reach a global audience. More than half of people say they’re more likely to share a video with others than any other type of content. 

A video presentation is also better for accessibility than other content types. With video editing software , you can:

• Easily add subtitles and annotations to your video footage for those with hearing loss.
• Add an audio description voiceover for those with sight loss.
• Change the color filters for those with color blindness.

Personal connection

Building a personal connection with your audience is critical for overall brand engagement. A video presentation, especially one with a person in the video, helps you do that. Research shows that students have positive feelings for videos presented by an instructor, for example.

How to create a video presentation

Step 1. plan and prepare.

Proper planning and preparation can help the rest of your presentation creation process run smoothly. 

Think about what you’ll say, and use a storyboard to build out a visual plan of your presentation ideas. Storyboarding your presentation, instead of making it on the fly, will help you stay focused when you fire up your presentation software. (You don’t need to be an artist; just set out the scenes in a way that makes sense to you.)

At this point, start writing the video script for your presentation. You’ll know what to say and when to say it, and won’t fill your presentation up with filler words like “um” and pauses when trying to think about what to say next. 

Step 2. Gather resources

After you’ve completed your paper storyboard and script, it’s time to go digital. With Descript, you can build your slideshows into the video editor just like any slideshow tool . 

To create a presentation video in Descript:

• Hit New project .
• Import any media (images, infographics, short video clips, GIFs, or sounds) you want to include in your presentation.
• Drop your visuals into the script and edit them into a sequence, or work scene by scene by adding a / at the beginning of each slide.
• Add the background of your presentation, then your script in the left panel.
• Add captions to your presentation by hitting the T icon at the top and choosing Captions.

When you've set up all your slides, you can get fancier and add transitions, extra media, and special effects later.

But maybe you’d prefer to create the presentation using more familiar software, like Prezi, PowerPoint slides, or Google Slides. In that case, you can import the presentation into Descript later or use its screen recording functionality. (If you upgrade your Descript plan, you can create your own video presentation templates to use over and over again, if that’s your style.)

Step 3. Record your presentation video

With your slides all set up, it’s time to turn them into a video. This step is pretty straightforward if you’ve used Descript to make the presentation slides. All you’ll need to do is go to the beginning of the presentation and hit the Record button at the top of the screen:

 If, like in the image example above, you’ve written your script into the scenes, change the default setting Record into script to Record new layer . This preserves your script so you can read from it whil recording your presentation video. 

Decide if you want to record a voiceover only (leaving the record option as Audio only ), or add a floating head video with your webcam to show yourself as the speaker by clicking the Screen option. Either way, go through your script as the slides move along. 

If you created your presentation in another software like Google Slides, there may be no built-in option to record your presentation over the slides. In that case, use Descript’s screen recorder to film your screen with audio. The video file will be ready and waiting for you in the video editor when you finish recording.

Step 4. Edit and enhance

At this point, you’ve got the basic presentation down. It’s time to bring out your inner filmmaker and turn the slideshow into something special. 

With Descript’s free video editor, you can:

• Add title screens to introduce your presentation.
• Choose from a library of background music.
• Change the fonts of your captions and any other text layer.
• Add cool slide transitions.
• Improve audio quality with Studio Sound .

Descript’s video editing is different (and easy) since you can edit the video using the script instead of a traditional timeline editor. This makes the process super efficient since you can quickly identify what needs cutting. Simply delete the part of the script you don’t want, and the accompanying video will disappear.

Step 5. Review and fine-tune your video

What makes Descript extra special is the ability to edit your audio by taking out filler words you might have accidentally recorded. Remove “ums,” “uhs,” and awkward pauses in a single click with filler word removal . 

If, like me, you also have a habit of forgetting to say something important, you can use Descript's Overdub feature to add those few missed words without re-recording the whole scene. The software will create an AI clone of your voice to fix audio mistakes. 

With your video presentation fine-tuned, you’re ready to save and share it with the world. Click the Publish button in the top right corner and download the MP4 file, or export it directly to a platform like YouTube or Wistia.

6 key elements for crafting a great video presentation

Now you know the practical how-tos of making a presentation video, let’s look at some key elements that turn a good video presentation into a great one. 

Clear and engaging content

Visual appeal, narration and voice quality, engagement techniques, structure and flow.

• Audience-centric approach 

No one likes feeling confused. If your presentation isn’t clear, you’ll end up frustrating your audience. A nice trick for clarity is to imagine you’re explaining your presentation to a child; don’t use big words to sound smart. Presentations that are clear from the start are naturally more engaging.

Gone are the days of 360p Nokia footage. Even if you don’t have a professional camera setup, you can still record a video on a PC, phone, or webcam with high quality. But don’t forget about the images and text overlays. No one wants to try deciphering pixelated visuals—use the highest quality video resolution you can.

Even the best-quality video presentation can be ruined by bad audio. Poor-quality narration is hugely frustrating to viewers. Prioritize your audio quality, especially for information-rich videos like presentations, and use Studio Sound to remove distracting background noise from your presentation video.

When it comes to video presentations, you should think like a salesperson. You can't expect your audience to believe the information you give them if they don't trust you. Engage your audience by telling a personal story, describing relatable scenes, or emphasizing important points throughout your video.

Treat your presentation like a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Information should flow nicely from one point to the next. Do a test run through your slides before you start recording to ensure any questions don't crop up prematurely because the viewer thinks you haven't covered it (when you do a few slides later). 

Learn: Narrative structure: How to compose the best story for your footage

Audience-centric approach

It's pretty much always to the audience's benefit when you make a presentation video, so you shouldn't focus too much on yourself. Address your audience's needs and go above and beyond to answer any questions they may have. Otherwise, why would they listen to you?

5 tips to help you craft remarkable video presentations

Now we know what makes a great presentation video, here are five bonus presentation tips to create yours. 

