To make a PowerPoint presentation more engaging and permanently available to your audience, you can use PowerPoint voiceover. This allows you to enhance your presentation with audio commentary, enabling your audience to revisit the presentation as often as they like, at any time.
We'll explain how to add audio commentary to your presentation and how you can benefit from a PowerPoint voiceover.
What is a PowerPoint voiceover and what is it good for?
If you are unable to deliver your presentation in person, PowerPoint Voiceover is a great alternative. You can pre-record your presentation, allowing it to be viewed as often as needed thanks to the audio commentary. Especially during lockdowns, PowerPoint Voiceover has become particularly popular. Whether for your business, as a student, or to market your product, Voiceover makes it easy to add narration to your presentation in 2023.
How to create audio commentary for your presentation
You can insert your audio commentary into the presentation from your hard drive or record it using Microsoft PowerPoint. Below, we explain how both methods work.
Adding an existing audio file
1. Under "Insert" , first select "Media" and then "Audio" .
2. Next, select “Audio on my computer” .
3. Next, select the file you want and confirm by clicking "Insert" .
Recording a new audio commentary
1. Proceed as described in points 1-3 of the last paragraph and, after selecting "Audio", choose "Record audio" .
2. Record your voiceover by clicking on the red circle and stop the recording by clicking "Stop" . Then give it a name.
3. To listen to the recorded sound, select "Play" .
4. If you are satisfied with your recording, select "OK" . To record a new sound, select "Cancel" and repeat the process.
5. You can now move the position of the audio file on the slide by dragging it to the desired location on the slide.
Edit playback functions of the PowerPoint Voiceover
To make changes to your audio commentary, right-click the audio icon in your presentation and then click " Audio Tools/Playback."
- To shorten your audio file, select "Trim Audio" and use the sliders to shorten your voiceover.
- To fade your audio file in and out, you can edit the value in the "Fade In/Out Duration" fields in the "Playback" tab.
- To set when your voiceover should play, select your desired option from the dropdown menu:
1. In click order - the audio file will play after a mouse click.
2. Automatic - the audio commentary will play automatically as soon as you reveal the slide.
3. On click - Your voiceover will play when you click on the audio icon.
- To set the volume of your audio files, select "Volume" and then your preferred setting.
You can also adjust how your voiceover is played back in your presentation, as there are various options here as well.
1. Play continuously - The voiceover will play until it is manually stopped by clicking "Play/Pause" .
2. Play across slides - Your audio file will play on all slides in your PowerPoint presentation.
3. Play in background - The audio file will play continuously in the background on all slides.
- To delete a PowerPoint voiceover, select the audio icon on the slide and press DEL.
More tips for your PowerPoint voiceover
Below you will find further tips to help you create the best possible PowerPoint voiceover.
- To ensure your audio files are of the best quality, it can be helpful to purchase an external microphone . These are usually better suited than the microphones built into laptops and computers.
- Please also note that recording audio comments is only possible in the desktop version of PowerPoint , not in the web version.
- After recording your PowerPoint voiceover , check that everything sounds right . Even if it might feel strange to hear your own voice in the audio file, this is the easiest way to correct any potential errors beforehand.
Conclusion: Optimize your presentation with PowerPoint VoiceOver
Whether during a pandemic, for your colleagues, or as students, PowerPoint voiceovers are an excellent way to preserve presentations for the long term. This ensures your presentation isn't just a snapshot in time; viewers benefit from it long-term. The presentation can be viewed and listened to as often as desired.
Do you have questions about PowerPoint voiceovers? Or do you need help creating a PowerPoint presentation? You can find professionally designed templates here in our shop. Contact us by email at becker@presentationload.de and we'll be happy to help.
Are you looking for visually appealing and professionally designed slide templates ? Feel free to browse our shop. We have numerous slides on a wide variety of (business) topics available for download. Visit us today! ► To the shop
You might also be interested in these articles: