Category: Powerpoint

Microsoft PowerPoint offers many features for creating slideshows. Some of those features go a bit unnoticed but can be useful when building your presentation.

Before you create your next PowerPoint, take a look at these tricks. They can save you time, let you customize the show, and stay organized from start to finish.

Save time by reusing slides

You may not realize it, but you can reuse slides from other presentations to save time. You might reuse a slide with your company mission, contact information, or details of all your locations.

Step 1: Navigate to the slide in your current presentation where you want to insert slides from another presentation. The slides you add will display after the slide you have selected.

Step 2: On either the Home or Insert tab, select the New slide drop-down arrow and pick Reuse slides.

Step 3: When the Reuse Slides sidebar displays on the right, use either the drop-down box to pick a recent presentation or the Browse button to locate the slideshow. Then, select the arrow on the right to load the slides.

Step 4: Before you choose the slide(s) you want to reuse, you can check the box at the bottom for Keep source formatting if you like. This retains any formatting from that presentation and ignores the formatting in the current presentation.

Step 5: Then, select the slide(s) you want to insert from that slideshow into your current one. You’ll see each slide, if you pick more than one, display in the thumbnail area on the left.

Step 6: When you finish, use the X on the top right of the Reuse Slides sidebar to close it.

You can then use the slides you inserted as-is or make edits as needed. Either way, you can save a lot of time by reusing slides instead of recreating them with each presentation.

Cater to different audiences with custom shows

If you have a lengthy slideshow but only want to present particular slides to specific audiences, you can create custom shows.

For example, you might want to present certain slides to your investors, a different set to your executives, but the entire slideshow to your project team. A custom show allows you to create a subset of slides from your presentation, without needing to delete slides or make an entire new slideshow from scratch.

Step 1: Go to the Slide Show tab, select the Custom slide show drop-down arrow, and pick Custom shows.

Step 2: In the Custom Shows pop-up window, choose New. Keep in mind this is the same spot you’ll visit to see and manage your custom shows later.

Step 3: Give your custom show a name. Next, select the slides in the box on the left side that you want and use the Add button to add them to the custom show box on the right.

Step 4: Once you have the slides in the custom show box, you can rearrange them if you like. Select one and then use the Up or Down button to move it. Do the same for any others you want to rearrange.

Step 5: When you finish, pick OK at the bottom of the window to save the custom show. You’ll return to the Custom Shows window where you can create another show, Show the custom presentation immediately, or Close the box.

To present a custom show later, you can return to Slide Show > Custom slide show and select the name of the show in the drop-down box. You can also place a link on a certain slide, such as a table of contents slide, to access the custom show.

Organize your slideshow with sections

When you create a PowerPoint presentation, especially a lengthy one, it can become difficult to keep it organized as you add more slides. PowerPoint offers a useful section feature for structuring presentations.

By setting up sections, you can collapse sections you’re not working on to focus on those you are and move an entire section to a different spot in the slideshow instead of moving individual slides.

Step 1: To add a section, select the first slide that you want inside that section. Then either right-click and pick Add section or choose Section > Add section on the Home tab.

Step 2: If you create a section using any slide other than the first slide, that first slide will become part of a default section. This ensures that all slides in your presentation belong to a section.

Step 3: Continue to add sections to group your slides and stay organized.

You can then take advantage of these features for working with sections:

• Collapse and expand a section using the arrow to the left in Normal or Slide Sorter view.
• Collapse or expand all sections by right-clicking a section and choosing an option in the menu or using the Section drop-down arrow on the Home tab.
• Rename a section by right-clicking the section and selecting Rename section in the menu or using the Section drop-down arrow on the Home tab.
• Move slides between sections by dragging and dropping them into the sections you want.
• Move entire sections using drag-and-drop or by right-clicking the section and choosing Move section up or Move section down.

For additional help with your next slideshow, check out ways to add music to your presentation or how to include notes with your slides.

Editors’ Recommendations

To make your presentations more interactive and engaging, you can insert YouTube videos in a PowerPoint presentation. Microsoft rolls out a new feature to add a Live Camera Feed in your PowerPoint presentation on Mac. That way, your audience can see your video during the presentation without leaving the PowerPoint app. You can either add it before starting your presentation or save it in the PowerPoint file.

There are many options to customize your Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint. We will show you how to insert Live Camera Feed in Microsoft PowerPoint on Mac.

The Live Camera Feed feature is available in Microsoft PowerPoint app v16.64 for macOS. We recommend checking whether you are using the same version of the app on your Mac or not.