1. Practice and rehearse

You won’t always get it right the first time, and that’s okay. But the more you practice before hitting record, the better your presentation video will be—and the less legwork you’ll need to do throughout the video editing process.

2. Invest in good equipment

Top-notch equipment makes your life easier throughout the video creation process. Replace your webcam with your iPhone to improve picture quality, and invest in editing tools that allow you to record and edit in the same dashboard.

3. Optimize lighting

Another area where you can improve the quality of your video is the lighting technique . If you have the budget, you can use a simple ring light, but if you don’t have the cash to invest in video equipment, use natural light (such as a window) behind your camera.

4. Engage with eye contact

If someone was talking to you and they weren’t looking at you, you’d probably be a little confused or uncomfortable, right? It’s the same with video. Look into the camera when making video presentations to simulate real eye contact with your audience. If you forget, use Descript’s Eye Contact AI effect to fix it.

5. Keep it concise

If you waffle on with unnecessary information or get sidetracked on a story, you’ll lose your audience’s attention, and they’ll click away or switch off. Stick to your video script and keep your presentation concise.

Elevate your video presentations with Descript

Creating an informative and engaging video presentation isn’t the easiest task in the world. You’ve got to know your audience and what they want, present the information confidently, and do it with visually appealing content.

With Descript, you can take your presentation video to the next level with an editing experience that allows you to:

• Record your screen on a Mac or Windows device
• Create and record slides (with voiceover) in one dashboard
• Remove filler words with a single click
• Use Studio Sound to remove background noise from your presentation
• Turn your presentation into a YouTube video, or download it as an MP4 file

Take a free tour of Descript and see why thousands of creators love its video editing platform.

How to make presentation videos FAQ

How do i make a presentation video for free.

• Choose a slideshow software like Descript
• Create your slides
• Add transitions 
• Record your voiceover
• Edit your presentation
• Share your video 

How do I video myself when presenting a PowerPoint?

Use PowerPoint’s built-in recording feature and choose the “Cameo” option to record yourself when presenting. Or, use Descript’s screen recording feature and have the presentation ready for editing when you finish recording. 

How do I make an audio-video presentation?

If you don’t want to record yourself on video, use a screen recorder to film your presentation slides. Video presentation makers like Descript allow you to record a voiceover.

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Top Tips for Creating Quality Meeting Minutes in Word

I tried using a windows clone as a daily driver, here’s how it went, this all-in-one linux distro isn’t for everyone, but it cured my distro-hopping habit, 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

• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft PowerPoint

5 Video Presentation Techniques for Maximum Impact

Senior Marketing Manager at Loom

Traditional slideshows can be a snooze-fest. You know, the kind where the people read aloud the text on the slides verbatim while you're also reading the same text yourself.

The flood of information and monotonous narration don’t help their case either. 

How will you transform your lackluster, one-way presentations into captivating experiences that leave a stronger impact on your audience?

The answer is simpler than you think: video presentations .

Ready to ditch the dull and embrace the dynamic? Learn five techniques to create video presentations that enthrall your audience and learn how to record them. 

The power of video presentations 

Video presentations aren’t just a fancy way to show off your tech skills. They’re a powerful way to interact with your audience and leave a lasting impression. 

Think about all the times you zoned out during a PowerPoint presentation with endless paragraphs and bullet points. Video presentations serve as an antidote. 

So, what really sets video presentations apart? 

They grab attention like nothing else. Research shows that presentations with video get 32% more engagement . People are likelier to watch and interact with a video than stare at a static slide.

It’s not just about getting more people to watch your presentations. Videos also boost understanding and retention. 

As they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” It turns out that a video is worth even more. 

The same study revealed that presentations with videos embedded had a 37% longer average reading time. The data shows that video presentations keep people around longer to absorb your message. 

How to record a video presentation with audio and video 

Video presentations are staples in business and education. 

Whether used as video messaging for internal communications , client-facing pitches, tutorials, intros to your webinars, or for onboarding new employees, presentations offer a dynamic way of presenting information. 

Luckily, screen recording tools like Loom are now making this process easier than ever before. 

You don't need to buy fancy mics or wrestle with clunky presentation slides. You just have to hit record, make some simple edits, and share your video presentation with as many people as you want with a single click. Anyone can create a good video presentation with a bit of practice. Plus, Loom’s video editing tools make it easy to trim and polish your presentation. 

Here’s a quick step-by-step overview of how to record a video presentation with audio and video using Loom: 

Step 1. Prepare your presentation material

Before you sit down to record, be prepared with your notes, script, or any props or visual aids you might need. At the same time, make sure you choose a quiet, well-lit environment to ensure excellent audio and video quality. 

Step 2. Launch Loom 

To capture your Mac or Windows screen, open the Loom app on your desktop or use the Chrome extension. If you’re using your mobile for screen recording , you can install Loom’s mobile app. 

Also, if you plan to capture: 

Google Slides: You can use Loom’s Chrome extension . 

PowerPoint, Keynote, or Canva slides: Install the desktop app to capture yourself along with the slides. 

Whatever device or computer system you use, you can download and install the Loom app within minutes. 

Step 3. Select recording mode

Choose whether you want to record your screen, webcam, or both. If you have slides, select screen and webcam to capture both your presentation and your face. Your face will appear on the screen in a cam bubble, as shown here.

You can also choose to record only your screen or the entire desktop. 

Step 4. Start recording 

Finally, click the “Start Recording” button. 

Watch Loom’s own training video on video recording best practices.

Step 5. Begin your presentation 

Deliver your presentation as you would in person, and remember to make eye contact with the camera. 

Step 6. Review and edit your presentation video

After stopping the recording, Loom automatically uploads the video file to your Loom account. You can trim the video, add a call to action (CTA), or make other edits directly in Loom’s video editor.

