Category: Powerpoint

Adding Narration to Powerpoint

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Preparation:

  1. You will need to purchase a microphone or a headset Microphone. I recommend the Plantronics USB headset mics, LISTED HERE. I use the Plantronics DSP 400, but the less expensive ones work well also.
  2. Find a quiet room, preferably one with no air-conditioning or heating blower hum, and no other ambient noises. If you work in an older building this can be a challenge, enough so you may want to consider doing the recording elsewhere.
  3. Prepare a script for your narration. Run through it once or twice, to eliminate “umms” and “errr’s” in your rendition.
  4. Plug in the microphone, and if you are using Windows, you will also need to install the software that comes with it, and restart. On a Mac, simply plug in the mic, then select System Preferences from the Apple menu or the Dock, select
  5. If you haven’t already, create your Powerpoint slides.
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Powerpoint and video

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Successfully incorporating video clips into powerpoint isn’t hard, but the process will go more smoothly if you consider how the presentation will be delivered before inserting the video file. This tutorial is mainly oriented toward the PC version of powerpoint, and Windows Media Player, although I may add notes on the Mac version and Quicktime soon.

Let’s go over some possible scenarios:

Scenario 1. You create and present the powerpoint presentation on your own laptop.

If the .ppt file is not going to be moved from its current position on the laptop, you only have to ensure that the video clip actually resides on your laptop, so that it will be available when you are giving the presentation.

So before inserting the video file, make sure that it is indeed on the C drive, or more simply, in whatever folder the powerpoint presentation is in, and not on a networked drive somewhere. This may seem obvious, but I’ve found that many users are not at all clear on what drives they are using.

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Powerpoint Narration Does Not Play Automatically

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Sometimes, even if you set a narration or sound file to play automatically when you first add it, it will not play until you click the speaker icon on each slide. When you look at the Custom Animation settings, it may look like it they are set correctly as Start with Previous but there is a second setting which also must be correct for this to function properly.

To fix this setting: click the speaker icon for your sound file. Select Custom Animation. Click on the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the listing for the audio file (“Media_4″ in the screenshot below”).

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