How to Record a Voiceover for a Single Slide
Before narrating your PowerPoint presentation, be prepared:
You’ll need a microphone attached to, or built into, your computer. Test the microphone to make sure it is working. Set the sound level so your audio is easy to hear. Prepare yourself for the narration. Write a script you can follow while recording the voiceover. Practice the presentation a couple of times so your voiceover will sound smooth. Decide whether to record the voiceover one slide at a time or record a voiceover for the entire presentation in one go.
The simplest way to record audio for a voiceover is to record one slide at a time. To get started, select the slide where you want to add the narration, then go to Insert > Audio > Record Audio. Here’s how to record a voiceover on the slide:
How to Record a Voiceover for an Entire Presentation
The voiceover for the entire presentation can be recorded at one time. In addition to recording a voiceover, you can record a video of yourself giving your presentation. To set up your presentation when you want to narrate an entire slideshow: You may have noticed some controls at the bottom left side of the screen. These are a few controls to aid you in your presentation. In PowerPoint 2016 and earlier versions, a Record Slide Show dialog box prompts you for further options. In the Record Slide Show box, select options to set up the slideshow:
Slide and animation timings: When recording, PowerPoint automatically tracks the timing of slide changes and any animations that occur.Narrations, ink, and laser pointer: When recording, PowerPoint automatically tracks when narrations, any inking, or laser pointing occurs.
Leave both checked to make automating your slideshow easier. In PowerPoint 2016, select Start Recording. In PowerPoint 2016 select Clear > Clear Recordings on Current Slide. These handy handy tools include the Laser Pointer, Highlighter, and Eraser. As you advance through your presentation, mark or highlight parts of your slides as you narrate. PowerPoint records the timing of these marks (if you left the boxes checked) to go along with your narration. Likewise, using the laser pointer shows a simulated red laser dot so that you can point out different things on your slides as you narrate your presentation.
How to Listen to the Recorded Voiceover
Once you’ve recorded your narration, you can go back to the slides and listen to your voiceover. Here’s how to play a narration:
How to Turn a Voiceover Off
If you don’t want to hear your narrations when playing a slideshow, but want to keep the narrations with the slide, turn voiceover off. To turn voiceover off, select Slide Show and click to deselect the Play Narrations checkbox.
How to Delete a Voiceover
There are a couple of ways to delete voiceover audio in your presentation. To delete the audio on a single slide, find and select the recording on that slide, then press the Delete key. To delete the voiceover from all the slides in a presentation: Select Slide Show and then select the down arrow to open the Record Slide Show menu. Then, select Clear Narration on All Slides.
Embedding Versus Linking Audio Files in PowerPoint
When you use the PowerPoint tools to record a voiceover narration, the audio file is embedded in PowerPoint. This means the audio is part of the PowerPoint file and not stored in a separate file, making it easy to play your presentation on any device. If you have audio you recorded using other software and it’s stored on your computer, you can link to the audio file. Linked files keep your presentation size smaller, but links can be broken if the audio file isn’t available to the PowerPoint presentation. To prevent broken links, store the presentation file and the audio files in the same folder on your computer.