Update PowerPoint for Mac

How to Enable Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint has added a feature called Cameo to add a Live Camera Feed in individual slides of your presentation. We will show you the various steps to enable and customize it for your presentation. If you want to run your PPT file from a different Mac or Windows PC, make sure that the latest version of PowerPoint is installed on that Mac or Windows PC to support Live Camera Feed functionality.

Firstly, here’s how to enable it in your slide.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type PowerPoint, and press Return.

Step 2: Open your presentation file or create a new one.

Step 3: Once the presentation opens, click on Insert in the top Menu Bar.

Step 4: Click on Cameo at the top-right corner under Insert.

You will see the camera window appear on your current slide.

Step 5: Select the camera window and click on the Camera tab in the top Menu Bar.

Step 6: Click on Camera Preview at the top-left corner to turn on the webcam of your Mac.

You will see your Live Camera Feed appear in the current slide.

You can now control the webcam by simply clicking the camera icon inside the camera window.

You can use these steps to add a Live Camera Feed to your PowerPoint presentation slide – whether you or someone else is presenting it.

How to Change the Alignment of Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint

Let us show you the different ways of customizing your Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint. Here’s how you can change the alignment of your Camera Feed in a slide.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type PowerPoint, and press Return.

Step 2: Open your presentation that contains the Live Camera Feed.

Step 3: Click the Live Camera Feed window in any of your slide to select it.

Step 4: Click the Camera tab at the top Menu Bar.

Step 5: Click the Align option under Camera.

Step 6: Select an alignment of your choice.

How to Change the Shape of Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint

You change the shape of the frame of your Live Camera Feed. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type PowerPoint, and press Return.

Step 2: Open your presentation that contains the live camera feed.

Step 3: Click the Live Camera Feed window in any of your slide to select it.

Step 4: Click the Camera tab at the top Menu Bar.

You will see the Live Camera Feed Frame options next to Camera Preview under Camera.

Step 5: Select a frame shape of your choice.

The frame shape of your live camera feed will change in your slide.

You can also click the Camera Shape option to reveal more frame shape suggestions.

How to Add Border of Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint

You can also add and customize the border of your live camera feed frame like how you add a border to an image. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type PowerPoint, and press Return.

Step 2: Open your presentation that contains the live camera feed.

Step 3: Click the Live Camera Feed window in any of your slide to select it.

Step 4: Click the Camera tab at the top Menu Bar.

Step 5: Select the Camera Border option.

Step 6: Select the border color from the list of options.

You can also click on Weight to change the border thickness of your camera feed.

You will notice your customized border added to your live camera feed.

Improve Your Presentation Style

Microsoft PowerPoint gives you ample options to create stunning presentations. Adding a Live Cam Feed option in your presentation makes the process fluid instead of switching between apps. Besides, you can also convert a PowerPoint file to a video if needed. You can also check out our guide to fix PowerPoint not opening on Mac if you face any issues.

PowerPoint presentations may change in the next few months, as Microsoft integrates live and pre-recorded video into presentations you view and create.

Microsoft’s engineering teams are always hard at work launching features, and today marks Microsoft’s spring 2022 update of sorts, on a variety of different subjects. Microsoft announced a new Surface Hub-specific webcam, updated features to Teams and other productivity apps, and some specific improvements to how Microsoft deals with workers who are returning to the office. For that matter, Microsoft also released a survey noting that many workers aren’t all that interested in returning to work, either preferring to work remotely or as a hybrid of at-home and in-person work.

PowerPoint touches many different lives and careers (even holiday parties) so it’s not surprising that two of the most important announcements involve it. Specifically, Microsoft is merging PowerPoint Cameo with its Recording Studio function, so you’ll have more ways to deliver video as part of presentations. PowerPoint Cameo takes an idea that has appeared in mmhmm and other solutions: It captures a small live feed of you talking through your slides, and integrates that with the presentation. All Recording Studio does is simply add the capability to pre-record that video, so you’ll have the option of presenting live or pre-recording the video so others can review it on their own time –as we’ve seen already happen with the ability to record Teams calls, for example.

All actions have consequences though, and Microsoft’s latest Future of Work survey highlights a problem: Working at home (or just working) has led to a whopping 252 percent increase in time spent in Teams meetings since February 2020. Microsoft used its anonymized telemetry within Microsoft 365 to identify another alarming trend: The average workday increased 46 minutes during that time, and time spent working after hours increased 28 percent. On weekends, employees are now working 14 percent more hours than they used to.

In the survey of 31,000 people, Microsoft found that 51 percent of hybrid workers (splitting work between the home and office) plan to go fully remote, and 57 percent of remote workers want to go back to the office part-time as hybrid workers.

Microsoft can track trends using anonymized signals captured within Microsoft Teams. Here’s how our collective workload has expanded.

