How to record voice over for a powerpoint presentation
You don’t have to be present at a conference or class to produce a PowerPoint presentation. Just pre-record a voice over for a powerpoint presentation and you can send it where ever you want. You will find it possible to deliver a PowerPoint presentation at a company meeting or in a school classroom without being present.
The best way is to find a Sydney voice over studio and record it professionally. Here are some step by step instructions about how to record voice in the powerpoint program on your own:
Starting with the right equipment.
- If you don’t have access to a Sydney Recording Studio, first of all you will need a microphone. The inbuilt microphone in your computer will suffice for basic voice over for a powerpoint presentation. Having said that, for better quality you will want to have an audio interface with options for an external microphone. Many are available and most have fairly consistent quality. There is no need to break the budget. Simply attach the interface (usually via a USB cable) and download the software. Consequently will be a mixing/control panel accessible when the software is installed. Make sure the levels are full and loud but not distorting.
- The next step is to write your script. Make sure it flows nicely. Furthermore, you want it to transition between each subject matter appearing in the presentation. For this reason you want to segue and connect sections of the presentation with clever joining phrases. Similarly you can use music to unify the themes and slides.
Practicing and preparing
- Practice the script and make sure you are comfortable with all the tricky words and phrases. There is no point recording many times over when you can practice it to prepare yourself.
- You can have a complete script and record the voice over in one hit or you can break it up. Sometimes its preferable to record one slide at a time. This would depend on the style of presentation. Use your intuition and make sure it flows from slide to slide.
When recording voice over for a powerpoint presentation your audio can be embedded in powerpoint. As a result, the whole file can be moved anywhere and played on any device. Audio files are not stored separately.
Using another application
The other option is to record the voice over presentation in another audio application. Sometimes this can produce better quality. A decent Sydney Voice over studio will use logic or pro-tools. You can record the audio file in a program like Audacity or Logic and export it. The best formats to export with are Mp3 or wave files. Then you apply the process of creating a link. Be sure to store the linked files in the same folder on your computer. One risk of using linked audio is that you will mix up the tracks and lose them in the hard drive. For this reason, organisation is a must. Audio links will ensure that your file size is smaller over all.
Specifics on recording directly into powerpoint.
To begin with, choose the slide to which you want to add the voice over, then find: Insert – Audio – Record Audio.
- Type a title for the voiceover section.
- Press Record ( the red button).
- Record your script using the microphone
- Press stop when you are finished
- Select play to hear it back and check for mistakes.
- Choose ok to add the audio clip to the file.
As well as recording an audio voiceover, you can record a video.
Recording an entire audio track for a single presentation.
- Choose View – Normal
- Select the 1st slide in the presentation where you want to record audio.
- Choose Slide Show – Record Slide Show – Record from Current Slide.
A Record Slide Show box will ask you to choose other options.
Getting the timing right:
- PowerPoint will automatically track the timing of slide changes while you record.Similarly, PowerPoint will automatically track narrations, inking, or laser points.
- Check both of these options for ease of operation.
- Select start recording.
- You can select pause if you need a break at any point.
- Choose “clear recordings on current slide” if you make a mistake or two.
- When you’ve finished recording a slide, choose “Advance to the next slide” or press the spacebar.
- Press stop when finished.
- Shut the record window to return to the main presentation.
Extra controls at the bottom left hand side of the screen:
The first couple will advance forward or backward through your slideshow. Control number 3 opens up some useful tools like the Highlighter, Laser Pointer, Pen and Eraser.
As you progress through the presentation, you can highlight parts of your slides while you speak. PowerPoint will record these marks (if you made sure the boxes were checked). Similarly, using the laser pointer allows you to point out various things on your slides as you record the presentation.
How to Listen to the Recorded Voiceover
Furthermore, once you’ve recorded your narration, you can go back to the slides and listen to your voice over.
Here’s how to playback a recording:
- Choose View > Normal.
- Choose the slide containing the presentation/recording you want to hear.
- Search for the sound icon on the slide.
- Hover over sound icon and press Play to hear the audio.
- Hit Pause when you’re finished playing it back.
How to Turn a recording off
The final thing you need to know about how to record voice over for a PowerPoint presentation is how to turn it off! If you don’t want to hear your voice when playing back a presentation simply select Slide Show and select the “Play Narrations” check box to clear it
