how to make a video presentation on microsoft powerpoint

Turn your presentation into a video

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

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

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

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

Save as a video file

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Select  Create Video .

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

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

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

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

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

Save as a PowerPoint Show

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

On the File menu, select Save As .

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

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

Select Save .

Why turn your presentation into a video?

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

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

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

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

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

You can include animations and transitions in your movie.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OLE/ActiveX controls

What to do with your video after creating it

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

Email your presentation to others

Save to a file share or other location

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

Save to the Microsoft video-sharing site

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

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

Type a title and a description for the video.

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

Select the Publish button.

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

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

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

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

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

Burn your presentation to a disc

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

• how to make a powerpoint into a video

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turn PPTs into engaging videos

With InVideo’s online editor

Creating a Video from PowerPoint

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image source: Microsoft

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

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

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

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

Exporting your video

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

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

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

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

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

- MPEG-4 Video - Windows Media Video

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

PowerPoint 2013

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

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

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

PowerPoint 2010

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

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

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

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

PowerPoint Video Drawbacks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Step 1: Create an account

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

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

Step 2: Select a Template or start from scratch

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

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

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

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

Step 3: Upload your media

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

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

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

Step 4: Add the photos

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

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

- Replace - Add as a layer

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

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

Step 5: Edit the Scenes and add text

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

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

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

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

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

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

Step 6: Add narration

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

Step 7: Export the Video

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

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

Turn your PPTs into epic videos

Without spending hours on editing

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

Let’s create superb videos

How to make a PowerPoint presentation into a video, so that it plays automatically without you having to click through each slide

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

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

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

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

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Related coverage from  Tech Reference :

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

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How to make a PowerPoint presentation into a video

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

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

IDG / Marshall Gunnell

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Author: Marshall Gunnell

Recent stories by marshall gunnell:.

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5 Ways to Embed a Video File in Microsoft PowerPoint

Last Updated: March 27, 2024 Fact Checked

Embedding a Web Video

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

This article was co-authored by Mitch Harris and by wikiHow staff writer, Rain Kengly . Mitch Harris is a Consumer Technology Expert based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mitch runs his own IT Consulting company called Mitch the Geek, helping individuals and businesses with home office technology, data security, remote support, and cybersecurity compliance. Mitch earned a BS in Psychology, English, and Physics and graduated Cum Laude from Northern Arizona University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,129,947 times.

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

Things You Should Know

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

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

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

• On Mac, this will look like Online Movie .

• You'll see a preview of the video.

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

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

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

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

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

• The menu will open.

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

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

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

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

About This Article

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

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How-To Geek

6 ways to create more interactive powerpoint presentations.

Engage your audience with cool, actionable features.

Quick Links

• Add a QR code
• Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only)
• Embed a Live Web Page
• Add Links and Menus
• Add Clickable Images to Give More Info
• Add a Countdown Timer

We've all been to a presentation where the speaker bores you to death with a mundane PowerPoint presentation. Actually, the speaker could have kept you much more engaged by adding some interactive features to their slideshow. Let's look into some of these options.

1. Add a QR code

Adding a QR code can be particularly useful if you want to direct your audience to an online form, website, or video.

Some websites have in-built ways to create a QR code. For example, on Microsoft Forms , when you click "Collect Responses," you'll see the QR code option via the icon highlighted in the screenshot below. You can either right-click the QR code to copy and paste it into your presentation, or click "Download" to add it to your device gallery to insert the QR code as a picture.

In fact, you can easily add a QR code to take your viewer to any website. On Microsoft Edge, right-click anywhere on a web page where there isn't already a link, and left-click "Create QR Code For This Page."

You can also create QR codes in other browsers, such as Chrome.

You can then copy or download the QR code to use wherever you like in your presentation.

2. Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only)

If you plan to send your PPT presentation to others—for example, if you're a trainer sending step-by-step instruction presentation, a teacher sending an independent learning task to your students, or a campaigner for your local councilor sending a persuasive PPT to constituents—you might want to embed a quiz, questionnaire, pole, or feedback survey in your presentation.

In PowerPoint, open the "Insert" tab on the ribbon, and in the Forms group, click "Forms". If you cannot see this option, you can add new buttons to the ribbon .

As at April 2024, this feature is only available for those using their work or school account. We're using a Microsoft 365 Personal account in the screenshot below, which is why the Forms icon is grayed out.

Then, a sidebar will appear on the right-hand side of your screen, where you can either choose a form you have already created or opt to craft a new form.

Now, you can share your PPT presentation with others , who can click the fields and submit their responses when they view the presentation.

3. Embed a Live Web Page

You could always screenshot a web page and paste that into your PPT, but that's not a very interactive addition to your presentation. Instead, you can embed a live web page into your PPT so that people with access to your presentation can interact actively with its contents.

To do this, we will need to add an add-in to our PPT account .

Add-ins are not always reliable or secure. Before installing an add-in to your Microsoft account, check that the author is a reputable company, and type the add-in's name into a search engine to read reviews and other users' experiences.