Microsoft

The inevitable question: If Microsoft is now allowing workers to produce video PowerPoint presentations that allow for more asynchronous work after hours, isn’t Microsoft simply contributing to the problem of burnt-out workers? Microsoft doesn’t think so.

“Our customers are telling us they want to empower people for a world of work that is dynamic and fluid, and the data shows that the shift to asynchronous work is part of the new normal,” a Microsoft representative said in a statement. “Monthly use of meeting recordings has doubled since March 2020, allowing people to catch up on meetings at a time that works best for them. As we emerge into this new hybrid reality, we are focused on building experiences that enable everyone to connect and engage from anywhere and at any time. We also recognize that not only are employees on different time zones, but choose to work their own, unique hours, if their jobs give them the flexibility. With that being said, some employees may choose to listen to a meeting instead of attending live, because of their individual scenarios and we want to empower them and give them the flexibility to do so.”

Recording Studio and Cameo do not provide a transcript for employees to review, Microsoft said, but videos can be uploaded to OneDrive for Business, which provides translation.

Microsoft also provided some timeline updates: Last September, Microsoft’s migration of PowerPoint’s Presentation Coach to Teams (Speaker Coach) will be completed by the second quarter of 2022. Microsoft is also improving Whiteboard within Teams, with new templates, reactions, and collaborative features, also in the second quarter of 2022. Finally, Microsoft is also adding language interpretation, which allows the presenter to assign human interpreters to various attendees, with the interpreted audio playing at a higher volume.

The most popular meeting times, according to Microsoft’s data.

Microsoft

Adapting to hybrid work

Microsoft is also announcing new capabilities to focus on hybrid work, one of the themes Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella frequently promotes. Hybrid work — the flexibility in roaming between the office and remote work — is as much a cultural problem as it is a productivity topic.

Microsoft already offers a program called Microsoft Teams Phone, where users can place voice calls from within the app to landlines, VOIP phones, and more. Microsoft is expanding this with a program called Operator Connect Mobile, which does the opposite: It provides users with a single “business line” or phone number for their desk phone and mobile phone, allowing someone to call that number and reach you whether you’re in the office or on a mobile device. It will even roam between Wi-Fi and cellular as you move between the two, Microsoft says.

Companies like Vonage have already offered a single one-number-for-all capability for years, but Microsoft is now getting on board, too. (To be fair, app-to-app communication like Skype or Messenger already finds you on whatever device you are on.) Technically, Operator Connect Mobile will be a program for employees, not consumers — but the subtext is that the line between your work and personal life is also blurring.

Do you buy this? A survey of 31,000 workers found that younger workers believe we’ll be holding meetings in the metaverse one day.

Microsoft

To make the attendees in meetings feel more included, Microsoft is requiring people who use Teams Rooms companion devices to turn off their audio — and, soon, will require them to turn their laptop camera on even if they’re in the room. The idea, according to Microsoft, is to take remote users, who have their cameras on, and make them equivalent to the people in the room — one attendee, one face. That avoids implying that there’s a collection of “in” attendees and a collection of “everyone else. Likewise, Microsoft is taking its Surface Hub 2 and placing the screens from the remote attendees at eye level, called Front Row. It’s another way to make everyone feel equal.

Microsoft took a similar approach with the launch of its 12-Mpixel Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera, a webcam that will only work with the Surface Hub 2. We’ve seen more webcams like the Dell UltraSharp 4K webcam automatically pan and zoom to center on its user’s face, and Microsoft took a similar approach. Using algorithms that look for attendees, the webcam will narrow and sharpen its view to frame all the attendees in the room.

Microsoft’s new Surace Hub 2S Smart Camera.

Microsoft

Microsoft’s Surface Hub 2S Smart Camera is available today for $800, Microsoft said.

PowerPoint presentations may change in the next few months, as Microsoft integrates live and pre-recorded video into presentations you view and create.

Microsoft’s engineering teams are always hard at work launching features, and today marks Microsoft’s spring 2022 update of sorts, on a variety of different subjects. Microsoft announced a new Surface Hub-specific webcam, updated features to Teams and other productivity apps, and some specific improvements to how Microsoft deals with workers who are returning to the office. For that matter, Microsoft also released a survey noting that many workers aren’t all that interested in returning to work, either preferring to work remotely or as a hybrid of at-home and in-person work.

