If you're looking for a way to spice up your PowerPoint presentation, inserting video content could be a great solution. If there is a video file on your computer's hard drive, you can embed it in your presentation quickly and easily. You can also choose to use a video published on the web, for example on YouTube. If you are using an older version of PowerPoint, you can choose to link to the movie of your interest rather than embed it directly.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Insert a Video File
Step 1. Make sure you have installed all the latest updates for the Microsoft Office software package
This way you can be sure of getting the best possible results. Updates for Office can be downloaded and installed through the Windows Update service. See this article for more details on this.
The procedure described in this section is compatible with PowerPoint 2016, 2013 and 2010
Step 2. Go to the slide of the presentation where you want to insert the video file
You can embed a multimedia movie on any slide in the presentation you are working on.
Step 3. Go to the "Insert" tab of the menu
Within this section there are several insertion options.
Step 4. Press the "Video" button located in the "Multimedia" section
A small drop-down menu will appear.
Step 5. Choose the "Video to Personal PC" item
A system dialog will appear that will allow you to browse the contents of your computer's hard drive.
If you are using a Mac, select the "Movie from file" item
Step 6. Find the video you want to embed in your presentation
Use the dialog box that appeared. When looking for a suitable file for use, don't forget that:
- The different versions of PowerPoint support the use of different video formats. PowerPoint 2016 is compatible with most video formats, including modern MP4 and MKV. Conversely, PowerPoint 2010 only supports the following video formats: MPG, WMV, ASF, and AVI.
- It may be better to avoid video files in AVI format. This is because often additional codecs are required to play this video format, which could make it difficult to play the content during presentation. To convert an AVI file to another more versatile video format, such as MP4, you can use one of the many free programs available online. See this article for more details on this.
Step 7. Wait for the selected video to be inserted into your presentation
The time required to complete this step depends on the size of the file you choose. The progress of the operation is indicated at the bottom of the screen.
Step 8. Go to the "Playback" tab
This section allows you to change the settings related to the playback of the content you have added. If the "Playback" tab is not visible, make sure the video is selected.
Step 9. Use the "Start:" drop-down menu
"to choose when the movie should start playing. By default the video will start playing as soon as it is clicked with the mouse. If you choose the" Automatic "option, it will start playing as soon as the slide is displayed.
By selecting the relevant check buttons, you can enable continuous loop playback or automatic rewind at the end of the viewing
Step 10. Resize the video by dragging the corners of its window with the mouse
You can also change the position in which the movie appears by moving the relevant window with the mouse to the desired point on the slide.
Step 11. Once you've finished making changes, save your presentation
At this point the chosen video has been incorporated into the presentation becoming an integral part of the relative PowerPoint file. You won't have to worry about transferring the video file along with your presentation one as it is integrated directly into the presentation. This means that the final PowerPoint file size of your presentation will be significantly increased to accommodate the chosen video as well.
To save the slide show after embedding the selected movie, you don't need to perform any special steps. Simply go to the "File" tab, then choose the "Save" item just like you normally would
Method 2 of 3: Embedding a YouTube Video
Step 1. Update your version of Office to the latest available
Using the latest version of Microsoft Office means ensuring access to all features, making the process of inserting a YouTube movie simple and intuitive. Office updates are downloaded and installed through the Windows Update service. See this article for more details on this.
- You can embed YouTube videos within PowerPoint 2016, 2013 and 2010 presentations. YouTube is the only streaming video content site supported by the program.
- The Mac version of PowerPoint does not allow you to embed videos posted on YouTube.
Step 2. Go to the YouTube video you want to insert into your presentation
Start your favorite internet browser and use it to open the YouTube page for the chosen movie.
YouTube is the only streaming video content site supported by PowerPoint for inserting multimedia content
Step 3. Press the "Share" button on the YouTube page for the video to embed
The pane containing the sharing options will appear.
Step 4. Go to the "Embed Code" tab
This tab appears only after pressing the "Share" button.
Step 5. Copy the highlighted code that appeared
The embed code is automatically highlighted and selected. Press the hotkey combination Ctrl + C or select the text with the right mouse button, then choose the "Copy" option from the appeared menu.
Step 6. Open the slide of the presentation where you want to embed the YouTube video
You can do this with any slide in your presentation.
Step 7. Go to the "Insert" tab of the PowerPoint menu
The options for inserting different types of objects will be displayed.
Step 8. Press the "Video" button, then select the "Online Video" option
If you are using PowerPoint 2010, you will need to choose the "Video from Website" option.
Step 9. Select the "From video embed code" text box, then paste the code you copied in the previous step
You can use either the hotkey combination Ctrl + C or the "Paste" option from the context menu for the input field.
In PowerPoint 2010, the text box to use is labeled "Insert video from website"
Step 10. Embed the video
After a few moments, the chosen video will appear on the slide: it should look like a completely black box. Don't worry this is completely normal behavior.
Step 11. Go to the "Playback" tab
This section allows you to change the settings related to the playback of the content you have added. If the "Playback" tab is not visible, make sure the video is selected.
Step 12. Use the "Start:" drop-down menu
to choose when the movie starts playing. If you don't select one of the options available through this menu, the movie won't play during the slideshow.
There are other configuration settings related to the reproduction of multimedia content, but the "Start:" item is the most important to allow the use of the video
Step 13. Make sure your computer is connected to the internet during the presentation
Playback of the YouTube video you entered is only possible if your computer is connected to the web. Embedding a streaming video does not allow offline playback of the content.
Method 3 of 3: Create a Link to a Movie File (PowerPoint 2007)
Step 1. Copy the movie file into the same folder as the PowerPoint presentation file
If you are using PowerPoint 2007 or an earlier version, the video files will not be physically integrated into the presentation, a simple "link" will be created. This means that the video will not be encapsulated in the PowerPoint file for the presentation. In this case, the video file represents a separate entity from the presentation save file. The latter will access the multimedia content from the specified source. You won't see an actual hyperlink within the slide, however PowerPoint will need to know exactly where the video file is on your computer's hard drive in order to play it properly.
Video files are physically embedded within presentations only from version 2010 onwards of PowerPoint
Step 2. Open the slide where you want to insert the movie
You can do this with any slide in your PowerPoint presentation.
Step 3. Go to the "Insert" tab
Several options will appear that allow you to insert different objects within the slides.
Step 4. Press the "Movie" button, then choose the "Movie from file" item
A dialog box will appear that will allow you to browse your computer's hard drive for the video you want to use.
Step 5. Locate and select the desired video file
PowerPoint 2007 only supports the following video formats: AVI, MPG, and WMV. If you want to use an AVI format file, it may be more convenient to convert it to MPG or WMV format to avoid having to install additional codecs to ensure trouble-free playback.
Step 6. Choose when to start playing the video
After selecting the movie to use, you will need to choose when to start playing the content. By selecting "Automatically" the movie will be played as soon as the slide is displayed on the screen. Choosing the "Manually" option you will have to click the video to start playing it.
Step 7. If you are going to send the presentation to someone, use the "Package for CD" function
Because PowerPoint 2007 plays the movie from the specific location where it is stored, recipients of your presentation will not be able to see the content unless the video file is also sent to them. To do this, you can use the "package for CD" function which allows you to share the presentation and all the multimedia contents connected to it in a single file.
- Press the button marked with the Office logo, then choose "Publish" from the menu that appears.
- Select the "Package for CD" option, then choose the presentation you are working on.
- Make sure the "Linked files" checkbox in the "Options" menu is checked.