To embed a web page, add the Web Viewer add-in ( this is an add-in created by Microsoft ).

Go to the relevant slide and open the Web Viewer add-in. Then, copy and paste the secure URL into the field box, and remove https:// from the start of the address. In our example, we will add a selector wheel to our slide. Click "Preview" to see a sample of the web page's appearance in your presentation.

This is how ours will look.

When you or someone with access to your presentation views the slideshow, this web page will be live and interactive.

4. Add Links and Menus

As well as moving from one slide to the next through a keyboard action or mouse click, you can create links within your presentation to direct the audience to specific locations.

To create a link, right-click the outline of the clickable object, and click "Link."

In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, click "Place In This Document," choose the landing destination, and click "OK."

What's more, to make it clear that an object is clickable, you can use action buttons. Open the "Insert" tab on the ribbon, click "Shape," and then choose an appropriate action button. Usefully, PPT will automatically prompt you to add a link to these shapes.

You might also want a menu that displays on every slide. Once you have created the menu, add the links using the method outlined above. Then, select all the items, press Ctrl+C (copy), and then use Ctrl+V to paste them in your other slides.

5. Add Clickable Images to Give More Info

Through PowerPoint's animations, you can give your viewer the power to choose what they see and when they see it. This works nicely whether you're planning to send your presentation to others to run through independently or whether you're presenting in front of a group and want your audience to decide which action they want to take.

Start by creating the objects that will be clickable (trigger) and the items that will appear (pop-up).

Then, select all the pop-ups together. When you click "Animations" on the ribbon and choose an appropriate animation for the effect you want to achieve, this will be applied to all objects you have selected.

The next step is to rename the triggers in your presentation. To do this, open the "Home" tab, and in the Editing group, click "Select", and then "Selection Pane."

With the Selection Pane open, select each trigger on your slide individually, and rename them in the Selection Pane, so that they can be easily linked to in the next step.

Finally, go back to the first pop-up. Open the "Animations" tab, and in the Advanced Animation group, click the "Trigger" drop-down arrow. Then, you can set the item to appear when a trigger is clicked in your presentation.

If you want your item to disappear when the trigger is clicked again, select the pop-up, click "Add Animation" in the Advanced Animation group, choose an Exit animation, and follow the same step to link that animation to the trigger button.

6. Add a Countdown Timer

A great way to get your audience to engage with your PPT presentation is to keep them on edge by adding a countdown timer. Whether you're leading a presentation and want to let your audience stop to discuss a topic, or running an online quiz with time-limit questions, having a countdown timer means your audience will keep their eye on your slide throughout.

To do this, you need to animate text boxes or shapes containing your countdown numbers. Choose and format a shape and type the highest number that your countdown clock will need. In our case, we're creating a 10-second timer.

Now, with your shape selected, open the "Animations" tab on the ribbon and click the animation drop-down arrow. Then, in the Exit menu, click "Disappear."

Open the Animation Pane, and click the drop-down arrow next to the animation you've just added. From there, choose "Timing."

Make sure "On Click" is selected in the Start menu, and change the Delay option to "1 second," before clicking "OK."

Then, with this shape still selected, press Ctrl+C (copy), and then Ctrl+V (paste). In the second box, type 9 . With the Animation Pane still open and this second shape selected, click the drop-down arrow and choose "Timing" again. Change the Start option to "After Previous," and make sure the Delay option is 1 second. Then, click "OK."

We can now use this second shape as our template, as when we copy and paste it again, the animations will also duplicate. With this second shape selected, press Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, type 8 into the box, and continue to do the same until you get to 0 .

Next, remove the animations from the "0" box, as you don't want this to disappear. To do this, click the shape, and in the Animation Pane drop-down, click "Remove."

You now need to layer them in order. Right-click the box containing number 1, and click "Bring To Front." You will now see that box on the top. Do the same with the other numbers in ascending order.

Finally, you need to align the objects together. Click anywhere on your slide and press Ctrl+A. Then, in the Home tab on the ribbon, click "Arrange." First click "Align Center," and then bring the menu up again, so that you can click "Align Middle."

Press Ctrl+A again to select your timer, and you can then move your timer or copy and paste it elsewhere.

Press F5 to see the presentation in action, and when you get to the slide containing the timer, click anywhere on the slide to see your countdown timer in action!

Now that your PPT presentation is more interactive, make sure you've avoided these eight common presentational mistakes before you present your slides.

Turn your presentation into a video

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

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

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

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

Save as a video file

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Select  Create Video .

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

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

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

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

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

Save as a PowerPoint Show

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

On the File menu, select Save As .

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

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

Select Save .

Why turn your presentation into a video?

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

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

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

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

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

You can include animations and transitions in your movie.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OLE/ActiveX controls

What to do with your video after creating it

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

Email your presentation to others

Save to a file share or other location

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

Save to the Microsoft video-sharing site

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

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

Type a title and a description for the video.

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

Select the Publish button.

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

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

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

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

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

Burn your presentation to a disc

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How to Make a PowerPoint 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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