PowerPoint touches many different lives and careers (even holiday parties) so it’s not surprising that two of the most important announcements involve it. Specifically, Microsoft is merging PowerPoint Cameo with its Recording Studio function, so you’ll have more ways to deliver video as part of presentations. PowerPoint Cameo takes an idea that has appeared in mmhmm and other solutions: It captures a small live feed of you talking through your slides, and integrates that with the presentation. All Recording Studio does is simply add the capability to pre-record that video, so you’ll have the option of presenting live or pre-recording the video so others can review it on their own time –as we’ve seen already happen with the ability to record Teams calls, for example.

All actions have consequences though, and Microsoft’s latest Future of Work survey highlights a problem: Working at home (or just working) has led to a whopping 252 percent increase in time spent in Teams meetings since February 2020. Microsoft used its anonymized telemetry within Microsoft 365 to identify another alarming trend: The average workday increased 46 minutes during that time, and time spent working after hours increased 28 percent. On weekends, employees are now working 14 percent more hours than they used to.

In the survey of 31,000 people, Microsoft found that 51 percent of hybrid workers (splitting work between the home and office) plan to go fully remote, and 57 percent of remote workers want to go back to the office part-time as hybrid workers.

Microsoft can track trends using anonymized signals captured within Microsoft Teams. Here’s how our collective workload has expanded.

Microsoft

The inevitable question: If Microsoft is now allowing workers to produce video PowerPoint presentations that allow for more asynchronous work after hours, isn’t Microsoft simply contributing to the problem of burnt-out workers? Microsoft doesn’t think so.

“Our customers are telling us they want to empower people for a world of work that is dynamic and fluid, and the data shows that the shift to asynchronous work is part of the new normal,” a Microsoft representative said in a statement. “Monthly use of meeting recordings has doubled since March 2020, allowing people to catch up on meetings at a time that works best for them. As we emerge into this new hybrid reality, we are focused on building experiences that enable everyone to connect and engage from anywhere and at any time. We also recognize that not only are employees on different time zones, but choose to work their own, unique hours, if their jobs give them the flexibility. With that being said, some employees may choose to listen to a meeting instead of attending live, because of their individual scenarios and we want to empower them and give them the flexibility to do so.”

Recording Studio and Cameo do not provide a transcript for employees to review, Microsoft said, but videos can be uploaded to OneDrive for Business, which provides translation.

Microsoft also provided some timeline updates: Last September, Microsoft’s migration of PowerPoint’s Presentation Coach to Teams (Speaker Coach) will be completed by the second quarter of 2022. Microsoft is also improving Whiteboard within Teams, with new templates, reactions, and collaborative features, also in the second quarter of 2022. Finally, Microsoft is also adding language interpretation, which allows the presenter to assign human interpreters to various attendees, with the interpreted audio playing at a higher volume.

The most popular meeting times, according to Microsoft’s data.

Microsoft

Adapting to hybrid work

Microsoft is also announcing new capabilities to focus on hybrid work, one of the themes Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella frequently promotes. Hybrid work — the flexibility in roaming between the office and remote work — is as much a cultural problem as it is a productivity topic.

Microsoft already offers a program called Microsoft Teams Phone, where users can place voice calls from within the app to landlines, VOIP phones, and more. Microsoft is expanding this with a program called Operator Connect Mobile, which does the opposite: It provides users with a single “business line” or phone number for their desk phone and mobile phone, allowing someone to call that number and reach you whether you’re in the office or on a mobile device. It will even roam between Wi-Fi and cellular as you move between the two, Microsoft says.

Companies like Vonage have already offered a single one-number-for-all capability for years, but Microsoft is now getting on board, too. (To be fair, app-to-app communication like Skype or Messenger already finds you on whatever device you are on.) Technically, Operator Connect Mobile will be a program for employees, not consumers — but the subtext is that the line between your work and personal life is also blurring.

Do you buy this? A survey of 31,000 workers found that younger workers believe we’ll be holding meetings in the metaverse one day.

Microsoft

To make the attendees in meetings feel more included, Microsoft is requiring people who use Teams Rooms companion devices to turn off their audio — and, soon, will require them to turn their laptop camera on even if they’re in the room. The idea, according to Microsoft, is to take remote users, who have their cameras on, and make them equivalent to the people in the room — one attendee, one face. That avoids implying that there’s a collection of “in” attendees and a collection of “everyone else. Likewise, Microsoft is taking its Surface Hub 2 and placing the screens from the remote attendees at eye level, called Front Row. It’s another way to make everyone feel equal.

Microsoft took a similar approach with the launch of its 12-Mpixel Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera, a webcam that will only work with the Surface Hub 2. We’ve seen more webcams like the Dell UltraSharp 4K webcam automatically pan and zoom to center on its user’s face, and Microsoft took a similar approach. Using algorithms that look for attendees, the webcam will narrow and sharpen its view to frame all the attendees in the room.

