How to include video in PowerPoint

I’ve already outlined the steps on how to embed a YouTube video in PowerPoint, but what if you want to include your own video in PowerPoint? With us now able to create our own video content so easily using our smart phones, it’s natural that we will want to include it in our PowerPoint presentations.

Using a variety of media types can significantly enhance the effectiveness of a presentation and greatly improve engagement from your audience. Beyond the use of pictures and shapes, integrating video and audio elements can bring your content to life.

Videos can be embedded directly into slides in your PowerPoint to demonstrate processes, showcase interviews, or highlight key moments. This offers a visual and auditory supplement to the text.

Audio clips can serve as background music to set the tone, or as voiceovers to emphasise critical points without overwhelming the slide with text.

It is import to ensure that all media elements are used thoughtfully and support the overall message of your presentation. This is crucial for a seamless and impactful delivery.

There is one big issue that may arise when working with these additional media types, and that is the impact on file size. Your presentation may go from a nice size under 5MB to something crazy like 150MB all because on a single media file. Many users assume that because we are using more cloud based storage options that file size won’t have an impact on our presentation, but it’s important to the remember that if you are going to run a presentation which has a large file size you may see issues including:

• Performance Issues: Your presentation may load slower and take much longer to save. This will impact your time working on the presentation and also the live presentation itself.
• Sharing Limitations: The bigger the file size, the more limits you will have with how you can share the file. Files over 10MB are generally not recommended to be emailed and if you are storing files in the cloud, you may also have issues with sync delays or issues when multiple users access the same presentation.
• Presentation Day Issues: If you are presenting to a live audience you may experience issues on the day with slide transitions being slow/delayed or animations taking longer than they should, this doesn’t make for a good audience experience and will break the flow of your presentation.

PowerPoint supports several video file formats, but the most reliable and widely compatible format is .MP4. On Windows, PowerPoint also supports formats like .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, .ASF, and .MPEG, though some may require additional codecs to play properly. On macOS, supported formats include .MP4, .MOV, and .M4V, with QuickTime-based formats working more seamlessly.

Insert a video in PowerPoint

Let’s look at how to insert video in PowerPoint presentations.

To insert a video from your computer:

1. Open Microsoft PowerPoint.
2. Create a new Blank presentation.
3. Add a nice opening Slide Title to slide 1.
4. Insert a new slide using Ctrl + M on the keyboard or from the Home tab, click New Slide. You can choose a different slide layout if preferred or keep the default Title and Content slide.
5. Click to add title to Slide 2.

6. From the placeholder area, click the Insert Video icon:

7. The Insert Video dialog box will appear:

8. Locate and select a suitable video file.
9. Click Insert.
10. The video will appear on the slide.
11. When the video file is selected on the slide, two new tabs will appear on the ribbon: Video Format and Playback.

Video Controls

When a video is selected, two new tabs appear on the ribbon: Video Format and Playback. These contextual tabs provide access to customise the look of the video along with control over playback settings.

Video Format options include colour correction settings to adjust brightness and contrast, recolour options, the ability to add a poster frame image and also several built-in video styles to choose from.

To use the video Correction controls:

1. Select the video.
2. Click the Video Format tab from the ribbon:

3. The first button provides access to Play the video. You can also play the video directly using the control panel displayed under the video in the slide area.
4. PowerPoint allows you to make some basic colour Corrections to the video.
5. Click the Corrections button to display the options:

6. Hover over the Brightness/Contrast settings to see how it will adjust your video.
7. Click to apply a correction option.

To use the Color options:

1. Select the video.
2. Click the Video Format tab and click the Color button.
3. Choose from the Recolor options:

4. Click the apply a recolor option.

Add a Poster Frame

If the opening frame of your video does not fit in with the aesthetic of your presentation, you can easily insert a Poster Frame which is an image you wish to use as the opening frame of the video.

To add a poster frame:

1. Select the video.
2. Click the Video Format tab and click the Poster Frame button.
3. From the options choose Image from File.
4. From the Insert Pictures window, select From a File. Alternatively, you can find an image in the Stock Images library.
5. Locate the image on your computer and select it.
6. Click Open.
7. The image will now be displayed as the Poster Frame for the video.

To remove the Poster Frame, click the Poster Frame button and choose Reset.

Apply Video Styles

To add some styling to the video, you can use the various Video Styles. Video Styles look similar to adding a frame or border around the video. This can create a more professional look for the video sitting on the slide.

To add a Video Style:

1. Select the video.
2. Click the Video Format tab and browse through the Video Style gallery:

3. Click to apply a Style to the video.
4. To customise the Style further, you can use the Video Shape, Video Border and Video Effects buttons.

Video Playback

Now that the video is on the slide and you have formatted it, what about controlling how the video will play. PowerPoint lets you choose to play the video “on click” or you can even have the video automatically start Automatically.

To set the video to play automatically:

1. Select the video.
2. Click the Playback tab.
3. Locate the Start option and click the drop-down menu:

4. Choose Automatically from the menu.

Run the slide show

Now that you have the video added to the slide, run the presentation in Slide show view to see how it looks.

1. From the ribbon, click the Slide Show tab.
2. Click the From Beginning button to view the presentation from slide 1.
3. Alternatively, I love a good keyboard shortcut, so press F5 on the keyboard to run the presentation.
4. Click past the first slide to see slide 2.
5. The video should automatically play (if you chose that setting).

Incorporating video into your PowerPoint presentation can significantly enhance engagement, clarify complex ideas, and add a dynamic layer to your storytelling. By choosing the right video format and embedding it thoughtfully, you ensure smooth playback and cross-platform compatibility. Feel free to comment below with any questions.