Where some video presentations fall short 

Even well-intentioned presentations can sometimes miss the mark. Here are some areas where your video presentations might be falling short: 

Lack of engagement: Presentations are a two-way street. If you don’t build in opportunities for audience engagement elements like Q&A, live feedback, polls, and even simple interaction, you’re missing out. 

Information overload: Too many key points covered in one presentation can overwhelm viewers. 

Technical glitches: Double-check your equipment before the final presentation. Technical glitches like a frozen screen or a microphone cutting out can derail even the best-prepared presentation. 

Lack of personalization: What’s the point of the presentation if your tone and message don’t resonate with the audience? Consider your target audience and adjust your presentation style accordingly. For example, a video for new hires might need a different tone and content than one for senior executives. 

Considering these nuances and implementing a few interactive elements will help you create an engaging video presentation.

5 techniques for creating great video presentations 

Technique 1: engaging storytelling.

Viewers crave something more than just data. They want a story.

Stories resonate powerfully because they tap into your emotions, creating a connection that facts alone can't achieve.

There’s science behind it. When you hear a story, your brain releases oxytocin , which increases trust and positive emotions. Stories also activate multiple brain parts, making them more memorable than isolated facts. In a world where attention is scarce, stories capture and hold it.

So, how do you capture your audience with engaging storytelling? Here are some tips: 

Find your narrative arc: Every good story has a beginning, middle, and end. Think of a classic hero facing obstacles, overcoming challenges, and emerging as the victor. Your video presentation can follow a similar arc, even if the hero is your product or service. 

Evoke emotions: Identify your target audience to discover what type of content resonates with them. Based on your research, add emotional moments—either funny or thought-provoking—to catch your audience’s attention and create a lasting impact.  

Build conflict: Before you start pointing out the solution, introduce the problem that needs solving, the challenge that needs overcoming, or a question that needs answering. 

Show, don’t just tell: Talking doesn’t have the same effect as showing the problem your product solves. Use screen recording tools like Loom to demonstrate the problem and its solution firsthand. This helps the viewer appreciate the real value of your product. 

Apple’s product launches are an excellent example of engaging storytelling. 

They don’t just point out features, they weave a story and paint a picture of how Apple devices will enrich your daily life. 

Technique 2: Visual impact and design

Remember those “wall of text” slides? The clipart that looks like it’s from the 90s? 

While these types of presentations do the job, it’s worth noting that people process visuals faster than text. A visually appealing video presentation will endear you to your audience and engage them better. 

According to research by Robert Horn at Stanford University, actions and visuals make written information 70% more memorable .

Clearly, incorporating visuals into your presentation isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s also about making your message stick.  

Here are some tips to help you create visually stunning presentations: 

Use high-quality videos and images. High-resolution visuals make your presentation more appealing and easier to grasp. If you’re recording your screen, invest in a good-quality screen recording tool to create polished and professional presentations. 

Incorporate data visualization. Use charts, graphs, GIFs, and infographics to present data in an easily understandable manner. 

Leverage color psychology. Pick a color combination that aligns with your brand image and messaging. For example, blue evokes professionalism and trust, while orange conveys energy and excitement. 

Choose fonts wisely. Typography also affects how your presentation appears visually. Sans serif fonts like Helvetica and Arial are clean and modern, while serif fonts like Times New Roman and Georgia add a touch of sophistication.

Incorporating these tips makes your presentations both visually appealing and more effective in getting your point across. 

Technique 3: Effective use of audio elements

You’re watching a National Geographic documentary. It features sweeping aerial shots of the sun-drenched plains of the Masai Mara, close-ups of exotic wildlife, and evocative narration.

But it’s not just the visuals that hold you spellbound. It’s the sound of the rustling leaves, the leap of the gazelles, the gentle river flow, and the commanding voice of the narrator. The background music ties it all together, transporting you into the experience. 

While visuals and text capture attention, audio completes the experience by evoking emotions and reinforcing your message. 

Want to create a similar immersive audio experience for your presentation? Here are some things to consider: 

The voice-over should be crisp and clear. There are two ways to record crisp, clear voice-overs. One, you can invest in a good microphone. Or, you can record your screen with audio like Loom. 

Add strategic sound elements. Add background music that matches your content and complements your messaging. In between your presentation, add sound effects that emphasize key points and transitions. 

Embrace silence at strategic moments. A well-timed pause can help you create anticipation or emphasize a point. A pause before you move forward also allows the previous message to sink in. 

Make sure you blend all these audio elements, including a voice-over, background music, sound effects, and even pauses, to create a perfect harmony. 

Technique 4: Interactive elements to engage audience

According to a recent survey, 78% of people saw better online sales with interactive video compared to a passive video.

This means that viewers are more likely to stick around if your video has interactive elements, compared to a one-sided monologue. 

Here are some interactive elements that can help you turn one-way presentations into two-way conversions:

Knowledge check quizzes: Keep your audience engaged with brief quizzes a few minutes into the presentation. This will reinforce your message while keeping the viewers engaged. 

Polls and surveys: These elements work as the proverbial two birds, one stone—they keep viewers from dozing off and provide feedback you can use to tailor your content.

Clickable CTAs: Guide your viewers to take a specific action by adding clickable elements to your presentation. 

Gamification elements: Add a touch of fun with animations, points, badges, and leaderboards. These elements also work as incentives and might encourage viewers to stick around to the end.

But how do you add these interactive elements to your videos?

Pro tip: The easiest way is to find a video recording platform that simplifies the process. 

For instance, Loom offers a range of built-in interactive features.

Creators can embed clickable CTAs, annotate their screens, and even add tasks to their presentation videos. 

At the same time, viewers can react with emojis for instant feedback, leave time-stamped comments to encourage discussions and tag their teammates. 