Microsoft’s new Surace Hub 2S Smart Camera.

Microsoft

Microsoft’s Surface Hub 2S Smart Camera is available today for $800, Microsoft said.

To make your presentations more interactive and engaging, you can insert YouTube videos in a PowerPoint presentation. Microsoft rolls out a new feature to add a Live Camera Feed in your PowerPoint presentation on Mac. That way, your audience can see your video during the presentation without leaving the PowerPoint app. You can either add it before starting your presentation or save it in the PowerPoint file.

There are many options to customize your Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint. We will show you how to insert Live Camera Feed in Microsoft PowerPoint on Mac.

The Live Camera Feed feature is available in Microsoft PowerPoint app v16.64 for macOS. We recommend checking whether you are using the same version of the app on your Mac or not.

Update PowerPoint for Mac

How to Enable Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint has added a feature called Cameo to add a Live Camera Feed in individual slides of your presentation. We will show you the various steps to enable and customize it for your presentation. If you want to run your PPT file from a different Mac or Windows PC, make sure that the latest version of PowerPoint is installed on that Mac or Windows PC to support Live Camera Feed functionality.

Firstly, here’s how to enable it in your slide.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type PowerPoint, and press Return.

Step 2: Open your presentation file or create a new one.

Step 3: Once the presentation opens, click on Insert in the top Menu Bar.

Step 4: Click on Cameo at the top-right corner under Insert.

You will see the camera window appear on your current slide.

Step 5: Select the camera window and click on the Camera tab in the top Menu Bar.

Step 6: Click on Camera Preview at the top-left corner to turn on the webcam of your Mac.

You will see your Live Camera Feed appear in the current slide.

You can now control the webcam by simply clicking the camera icon inside the camera window.

You can use these steps to add a Live Camera Feed to your PowerPoint presentation slide – whether you or someone else is presenting it.

How to Change the Alignment of Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint

Let us show you the different ways of customizing your Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint. Here’s how you can change the alignment of your Camera Feed in a slide.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type PowerPoint, and press Return.

Step 2: Open your presentation that contains the Live Camera Feed.

Step 3: Click the Live Camera Feed window in any of your slide to select it.

Step 4: Click the Camera tab at the top Menu Bar.

Step 5: Click the Align option under Camera.

Step 6: Select an alignment of your choice.

How to Change the Shape of Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint

You change the shape of the frame of your Live Camera Feed. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type PowerPoint, and press Return.

Step 2: Open your presentation that contains the live camera feed.

Step 3: Click the Live Camera Feed window in any of your slide to select it.

Step 4: Click the Camera tab at the top Menu Bar.

You will see the Live Camera Feed Frame options next to Camera Preview under Camera.

Step 5: Select a frame shape of your choice.

The frame shape of your live camera feed will change in your slide.

You can also click the Camera Shape option to reveal more frame shape suggestions.

How to Add Border of Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint

You can also add and customize the border of your live camera feed frame like how you add a border to an image. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type PowerPoint, and press Return.

Step 2: Open your presentation that contains the live camera feed.

Step 3: Click the Live Camera Feed window in any of your slide to select it.

Step 4: Click the Camera tab at the top Menu Bar.

Step 5: Select the Camera Border option.

Step 6: Select the border color from the list of options.

You can also click on Weight to change the border thickness of your camera feed.

You will notice your customized border added to your live camera feed.

Improve Your Presentation Style

Microsoft PowerPoint gives you ample options to create stunning presentations. Adding a Live Cam Feed option in your presentation makes the process fluid instead of switching between apps. Besides, you can also convert a PowerPoint file to a video if needed. You can also check out our guide to fix PowerPoint not opening on Mac if you face any issues.

This article appeared in Issue 8 of CreativePro Magazine.

Microsoft’s PowerPoint development team is not one to sit on its heels. Nearly every few weeks, they push out new tweaks and additions to Microsoft 365 subscribers. Usually, it’s small stuff, but sometimes these features—such as Morph or Designer—make significant leaps forward.

After all these years, however, there are still some glaring feature omissions and faults with the program that never fail to frustrate users. Fortunately, PowerPoint has long allowed third parties to step up to the plate and create plug-ins and tools that solve these frustrations in some cases and dramatically extend the software’s functionality in others.

Technically, there are a few types of PowerPoint add-ins, but we can sort them into two main buckets: Office add-ins and PowerPoint add-ins. In this article, I’ll show where you can find them, how they can work for you, and which ones might you help you the most.

