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How to add a voice to your Powerpoint presentation

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Adding a voiceover to your PowerPoint slides can elevate your delivery and create a more immersive experience. Learn more in this article.

PowerPoint presentations are an effective way to engage your audience, but adding a voiceover to your slides can elevate your delivery and create a more immersive experience. In this article, we will explore the process of incorporating voice audio into your PowerPoint presentation, step-by-step.

Why add voice to PowerPoint?

Adding voice audio to your PowerPoint presentation offers several benefits: Enhanced Engagement: By combining visual and auditory elements, a voiceover captures your audience's attention and helps convey complex information effectively.

  • Personalized Delivery: A voiceover allows you to infuse your unique personality into the presentation, making it more engaging and memorable.
  • Accessibility: Including a voiceover ensures that individuals with hearing impairments can access and understand your content.

How to add voice audio to your slide show

  1. Start Recording: Open your PowerPoint presentation and navigate to the Slide Show tab. Click on "Record Slide Show" to initiate the recording process.
  2. Record Narration: Choose either "Record from Current Slide" or "Record from Beginning" based on your preferences. A recording toolbar will appear, enabling you to control the process.
  3. Record Slide Show: As you progress through your slides, PowerPoint will record your voiceover. Advance to the next slide using the arrow keys or mouse and continue narrating.
  4. Playback and Edit: After completing the voiceover, preview the recorded slide show to ensure everything is as desired. Edit individual slides or sections if needed.
  5. Set Slide Timings: To synchronize your slides with the voiceover, set slide timings manually. Go to the Slide Show tab, click "Set Up Slide Show," and choose either "Use Timings" or "Use Narrations and Timings."
  6. Publish and Share: Once you're satisfied with the voiceover and slide timings, publish the recording in a suitable file format. Share the presentation with others, upload it to online platforms, or distribute it via email.

Creating closed captions

To enhance accessibility, consider adding closed captions to the recorded voiceover. PowerPoint offers captioning features, or you can explore third-party tools for accurate caption generation. Enhancing your PowerPoint presentation with a voiceover can elevate your delivery and engage your audience on a deeper level. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to add voice to your PowerPoint presentation:

  1. Open your PowerPoint presentation: Launch Microsoft PowerPoint on your Windows or Mac computer and open the desired presentation file.
  2. Navigate to the Slide Show tab: Click on the "Slide Show" tab located at the top of the screen.
  3. Start recording: In the "Slide Show" tab, select "Record Slide Show" to initiate the recording process.
  4. Record audio narration: Choose whether you want to record from the current slide or start recording from the beginning of the presentation. Click on the "Record" button to begin recording your audio narration.
  5. Progress through the slide show: As you progress through the slides, PowerPoint will record your voiceover. Use the arrow keys or click the mouse to navigate to the next slide while continuing your narration.
  6. Playback and edit: Once you've completed the voiceover, you can preview the recorded slide show to ensure everything is as desired. If needed, make edits to individual slides or sections.
  7. Set slide timings: To synchronize the slides with the voiceover, set slide timings manually. Go to the "Slide Show" tab and click on "Set Up Slide Show." Choose either "Use Timings" or "Use Narrations and Timings" and click OK.
  8. Save the presentation: Save the PowerPoint file to preserve the recorded voiceover and its timings.
  9. Publish and share: To share your presentation, save it in a suitable file format, such as PPTX or PDF, which preserves the recorded sound. You can distribute the file via email, upload it to cloud storage, or share it through other means.

Tips and Tricks:

  • During the recording process, you can pause by pressing the spacebar on your keyboard or resume by pressing it again (the spacebar doubles as a play button).
  • If you have a headset, it can help improve the audio quality during the audio recording.
  • PowerPoint records the audio as you progress through the slides, so you can always go back and re-record specific slides or sections if needed, instead of redoing the entire presentation.

Please note that the steps outlined above pertain to Microsoft PowerPoint. If you are using Google Slides, the process may differ slightly. By following these steps, you can easily add a voiceover to your PowerPoint presentation and create a more engaging and impactful experience for your audience. So, go ahead, click the "Start Recording" button, and unleash your creativity with a captivating voice narration.

Using Speechify Voice Over for audio content:

If you prefer a text-to-speech approach, tools like Speechify Voice Over can convert written text into natural-sounding audio. Input your script, adjust the settings as needed, and generate the audio content to incorporate into your PowerPoint presentation. Incorporating a voice into your PowerPoint presentation enhances engagement, personalizes your delivery, and improves accessibility. Whether you record the audio yourself or use text-to-speech tools, a voiceover adds impact and captivates your audience. So, follow these steps, unleash your creativity, and bring your PowerPoint slides to life with the power of voice audio.

Cliff Weitzman

Cliff Weitzman

Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.