Recipients can react to a Loom video with any emoji

Technique 5: Timing and pace for maximum retention

Ever watched a video that felt like it was dragging on forever? Or one that was so fast-paced you felt like you were missing key information? 

The wrong timing and pace can leave your audience mentally exhausted or disengaged.  

But how do you strike the right balance for maximum retention? 

One approach is to use Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint : 

Your presentation should have at most 10 PowerPoint slides, which could be 10 critical points in the case of video presentations. 

It shouldn’t be more than 20 minutes long.

The font shouldn’t be smaller than 30 points. 

If you can’t contain your message in 20 minutes, break your video presentations into bite-size segments to prevent information overload. 

Think of it like chapters in a book. Each segment contributes to the overall narrative while standing alone as a valuable piece of information.

You can use a video presentation tool like Loom to make this process seamless. 

Loom automatically creates a video library to organize your video clips. This also allows your audience to revisit specific presentation segments later to access key takeaways.

You can also label your videos by specific topics or categories, making them easily accessible.  

Elevate communication with video presentations

The verdict is clear: Video presentations help engage your audience and increase interaction. 

So, why rely on traditional slideshows when you can get better outcomes with video presentations, especially with access to advanced video presentation software?

For example, with Loom, you can record, edit, and share high-quality video presentations that captivate your audience. No more technical headaches or pricey equipment.

Ready to turn your presentation ideas into videos? Sign up for free and create polished video presentations in no time with Loom.

Jun 29, 2024

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Jeong Lee works in Marketing at Loom.

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Tired of boring PowerPoint presentations? A modern video presentation is what you're looking for! Using a video to complete the presentation can help those presenters communicate their vision, passion, and message more effectively.

Keep reading and learn how to create video presentations online and also turn your PowerPoint presentation into a video that win the hearts of your audience. You can also check some stunning presentation video templates for inspiration to make your own one with great ease.

Free Customizable Presentation Video Templates:

Can't Miss: How to Make a Corporate Video with Free Templates>

Part 1 How to Make a Video Presentation Online for Free

When you're making your presentation, you can make your video the whole presentation, or just a part of the whole. And even you can embed a video in a Powerpoint presentation .

Here we'll show you how to make a video presentation online easily with a powerful presentation video maker, FlexClip .

FlexClip is a free and easy-to-use, powerful and flexible video maker allowing you to make professional and excellent videos for your presentation with great ease. It's all online, so there's no software to download.

Once you have come up with a concept for your presentation and got all your visual assets ready, you can turn to FlexClip presentation video editor to bring it all together. Simply click the Get Started Now button below to start your video directly, or you can view our stunning templates for inspiration and pick one to customize.

Step 1 Add Footage to Your Presentation Video

Drag and drop all your photos and videos to the blank section and apply them to the Timeline. You can add the footage to the timeline directly or use the PIP feature to make the photo/video collage in your video presentation.

If necessary, you pick some stock Video and Photo assets from FlexClip's media library.

Image Board: Add Footage to Your Presentation Video

Step 2 Highlight Your Presentation Video with Text

Switch to the Text to add some text to your presentation video. Enter the title or write a short description to highlight the main ideas.

FlexClip's text tool is rich-features, allowing you to customize the text in your video presentation in various way - change the color and font, adjust the style and motion, and also set the text duration to control the time when the text appears and disappears.

Image Board: Highlight Your Presentation Video with Text

Step 3 Set the Tone of the Presentation Video with Music

Go to the Music to add a piece of music from FlexClip's music library to your video. You can also upload your own music from a local file simply by clicking the Add Audio.

Once the music added, you can trim it and adjust the position where the music starts and ends, apply the fade in/out effect to make the music match your video presentation perfectly. Also, you can adjust the volume to make the music softer.

Image Board: Set the Tone of the Presentation Video with Music

Step 4 More Edits to Enhance Your Presentation Video

FlexClip features many editing functions allowing you to customize your presentation video in many ways, like adding transitions , filters, color grading, etc.

Image Board: More Edits to Enhance Your Presentation Video

Part 2 Creative Video Presentation Ideas with Free Templates

Have no ideas on your video presentation?. Here are some free templates for you to choose depending on your purpose. Check out and you should be inspired to make your own video presentation.

Sales Video Presentations

>> Every business has a primary function of making sales and increasing them. The sales video presentations can help you achieve this goal easily.

Promotional Video Presentations

>> As its name suggests, the promotional video presentation is those videos that promote or depict a particular cause or thing. It aims to spread a social cause or popularize the concerned product.

Educational Video Presentations

>> Video presentations are not just restricted to business purposes but are also widely used for educational uses. You can teach or learn something easily through an educational video presentation.

Corporate Video Presentation

>> For corporate, video presentations are also a great tool to manage employee relationships, and they are great for conducting employee training and onboarding .

Entertainment Video Presentations

>> Entertaining video presentations solely for entertainment's sake. Entertaining video presentations can vary in scope, genre, and purpose.

More excellent video presentation ideas are waiting for you to explore, just turn to FlexClip templates library right now.

Part 3 How to Make a Video Presentation with PowerPoint

May you also want to turn your PowerPoint presentation into a video directly, PowerPoint allows you to do so by saving it as one. Now, we'll show you step by step, how to make a video presentation with PowerPoint. Later, we'll also provide you with the online video presentation tool that can help you make the presentation video look even more professional with captions, effects, and more.

Here's what you need to do to turn your presentation slides into a video in PowerPoint:

Image Board: Make a Video Presentation with PowerPoint

Final Words

That's all for how to make an excellent video presentation. We hope you can get some inspiration from this blog and start your video presentation on the right foot.

Has 4-year of professional photographing experience. Very much into recording every detail of life. She is passionate about all things related to video production, and loves to exploring tips and tricks about it.