Office Add-ins

You can find Office add-ins and easily install them from within the program by going to the Get Add-ins button on the Insert tab (Figure 1). If you don’t see the button with the red icon, you may need to first click the My Add-ins button with the hexagons icon. From here, you will arrive at an Office Add-ins store, where you can search and browse for all sorts of tools from Microsoft and other vendors alike—tools meant to add some type of functionality to PowerPoint, Word, or Excel.

FIgure 1. The Get Add-ins button in the Insert tab

In some cases, you can use the same add-in in all three programs, although mostly they are application specific. The organization here isn’t great, but you can browse by categories or do a keyword search. For example, type in stock photos, and you’ll find add-ins that allow you to search and insert images directly from Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Pexels, and many other sources (Figure 2).

FIgure 2. The Office Add-ins Store is not well organized, but you can search it by keyword.

All Office add-ins will install a panel on the right side of the PowerPoint screen and add a button to bring up this panel on your Insert or Home tab.

You need to be connected to the web for these add-ins to work, and while all are free to install, some may require further purchases or paid subscriptions.

The Adobe Stock and Shutterstock add-ins allow you to insert watermarked test images, but you need a paid subscription to remove the information. Pexels, on the other hand, provides completely free imagery. Pickit provides stock imagery, but also a very user-friendly digital asset management system so your employees can easily insert owned assets from multiple vendors.

And if you’re looking for icons, then The Noun Project has you covered with Icons by Noun Project, which gives you access to its huge collection (Figure 3). Note that Icons by Noun Project recently changed from inserting PNGs to using the much-more-flexible SVG format, so I almost never have to actually go to the website anymore.

FIgure 3. The Icons by Noun Project add-in allows you one-click access to a huge catalog of completely free icons and symbols.

If you live and breathe Adobe, then the Adobe Creative Cloud add-in gives you access to your CC Libraries without ever leaving PowerPoint! (Figure 4)

FIgure 4. The Adobe Creative Cloud add-in lets you open your CC Libraries and insert such assets as graphics and logos without ever leaving PowerPoint.

You can explore a lot more Office add-ins, such as Power BI Tiles (insert visualizations from Microsoft Power BI),
Web Viewer (insert live web pages), and QR4Office (inserts custom QR codes). More are being added all the time.

Office add-ins work on both Windows and macOS and even in online and mobile versions of PowerPoint—something we’re not going to see a lot of when we move to our next category.

PowerPoint Add-ins

Now we move to the other universe of add-ins: ones that generally serve to add a tool to an existing Ribbon tab or provide you with a completely new tab and a whole set of tools.

PowerPoint add-ins are built and distributed by third-party developers and usually come with their own standalone installers. They range in price from free to expensive, and they offer a wide range of features.

BrightSlide

If you can choose only one add-in, BrightSlide should be it. Initially created by the design firm BrightCarbon for their internal designers, this large suite of tools is now available to the public for absolutely free. It supports Windows and macOS, is always being updated, and has quickly become a must-have for professional slide designers. For a more complete overview of the tool, see my post “Brightslide: The Essential Add-in for PowerPoint” at CreativePro.com.

Think-cell

PowerPoint’s charting often feels stuck in the past because it hasn’t been significantly updated in years. Think-cell has long offered an alternative that not only gives you additional chart types such as Mekkos, Gantts, and waterfalls, but also finer control over labeling and formatting standard charts. You might find the interface a bit too slick and minimal, so it could take a little getting used to (Figure 5).

FIgure 5. The Think-cell insert tools and an example of a Mekko chart

Aside from a pricey annual subscription (Windows and macOS, $247.50/yr.), the big hitch with Think-cell is that the charts, while they can be connected to Excel data sheets, exist in their own containers on slides and are distinct from Office charts. Some users find Think-cell helps them create a larger volume of charts more quickly, but others find it challenging to stay on brand when using a strict template.

ToolsToo Pro

Another long-running set of tools comes courtesy of ToolsToo Pro (Windows, $19.95). No matter what your level of expertise, you will find something here to considerably improve your PowerPoint workflow, like super-charged selection and formatting tools or tools to help get rid of such items as unused masters or embedded chart data. You get a lot of bang for your buck with ToolsToo due to the sheer number of features (Figure 6).

FIgure 6. The ToolsToo interface

Slidewise

An instant must-have, Slidewise (Windows, $48) shows you information on every image, font, and master layout used in your file—the analysis tool makes it a snap to identify that 30 MB TIFF that’s preventing your file from being emailed, for example.

I use it all the time to identify and reliably replace unwanted fonts that have crept into my file. If you’ve ever experienced PowerPoint’s unwillingness to replace one font with another, this is the add-in that will do it without complaint (Figure 7).

FIgure 7. With Slidewise, you can replace all instances of an unwanted font with another one, including Theme fonts.

