- Reach more colleagues and clients by uploading PowerPoint presentations to YouTube. Share videos easily with no downloads required.
- Make content engaging by adding audio and other enhancements to a PowerPoint presentation before uploading it to YouTube.
- Simple presentations with eye-catching colors and fonts have a greater impact than slides filled with bullet points.
- This article is for professionals and entrepreneurs who want to upload their PowerPoint presentations to YouTube for training or marketing purposes.
PowerPoint presentations have been a popular tool for decades, and they still hold power in the business world. From a small work meeting to a crowded TED Talk, there are many professional discussions and lectures made easier by PowerPoints.
PowerPoint presentations can be recorded and shared at a later date. By uploading PowerPoint presentations to YouTube, you can increase your reach to co-workers, clients or friends. Doing so also allows your audience to view presentations on their own time without missing any important information. Microsoft even does what it can to simplify this process, but you still have to follow a few important steps.
Here's how to do it.
1. Record your PowerPoint presentation
The first step is to record your PowerPoint presentation so that once it's uploaded, viewers will be able to hear and see the entire presentation. You can use the Insert menu to add individual recordings to each slide. To do this, go to Click Insert > Media > Audio > Record Audio.
To record the entire slideshow, go to the Slide Show tab, and select Record Slide Show. Then, choose whether to record from the beginning or from the current slide. This option will include all narration, animations and slide transitions in the PowerPoint video.
Click Slide Show > Record Slide Show > Start Recording
Once your presentation is fully recorded, it's ready to be converted into a video and uploaded to YouTube.
2. Turn your PowerPoint presentation into a video
To upload a PowerPoint presentation, you must convert it into a video. That includes all of the media – narration, animation, pointer movements and slide transitions – that go with it. So, once the presentation is up on YouTube, viewers will be able to watch it as if they were viewing it in real time.
There are two main ways to convert a PowerPoint presentation into a video: saving the file in a video format and saving the presentation as a PowerPoint Show. The advantage of saving the file as a PowerPoint Show is that your presentation will automatically jump to full-screen mode when someone opens it. This is ideal for business owners who are looking to send their video presentation to certain people instead of uploading it to YouTube.
Video presentations are saved as Windows Media Video (WMV) files, while PowerPoint Show presentations are saved in their own PowerPoint Show format (PPSX).
To save the presentation as a video, select File > Export > Create a Video > Select Video Quality > Use Recorded Timings and Narrations> Create Video.
To save the presentation as a PowerPoint Show, simply save the file under a new format. Click File > Save As > Browse > Save as Type > PowerPoint Show > Save.
3. Add audio to your PowerPoint presentation
You can add audio to a PowerPoint presentation on a PC or a Mac. Audio options include sound bites, music and narration. Adding sound helps further engage viewers, especially if you’re including commentary like you would if you were actually presenting the PowerPoint slideshow.
While in edit mode for your PowerPoint presentation, follow these steps to add audio to a PowerPoint presentation on a PC:
Click Insert > Audio. Then, select Audio on my PC from the available menu options. All available audio files on your computer will come up in the dialog box. Select the file you want to add to the presentation and click Insert at the bottom of the dialog box.
Choose Audio Tools Playback to edit the options for the presentation. From here, you can edit options such as Fade, Sequence and Loop Mode.
Here's how to add audio to a PowerPoint presentation on a Mac:
Click Insert > Audio. Select either Audio Browser or Audio from File. The former allows you to add the audio from iTunes, while the latter browses your computer for the correct file. Choose the audio file. From the Audio Format tab, you can edit options such as Loop Mode, Play Across Slides and Hide During Slideshow.
After you edit a presentation with audio, you can preview the results using the playback option. Save all progress before exiting the program.
4. Upload your PowerPoint presentation to YouTube
After converting the presentation into a video format, sign in to your YouTube account, and click Upload at the top of the page. Select the presentation video you want to upload, and then adjust the video privacy settings.
Once the video is uploaded, click Publish to make it viewable to others. Be sure to use a catchy title that best represents the topic of your presentation so the right audience can find it.
5. Share your PowerPoint presentation with co-workers
Uploading presentations to YouTube is a great way for colleagues and customers to learn about a business on their own time. It also can be a great way to advertise changes or updates to a business. Make sure your connections know where to find your presentation and encourage them to share it with their own network. Share the link on your LinkedIn page and social platforms, email it to co-workers, include it in an email marketing newsletter. There are many ways to market your presentation and increase its reach, so you can build a loyal audience and continue to post engaging content.
Tips for creating a good video
When putting together your presentation, you don’t want to do the bare minimum and hope it impacts viewers. Here are some tips for creating an engaging PowerPoint presentation video your audience will love:
- Use simple visuals: Presentations work best when the visuals are simple. Don't clutter the screen; embrace white space for improved readability. Limit pages full of long lists of bullet points. Instead, highlight only the most important facts.
- Choose a theme that fits the topic of your presentation: PowerPoint offers templates, but you may want to customize one to avoid coming across as cookie-cutter. Remember that the use of color is important to convey messages. Cool tones, such as blue and green, work best for background colors, while warm shades, such as red and orange, are best for text and charts.
- Include video clips and audio in meaningful ways:A crashing symbol between slides is more likely to come across as cheesy than engaging. Use engaging yet professional videos and audio clips that add to the presentation, not distract the audience from the topic. This includes narration, an explainer video that is relevant to the subject or simple transitions from slide to slide.
- Remember your audience: The top tip for creating a good video is to always keep your audience in mind. Imagine the video from viewers' perspective and allow that to shape the features you add.
- Don’t overcrowd your slides with text: Using too many words on each slide will be overwhelming to your audience following along. Instead, include one-sentence summaries or bullet points (but limit them), then add audio commentary to expand on them further.
- Tell a story: While you want to approach the presentation in a professional manner, don’t turn it into a lecture. Use anecdotes and engaging stories to communicate your message. Rather than talking to your audience, have a discussion with them — even if they can’t interact in the moment. Approach the entire presentation like a conversation rather than a lecture.