FlexClip Video Maker

The easiest way to help you create custom videos, no design skills needed.

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Presenting information through a video presentation is an engaging way to hold your audience’s attention. It combines audio, visuals, and text to convey...

Presenting information through a video presentation is an engaging way to hold your audience’s attention. It combines audio, visuals, and text to convey your message effectively. Let's delve into how to make a video presentation, customizing it with unique templates, incorporating transitions, adding voiceover , and more.

Creating a video presentation entails various steps. From creating a PowerPoint presentation to adding transitions and voiceovers, you must ensure every element blends together seamlessly to create a compelling visual content.

• Prepare Your Content : Start with a storyboard outlining the entire presentation's flow.
• Create Your Slideshow : Use PowerPoint or Google Slides to make your slides. Customize the fonts and infographics for a unique look.
• Add Transitions : Transitions add dynamism to your presentation. Be mindful not to overuse them, as it can distract your viewers.
• Record Audio : Record a voiceover narration for your presentation. Make sure the audio quality is clear and audible.
• Incorporate Video Clips : Add relevant video clips to your presentation. You can also video yourself presenting a PowerPoint to add a personal touch.
• Edit Your Video : Use video editing software to fine-tune your video, add background music, and synchronize your audio with your slides.

Several free online tools allow you to make a video presentation. Canva, Google Slides, and Microsoft Sway offer templates that you can customize for your presentation. They provide an array of options like adding your own video, subtitles, GIFs, and more.

Adding audio and video to your presentation can make it more interactive and engaging. To add audio, simply record a voiceover and import the audio file to your presentation. As for the video, you can import video footage or even YouTube videos directly into your slides.

Absolutely. You can use a webcam to record yourself giving a live presentation. Use screen recording software to capture both the PowerPoint slides and your webcam feed. Once recorded, use a video editor to blend your footage into the presentation.

PowerPoint allows you to convert your slideshow into a video. Simply go to the 'File' menu, select 'Export', and choose 'Create a Video'. You can also add voiceover and record timings for each slide.

Several online platforms provide tutorials on making video presentations. YouTube is a vast resource for video guides and tutorials on this topic.

Recording a presentation on your computer is easy with screen recording software. Software like OBS Studio, Screencast-O-Matic, and Camtasia can record your entire screen, specific windows, or regions.

One of the most comprehensive platforms for how-to videos is YouTube. Simply type in "How to make a video presentation" in the search bar, and you'll find numerous tutorials covering various aspects of making a presentation video.

LinkedIn Learning and Coursera also offer professional video courses on the topic, although these might require a subscription. Some software vendors also provide tutorials on their official websites or user communities.

• Plan Your Content : Outline your presentation's content, main points, and structure before you begin creating slides or recording video.
• Design Your Slides : Use software like PowerPoint or Google Slides to create a visually appealing slideshow. Incorporate key details, infographics, and graphics to make it engaging.
• Add Transitions and Animation Effects : Transitions between slides and animation effects can make your presentation more dynamic. Use them sparingly to maintain a professional feel.
• Record a Voiceover : Narrate your presentation to provide more information and guide your viewers through the slides.
• Incorporate Video : You can add video clips or screen recordings to your presentation to illustrate points or show practical examples.
• Edit and Finalize Your Video : Use video editing software to combine your slides, voiceover, and video clips into a single, cohesive video presentation. You can also add background music at this stage to enhance the mood of your presentation.
• Review and Adjust : Watch your video presentation multiple times to spot and correct any mistakes or awkward transitions. Adjust the timing of slides and voiceover as necessary.
• Export and Share : Once you're satisfied with your video presentation, export it as a video file and share it with your audience.

To record a video presentation, you can use screen recording software like OBS Studio, Camtasia, or Screencast-O-Matic. Here are the steps:

• Set up Your Software : Download and install your preferred screen recording software. Familiarize yourself with the controls and settings.
• Prepare Your Slides : Have your slides ready and open in presentation mode on your screen.
• Start Recording : Start your screen recording software and select the area of your screen where the presentation is displayed. If you want to record yourself presenting, ensure your webcam is enabled and properly positioned.
• Present Your Slides : Go through your slides as if you were presenting to an audience. Speak clearly for your voiceover, and ensure your presentation is paced appropriately.
• Stop Recording : Once you've finished presenting, stop the screen recording.
• Edit Your Recording : Import your recording into a video editor to trim any unnecessary parts at the beginning or end, adjust the audio, and add any additional effects or annotations.

Remember to save your work regularly, especially during the editing process, to avoid losing any progress. If you're new to video editing, there are numerous tutorials online that can help you get started.

• PowerPoint : A robust tool for creating presentations, offering a wide range of templates, animations, and transition effects.
• Canva : An online design tool that also serves as a video presentation maker with templates for social media, marketing videos, and more.
• Google Slides : A free tool to create slideshows, compatible with PowerPoint files.
• Prezi : A cloud-based presentation tool offering dynamic, zoomable canvas making it perfect for explainer videos.
• Adobe Spark : Offers high-quality video creation with a focus on professional design.
• Vyond : Great for creating animated video presentations with built-in templates.
• Biteable : Easy-to-use video editor for creating marketing videos, animated videos, infographics, and more.
• Animaker : A free online animated video maker, offering a range of characters, animations, properties, BGs, and more.

When making video presentations, always keep in mind your audience’s attention and retention. Crafting a powerful intro and outro, utilizing fullscreen playback, and ensuring your video file is in a widely compatible format like .mov or .mp4 will make your presentations stand out.

Creating a professional video presentation is more than just compiling PowerPoint slides. It's about telling a story, captivating your audience, and conveying your message in an engaging and memorable way

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Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.