Build-a-Graphic

You might not need to actually hire an artist to create a slick process graphic if you use the Build-a-Graphic add-in (Windows, $99/yr.), which puts a huge catalog of professional graphics and graphic elements at your fingertips.

With one click, you can insert fully composed infographics or graphic elements if you’d rather create your own finished product. A searchable library includes everything from icons to 3D pyramids to vector maps to isometric illustrations. And every graphic is inserted as PowerPoint shapes, which means you edit and recolor them yourself (Figure 8).

FIgure 8. The Build-a-Graphic library dialog box

Thor

Figure 9. You’re probably already thinking about how Thor could have saved you hours.

Some add-ins do just one thing, but do it beautifully. Thor (Windows, free) is such a tool that allows you to pick up the size and position of an object and then “hammer” (apply) those attributes to any other object with one click. You might already be thinking of that one project where this simple ability could have saved you hours (Figure 9).

 

And So Much More…

I hope this article has you excited about extending your PowerPoint abilities with add-ins, but we’ve really just scratched the surface. In addition to the tools I’ve already mentioned, you might consider PresentationPoint to create digital signage, TalkTime to control a presentation’s timing, Slido for live polling, and Empower Slides to manage slide libraries and maintain brand consistency.

And if your organization has a unique need, plenty of developers would happily create a custom add-in for you, including BrightCarbon, PPTAlchemy, and PPTools. Such developers also tend to offer many smaller add-ins for free.

If you’re regularly using PowerPoint without add-ins, you’re almost certainly spending more time in the program than you need to. So, start trying out some of the amazing tools that are out there just waiting for you!

East Meadow High School graduate Tristan Pesqueira took his classroom knowledge to the real world winning the 2022 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship for PowerPoint

Pesqueira competed against 95 others in the world championships July 24 to 27 in Anaheim, California after winning the national competition in June in Dallas hosted by Microsoft to test students’s skills in Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. 

“Winning these competitions was never on the forefront of my mind,” Pesqueira said. “After I took both exams for the national and the international one I didn’t think I was going to win.”

At East Meadow, Pesqueira took the Multimedia class, where students learn the programs of the Microsoft Office Suite. The class promotes students getting MOS certified to validate their proficiency in technical skills. Pasqueira took Multimedia 4 his senior year and took Microsoft Office Specialist tests to qualify for competitions. He had a perfect score in PowerPoint.

“The Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship is one of our favorite events annually, because these students are thrilled to compete, and they inspire all of us with their competitive spirit and crowning achievement,” Rick Hermann, a Microsoft vice president, said in a statement. “These students work diligently to earn valuable industry-recognized certifications, and we know that the future is bright with upcoming business and technology leaders like those we met at the MOS World Championship.”

Students had to complete two parts to show their skills. The first was a 30-minute timed exam, the same style as the one he took for the national competition, but Pesqueira found this one difficult. “It was harder than the one at the national level,” he said. “I found it a lot more challenging and I didn’t really feel like I did good on it, but I guess it was designed that way.”

The second part was a three-hour research project. Pesqueira said a non-profit organization was brought in and the students were to make a project about the non-profit and the issues that they’re attempting to tackle. Pesqueira’s project was a PowerPoint presentation for the nonprofit, Empower, highlighting its mission to provide at-risk young people in emerging market countries with the resources, skills and mentorship to improve their lives.

“I was initially a little worried about that, because I thought it would involve being more creative and creativity is not really my strong suit,” Pesqueira said. “But it turned out pretty nicely.”

Pesqueira’s winnings for the national and international competition totaled $10,000 which most will assist in his college expenses at Binghamton. He also received a Microsoft Surface Pro X tablet-computer, Microsoft Surface Go 2 laptop, and earphones.

“It is inspiring to see students from 21 countries come together to ‘speak Microsoft’,” said Ray Murray, vice president and general manager of Certiport in a statement. “The winners receive extra praise, but every single student who entered has earned a valuable workforce credential that will help them find success in college and in their career.”

Laurie Pesqueira said that she couldn’t be more proud of her son for both wins. “I was ecstatic with both wins,” she said. “This is a monumental accomplishment. I’m so happy for him and couldn’t be more proud.”

Pesqueira said taking the Multimedia class in school prepared him for the future. “It taught us all about the programs,” he said. “It was something I was interested in.”

Small business owners use Microsoft PowerPoint presentations for multiple purposes. Be it a sales presentation, elevator pitch, or financial presentation, PowerPoint never lets you down. So, learning how to make a PowerPoint into a video can go a long way, for a video has more reach and better conversion than most content formats.

There are two options to turn PowerPoint presentations into videos – the first is an Export option, and the other is a Save As option.

This article will explore both the options to help you convert your personal or professional presentations into videos.

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How to Turn a PowerPoint into a Video

Here is the step-by-step process to export a file as a video:

1. Go to the File Menu

Click on the File menu of your presentation and select Export option.

2. Click Create a Video Option

Once you select the Export option, you will see multiple options to export your presentation on the right side. Click on the Create a Video Option.

3. Select the Quality of Your Video

As you select Create a Video Option, a dialog box about the quality of your video appears on the right side. You can choose the quality of your video from the drop-down menu.

It is good to select HD quality as most Internet-abled devices these days come with HD screens.

5. Set Time Spent on Slides

In this tab, you can set how much time is spent on each slide in your video. Each slide will be played for the same time you select. After setting time spent for slides, click on the Create Video button.

Once you Click Create Video, a new window opens that offers you an option to choose a location to save your video and the type of video file you want. You can save your video in MPEG-4 format or Windows Media Video.

5. Add Recorded Timings and Narrations

If you want a few slides with long text to be shown for a longer duration, you should set recorded timings and narrations.

Select Don’t Use recorded timings and narrations and click on record a video.

In addition to adding your narrations, you can also include a box of yourself explaining the slide by selecting the camera option.

PowerPoint records timing as you record your voice. The time you spend on each slide before moving to the next slide will be the timing for that slide. And the newly created video will use recorded timings.

Once you’re done recording timings and narrations, you can export the video. The conversion process will take a few minutes, depending on the size of your project.

Video Quality Options

When you pick the Export Option in PowerPoint for the video creation process, you will be presented with the following options to choose presentation quality in the video:

Ultra HD (4K)

The 4K video quality option takes the largest file size of all available options and offers ultra-high quality (3840 × 2160) resolution.

If you plan to show your PowerPoint videos on a big projector, you can select 4K quality. Your audience will require excellent Internet quality to play a PowerPoint video in 4K resolution.

Full HD (1080hp)

This video quality option demands a large file size and provides full-high quality (1920 x 1080) resolution. Full HD resolution is well-suited for most situations as it is a common screen resolution for smartphones.

HD (720P)

If you pick the HD video quality option, it will take a medium file size and offer medium quality (1280 x 720). You can use this quality for smaller web videos.

Now, most PCs come with HD screens. So, it is better to aim for a higher resolution than this.

Standard (480p)

The standard quality (852 x 480) results in the smallest file size, offering the lowest quality. With most internet devices having HD displays, it is no point in using this video quality option.

But if your target audience has extremely poor internet speed, you can opt for standard quality.

How to Save a PowerPoint as a Video File

If you want to quickly turn your PowerPoint file into a video, you can use save a PowerPoint as a video option. The process is quite simple.

1. Find Location to Save Video

Go to the File tab. Click on Save As and browse the location to save your video.

2- Pick Video Format

Write a file name and select Save As Type to scroll down. Set Windows media video or MPEG-4 and select the Save button. Your video will be ready in a few minutes, depending on the size of your project.

How to Save a PowerPoint Presentation as an MP4

To save a PowerPoint presentation as an MP4, select Save As Type and choose the MPEG-4 option. And then, click the Save button to get your presentation video.

Uses in Business

Here are the key benefits of converting a PowerPoint presentation into a video:

1. Easy Content Accessibility

Your audience can consume videos on any internet-enabled device without having PowerPoint installed. So, by converting your presentation into a video, you improve the accessibility of your content.

2. Improved Content Reach

When you turn your PowerPoint presentation into a video format, you get a myriad of options to share your content. You can upload the video file to YouTube or other video platforms for consumption.

You can send the link to your presentation video to your email subscribers. Also, you can easily share videos on social media to reach more people.

3. Enhanced Comprehension

Videos are easy to understand with minimal effort. So, knowing how to convert PowerPoint to a video file format can help you make your presentation more comprehensible.

4. More Conversions

Videos are a popular form of content in marketing because they offer a better conversion rate than other content types. So, if you’re using presentations to sell your products/services, video conversion of those presentation slides can help you sell more.

Conclusion

Microsoft PowerPoint is a great tool to implement presentation ideas. And if you don’t make common PowerPoint mistakes, there is no reason your presentation wouldn’t shine. To further increase the reach of your content, you can create videos from your presentations.

If you want a quick video, you can save a PowerPoint presentation as a video. The Export method will serve you better if you need to customize your video presentation.

Once you have turned your presentation into a video, you can read this guide to video marketing to succeed.

Read More: how to embed a video in PowerPoint

Image: Depositphotos

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