Best Software To Make a Video Presentation in Windows 10

Video marketing is on the surge in every business niche in this fast-evolving tech-savvy era. From sales presentations to business pitches, webinars to demonstrations, tutorials to orientations, videos are the top choice for professionals to showcase their talents. HubSpot reports that 85% of firms leverage videos to promote their marketing strategies. Enter, PowerPoint video presentations. Since a decade, presentations are at the forefront of every company to reach the hearts of their audience owing to their visual boost.

Before we dive into the best software and applications to construct your perfect video presentations let us briefly identify why every business should adopt them. So, why to opt for video presentations over regular presentations?

Now that we know what boon video presentations are, here are some software and applications for you to design them:

1. Visme Video Presentation Tool

Structure the video presentations with powerful data representations like charts and graphs with Visme’s stellar repository of statistical visuals. You can download long video presentations in mp4 format and a shorter one in GIFs as well. Choose from their simple, creative and modern style of video presentation templates. What’s more impressive is to receive analytics about who has opened and viewed your content after sharing the presentation!

2. Powtoon Video Presentation Tool

Its beta version even allows you to import your slides from PowerPoint and edit them to suit your needs. Create and edit videos, record voice-overs, add icons, shapes, infographics, whiteboards and give a modern edge to your presentations. You can fashion your videos with the available templates in it or build a presentation in PowerPoint and import it here. This software lets you create videos up to 30 mins.

3. Biteable Video Presentation Tool

Biteable is a pro-quality video presentation software which lets you craft your ideal video marketing presentation within no time. From animated graphics to live-action videos, form your videos for business meetings with stakeholders, invitations, sales pitch and advertisements. An excellent feature of this software is that it lets you create animated video infographics which are more interesting than simple image ones. 

You can also form top-notch presentations with eye-catching templates from SlideModel having 100% editable PowerPoint templates and edit it in Biteable. With an easy user interface, edit fonts, size, colours and trim the footage as desired to build your engaging video presentation. All the videos in this software are of HD resolution with easy sharing options on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. 

4. Promo Video Presentation Tool

Pick from over 23M premium HD videos and images from Shutterstock, Getty and other top-rated partners in their visual directory. The longest video Promo allows you to make is five minutes. Make a square, horizontal, vertical or banner video presentation with full HD formats. With this software, marketers can develop short video presentations for social media platforms to attract users and promote products. 

5. PowerPoint Video Presentation Tool

Microsoft PowerPoint is the leading choice among business professionals to generate terrific presentations with economy and ease. To create your video presentation choose shapes, images, animation effects for text and other pictorial elements like graphs, tables and 3D models. Presentations concocted with PowerPoint are saved as a video in mp4 or MOV file.

6. Focusky Video Presentation Tool

As an easy-to-use interactive online platform, Focusky is great for everyone to create presentations and animated videos. You can freely download this software as a desktop client for Windows 10. Its user-friendly interface and drag-and-drop functionality will give your video presentations the perfect touch. Make your presentations lively with its smooth transitioning 3D effects like zoom, pan and rotate. 

Visualise your charts in 10 different styles, screen-record, add self-recorded videos and infuse your slides with vibrancy with its 300+ animation effects. With its grid features, content management and layout design are made easy to use. Leverage its 9 publishing platforms for your brand to reach globally. Form business-friendly presentations with different backgrounds, props and character with Focusky. 

Humans are visual creatures who take in more information by watching than reading. When it comes to divulging your business ideas a presentation is the best tool to sway your audience with a professional touch. Video presentations take a step ahead and establish a firm ground for marketers and corporate professionals to connect with their audience. These 6 video presentation software will make your video presentation pro-quality and high performing. Know your audience, brainstorm video content ideas, craft engaging scripts and invest in best video presentation software.

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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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Become a PowerPoint pro: 7 must-know tips and tricks

Microsoft’s PowerPoint is extremely popular in schools, universities, and the corporate world, but it has never been as popular with home users. Not surprising since it’s all about creating presentations, something a private person doesn’t have to do very often.

So, if you suddenly find yourself needing to make a PowerPoint presentation and have no idea how to make it good, rest assured that you aren’t alone and there’s hope for you.

Microsoft Office 365 Home

These days, PowerPoint is more than just a basic slideshow—it can be used to create video presentations with voice-over narration, and it even has an AI-based helper called Designer that gives suggestions on how to make your presentation better.

Here are several smart tips and tricks you can use to improve your PowerPoint presentations and come off as a pro.

1. Customize Quick Access

Have you noticed that PowerPoint—and the other apps in Microsoft 365 for that matter—have a small, narrow toolbar at the very top of the application window? By default, you’ll find shortcut buttons for toggling Auto Save and basic actions like Save, Undo, Repeat, etc.

This nifty toolbar also comes with some app-specific actions that you may or may not use frequently. In PowerPoint, for example, there’s a shortcut to start slideshows from the beginning.

This toolbar is called Quick Access and you can actually customize what actions show up here. You can add frequently used actions while removing the ones you never use.

This can make it easier to find important functions that you would otherwise have to rummage around the ribbon to find.

To customize Quick Ass, select File > Options and then Quick Access Toolbar . The box on the right shows the actions currently on it and their order. The box on the left has all the available actions you can add.

Select an action you want in Quick Access and click on Add . To change the order, highlight the action you want to move and use the the arrow buttons on the right side of the window.

2. Use custom themes and templates

PowerPoint comes with a bunch of ready-made templates for presentations, which have also been themed.

A theme is a collection of settings for typography, colors, and effects that make it easy to maintain a consistent style across presentations. A template is a theme plus ready-made content that makes it easier to make a particular type of presentation again in the future.

For example, a company may have a theme that defines the colors and fonts employees should use in presentations, plus a number of templates for product presentations and quarterly reports.

A template may have a number of ready-made slides with images, charts, and everything else already laid out. When you create a new presentation from a template, you will find these individual page templates in New slide in either Start or Insert .

Creating your own custom theme

New themes can be added at any time as long as you have a presentation open—even if it’s a blank presentation.

Select the Design tab and click on the small down arrow with a dash over it on the right side of the Variants section. This shows the four categories of settings you can designate for a theme.

Select Colors > Customize Colors… and the Create new theme colors dialog box will open. A complete set of theme colors includes two pairs of text and background colors (dark/light, to be used either for dark text on a light background or vice versa), six spot colors used for graphic elements, and two colors for hyperlinks. Enter a name at the bottom and click Save when you are done.

If you also want to change the font, select Fonts > Customize Fonts… and you’ll be able to designate a Heading font and a Body font . I recommend a neutral, easy-to-read font for both.

Under Effects , you can choose the style of effects but there’s no way to customize or create a completely new effect. Under Background Styles , you can select Format Background… to tweak backgrounds.

When you’re done, go to the Themes section of the Design tab and click the down arrow with a line above it, then select Save Current Theme… to save your new theme. Give it a name and save and your new theme will appear among the available themes in the Design tab of all presentations.

Create your own custom templates

To create a new PowerPoint template, you can start from either a blank presentation or an existing template. Don’t add any content of your own yet. Instead, go to the View tab and click on Slide Master .

Start by changing the theme of your new template, under the Themes button. If you created your own theme as described above, it will normally be at the top of the list of available themes.

PowerPoint uses the term layouts for slide templates. Click on the Insert Layout button to create a new slide template.

New layouts are automatically given a header and a footer, but you can remove them if you wish (either by selecting and deleting the elements manually or via checkboxes in the Slide Background tab).

To delete an existing layout, right-click on it in the list and select Delete Layout or select it in the list and press Backspace.

To add new design elements to a layout, click the Insert Placeholder button in the ribbon and select the element type you want. You can then position and resize it, and change the placeholder text for it.

If you want to make per-layout changes, make sure to select that layout in the list before tweaking. For example, you can change a layout’s color theme or switch between the four background formats.

When you’re happy, save the template by selecting File > Save As and changing the format to Powerpoint Template (*.potx) . Templates can be stored either locally on your computer or in OneDrive—and since the theme is included, you can freely share the template with others.

3. Link to Excel data

If you’re making a presentation with figures in tables or charts, you can make your life easier by linking PowerPoint to Excel.

To do this, start by copying a chart in Excel, then switching over to PowerPoint and navigating to the Home tab in the ribbon. Select Paste > Paste Special… , then choose the Paste Link option, select Microsoft Excel Chart Object and finish by clicking OK .

A linked chart, table, or other Excel object can be instantly updated with up-to-date information as the data in the Excel document changes, all without having to copy and paste all over again.

To update the Excel object, right-click on it in PowerPoint and select Update Link . PowerPoint will retrieve the latest data to be reflected in the Excel object. This makes it easy to build a data-heavy report in PowerPoint that can be kept up-to-date with zero hassle.

4. Edit and apply effects to images

Basic slide editing in PowerPoint isn’t difficult, but there are a few tricks you can learn to make your slides both behave the way you want them to and do new things you may not have realized were possible.

For example, did you know that PowerPoint has built-in editing features that can change brightness, contrast, and sharpness of images?

Select an image in a slide and the Picture Format tab will open. Here you’ll find several adjustments you can make:

• Corrections alters brightness, contrast, and sharpness
• Color applies color filters
• Artistic Effects stylizes the image (but apart from the useful Blur effect, most of these feel pretty old-fashioned)
• Transparency makes the image more or less transparent
• Picture Styles can format the image in various ways (e.g., frame, shadow, rounded corners, perspective, etc.)

One thing you’ll notice when you add an image is that PowerPoint automatically generates alternative text—that is, descriptive text that gets read aloud for users with visual impairments. You can set this text to whatever you want, and it’s nice that Microsoft has thought about accessibility in this way.

5. Fill a shape with an image

PowerPoint makes it easy to fill a vector graphic shape with an image instead of just a solid color or gradient.

Create the shape as you want it, then make sure it’s selected before navigating to either the Home or Figure Format tabs in the ribbon. Select Shape Fill > Picture… , then select From a File to pick an image that’s saved on your computer.

If you aren’t satisfied with the positioning of the image in the shape, you can open the Picture Format tab and select Crop > Crop to resize and move the image in relation to the shape, allowing you to center it at a different point and even zoom in or out.

6. Incorporate audio and video

These days, PowerPoint isn’t just for presentations on screen or with a projector—it’s increasingly common to export finished presentations as videos to be sent to recipients, uploaded to the web, embedded in mobile apps, and more.

To make such presentations more vivid and interesting, you can record voice-over audio and/or video from a connected webcam to be placed on top of slides. You can find these features in the Record tab, where PowerPoint has also placed the Export to Video function.

The export function allows you to set the video resolution as well as how long each slide will display in the video.

More on this: How to turn a PowerPoint presentation into a video

7. Get AI help with Designer

Designer is the new name for Design Ideas, a feature that has been around since PowerPoint 2016 and uses machine learning to analyze the content of presentations and suggest improvements.

You can find it as a button in the Home and Design tabs, with Designer itself appearing in a column on the right.

This feature continuously analyzes your presentation and displays a list of suggested changes for the current slide. If you don’t like any of the suggestions, you can click on See More Design Ideas at the bottom and it will generate additional suggestions.

How attractive and useful are the suggestions? Well, it varies. When I tested it myself, they’ve rarely been results that I could use straight away—but the suggestions were helpful in that they gave me several great ideas that I hadn’t thought of myself.

For example, in the image above, you can see a suggestion for a color filter on a photo that looks like it could work really well with bright text and maybe a little blur.

Further reading: PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts worth knowing

This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC för Alla and was translated and localized from Swedish.

Author: Anders Lundberg , Contributor

Anders writes news, reviews and buying guides that touch most categories of consumer tech.

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• How to master Excel: From beginner to pro
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How to Put YouTube Videos in PowerPoint: A Step-by-Step Guide

Want to make your PowerPoint presentation a bit more engaging with a cool YouTube video? It’s actually pretty simple to do. By following a few easy steps, you can embed a YouTube video directly into your PowerPoint slide. This way, you won’t have to switch between applications during your presentation – it’ll all be right there in your slide show!

Step by Step Tutorial on How to Put YouTube Videos in PowerPoint

Before we dive into the steps, know that adding a YouTube video to your PowerPoint will enhance your presentation and keep your audience interested. No more boring bullet points, just a captivating video to emphasize your point!

Step 1: Find the YouTube video you want to embed

Locate the YouTube video that you want to add to your PowerPoint presentation.

Finding the right YouTube video is the first step. Make sure it’s relevant to your presentation’s content and will add value for your audience. Once you’ve found it, copy the URL from the address bar.

Step 2: Open your PowerPoint presentation

Open the PowerPoint presentation where you want to insert the YouTube video.

Make sure you’re on the slide where you want the video to appear before you move on to the next step. This will save you the hassle of moving it later on.

Step 3: Click on the ‘Insert’ tab

In PowerPoint, go to the ‘Insert’ tab on the menu bar.

The ‘Insert’ tab is where all the magic happens – from adding pictures and shapes to videos, it’s your go-to for jazzing up your slides.

Step 4: Select ‘Video’ and then ‘Online Video’

Within the ‘Insert’ tab, click on ‘Video’ and then select ‘Online Video’.

By selecting ‘Online Video’, you’re telling PowerPoint that you’re looking to add a video from the web, not one that’s saved on your computer.

Step 5: Paste the YouTube video URL

In the dialog box that appears, paste the YouTube video URL that you copied earlier.

After you paste the URL, PowerPoint will do a quick check to make sure it’s a valid link. If all is well, you’ll be able to move on to the next step.

Step 6: Resize and position the video on your slide

Once the video is embedded, you can resize and position it on your slide to fit your design.

Click and drag the corners of the video to resize it, and click and drag the video itself to move it around the slide. You can also use the format options to add effects like borders or shadows.

After you complete these steps, you’ll have a YouTube video embedded directly into your PowerPoint slide. No more awkward pauses while you exit the presentation to open up a browser. Your video will play seamlessly within your slide when you’re presenting, making for a smooth and professional presentation.

Tips for Putting YouTube Videos in PowerPoint

• Make sure you have a stable internet connection during your presentation, as the video will need to buffer.
• Test the video before your presentation to ensure it plays correctly.
• Keep the video short and to the point – you don’t want to lose your audience’s attention.
• Consider the volume of the video – ensure it’s audible for your audience but not overwhelming.
• If the video is long, use the ‘Trim Video’ feature in PowerPoint to show only the relevant part.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can i put a youtube video in powerpoint if i don’t have an internet connection.

No, you need an internet connection to play a YouTube video in PowerPoint as it streams directly from the website.

Will the video play automatically when I get to that slide?

You can set the video to play automatically or when clicked – it’s up to you. You’ll find these options in the ‘Playback’ tab once the video is inserted.

Can I put a YouTube video in any version of PowerPoint?

You can embed YouTube videos in PowerPoint 2010 and later versions. Earlier versions do not support this feature.

What if the YouTube video is removed or the link changes?

If the YouTube video is removed or the link changes after you have embedded it, the video will not play in your PowerPoint. Always check the video link before presenting.

Can I embed a video that is not from YouTube?

Yes, as long as it’s an online video, you can embed it by following the same steps and using the video’s direct link.

• Find the YouTube video you want to embed.
• Open your PowerPoint presentation.
• Click on the ‘Insert’ tab.
• Select ‘Video’ and then ‘Online Video’.
• Paste the YouTube video URL.
• Resize and position the video on your slide.

There you have it – putting YouTube videos in PowerPoint is a piece of cake! With this handy skill, you can now make your presentations more dynamic and engaging for your audience. Just remember to choose videos that complement your content and resonate with your listeners. And don’t forget to test everything beforehand to ensure a smooth-running presentation. Happy presenting, and may your slides be ever compelling!

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

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How to Make a “Good” Presentation “Great”

• Guy Kawasaki

Remember: Less is more.

A strong presentation is so much more than information pasted onto a series of slides with fancy backgrounds. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others. Here are some unique elements that make a presentation stand out.

• Fonts: Sans Serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arial are preferred for their clean lines, which make them easy to digest at various sizes and distances. Limit the number of font styles to two: one for headings and another for body text, to avoid visual confusion or distractions.
• Colors: Colors can evoke emotions and highlight critical points, but their overuse can lead to a cluttered and confusing presentation. A limited palette of two to three main colors, complemented by a simple background, can help you draw attention to key elements without overwhelming the audience.
• Pictures: Pictures can communicate complex ideas quickly and memorably but choosing the right images is key. Images or pictures should be big (perhaps 20-25% of the page), bold, and have a clear purpose that complements the slide’s text.
• Layout: Don’t overcrowd your slides with too much information. When in doubt, adhere to the principle of simplicity, and aim for a clean and uncluttered layout with plenty of white space around text and images. Think phrases and bullets, not sentences.

As an intern or early career professional, chances are that you’ll be tasked with making or giving a presentation in the near future. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others.

• Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist at Canva and was the former chief evangelist at Apple. Guy is the author of 16 books including Think Remarkable : 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference.

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