powerpoint presentation edit audio

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• PowerPoint Tutorials

How to Add, Record or Edit Audio or Music in PowerPoint

Do you want to set the right mood and keep your audience engaged and entertained during your next presentation? In this new Slidesgo School tutorial, you’ll learn how to add audio or music to your presentations . You’ll also find out how to edit them to your liking .

Adding Audio from your Computer

Recording audio from powerpoint, editing audio, adding online audio, adding music from youtube, playing several clips in succession during your presentation.

• Before we begin, please note the following: in PowerPoint 2010 or older, you should use .wav or .wma files in Windows, and .wav files in Mac. If you’re using a newer version, we recommend that you work with AAC .m4a files.
• Open your PowerPoint presentation and select the slide where you want to add audio.
• On the Insert tab, in the Media group, click the Audio drop-down arrow. You’ll see two options: the first one allows you to add audio from your PC, whereas the second one allows you to record audio (you’ll need to have a microphone set up in your computer).
• Select Audio from My PC. A new window will open, where you have to locate the audio file you want to add to your presentation.
• Once located, click the drop-down arrow next to Insert. You’ll see two options:
• If you choose Insert , the audio will be directly inserted into your presentation, increasing the size of the document.
• If you choose Link to File , a link to the file will be created, reducing the size of the document. However, there could be issues if you use the presentation in a different computer, forcing you to link the audio file to the presentation again.
• Select the option that best suits your needs.
• If you want to export any audio included in your PowerPoint presentation, right-click its icon → Save Media As (you can only do this with audio inserted from your PC).
• Please note that if you want to play a different audio in each slide, you’ll need to add the audio files one by one. You’ll also need to uncheck “Play Across Slides”. You can refer to the “ Editing Audio ” section in this tutorial if you want more information.
• On the Insert tab, in the Media group, click the Audio drop-down arrow. Select Record Audio. A new window will open.
• Enter the name of the audio file you’re about to record.
• Press Record to start recording. To stop, press the Stop button. To play what you’ve recorded, press Play.
• If you’re happy with what you’ve recorded, click OK. If that’s not the case, click Cancel.
• Select the audio whose format you want to adjust. A new set of tabs, called Audio Tools, will appear on the toolbar.
• In the Bookmarks group, you’ll find an option to add bookmarks, which will be visible in the timeline. These can be helpful if you want to quickly find the main points in your audio during the presentation.
• In the Editing group, there are options to add a fade in and a fade out. You’ll also find the Trim Audio option. If you click it, a new window will open, where you can set the start point and the end point of the audio clip.
• In the Audio Options group, you’ll find the following options to adjust the behavior of the audio clip:
• Volume: It allows you to set the volume of the clip.
• Start: Click the drop-down arrow to choose how you want the audio to start. If you’re using Office 2010, you’ll also find an option here to play the audio clip during the entire presentation.
• Loop until Stopped: Once the audio clip finishes, it starts again indefinitely until you stop it.
• Play Across Slides: If you enable this, the audio clip will be played during the entire presentation. If “Loop until Stopped” is enabled too, it won’t stop playing until you reach the end of the presentation.
• Hide During Show: Check this option if you want to hide the icon.
• Rewind after Playing: Check this option if you want the timer of the audio clip to go back to the beginning when it reaches the end.
• If you’re using newer versions of PowerPoint, you’ll find a group called Audio Styles. Choose “No Style” if you don’t want additional effects. Choose “Play in Background” if you want the audio clip to be played in the background during your presentation.
• You can change the icon of the audio clip. To do so, on the Format tab, in the Adjust group, click Change Picture.
• Insert an icon or a picture. We’ll use it to link the online audio. Please refer to the How to Add and Modify Icons tutorial to learn how to insert icons.
• Add the link to the online audio resource. If you don’t know how to do it, please refer to the How to Insert a Hyperlink in PowerPoint tutorial.
• Once added, click the icon of this audio. A new window will open, where you must click the Play button. Some audio platforms, such as Soundcloud, allow you to generate an autoplay sharing link. With that, you just need to click the icon to play the audio automatically.
• If you want to pause the playback, you’ll need to exit the presentation mode and do it manually.
• Insert the video containing the audio or music you want. If you don’t know how, please refer to the How to Add a Video in PowerPoint tutorial.
• Decrease the size of the video and place it outside the visible part of the slide.
• We need to set it to automatically play in presentation mode. To do this, on the Playback tab, in the Video Options group, click the Start drop-down arrow and select “Automatically”. If you need more information, please refer to the How to Add a Video in PowerPoint tutorial.
• Please note that the audio will stop when changing slides.

To create a playlist that plays across all slides during your presentation, you need to use an audio editing software, such as Audacity or Adobe Audition, and edit the clips so that they come one after another. When you’re done, export it as a single audio file, which you can now use in your presentation.

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Edit Music, Sound, or Other Audio Settings in PowerPoint

You can use PowerPoint to edit music, sound, or other audio

• Brock University
• Play Music Across Slides

Set Music Playback Options Using the Animation Pane

• Play Music Over a Specific Number of Slides
• Hide the Sound Icon During a Slide Show
• Change the Volume Setting on a Slide

Use sound and narration audio files to enhance your presentation. Play audio files across several slides, play music during specified slides, or play background music along with narration. After you've added the sound files, change the volume level and hide the audio icons on the slide.

Instructions in this article apply to PowerPoint 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007; PowerPoint for Mac, and PowerPoint for Microsoft 365.

Play Music Across Several PowerPoint Slides

There may be times when you want a single audio file to play during an entire slide show or from a certain slide to the end of the show. For example, you can add a voiceover on PowerPoint that will narrate your slides for you.

To play music across several PowerPoint slides until the audio ends:

Navigate to the slide where the music, sound, or another audio file will start playing.

On the ribbon , go to the Insert tab.

In the Media group, select Audio , then choose Audio on My PC .

If you don't have a pre-recorded audio file, select Record Audio to create a narration.

Navigate to the folder where the sound or music file is stored, choose the file, then select Insert .

Select the audio icon.

Go to the Audio Tools Playback tab.

In the Audio Options group, select the Play Across Slides check box.

The sound file will play across 999 slides or to the end of the music, whichever comes first.

If you want to play several selections of music (or parts of several selections) and want the music to stop after a precise number of slides have been shown, set up the audio files as animations.

To find the animation options:

Navigate to the slide which contains the sound file icon.

On the ribbon, go to the Animations tab and select Animation Pane .

In the Animation Pane , select the drop-down arrow next to the audio file.

Select Effect Options .

The Play Audio dialog box opens and displays the Effect tab.

Use the Effect tab to set when an audio file should start playing and stop playing.

Use the Timing tab to set how the sound should start and to set a delay time.

How to Play Music Over Specific Number of PowerPoint Slides

To change the number of slides that the audio file will play across:

In the Play Audio dialog box, go to the Effect tab.

In the Stop playing section, delete the entry 999 .

Enter the specific number of slides for the music to play.

Select OK to apply the setting and close the dialog box.

Go to the Slide Show tab and select From Current Slide to start the slide show at the current slide.

If you prefer to use keyboard shortcuts, select Shift+F5 .

Preview the music playback to make sure it is correct for your presentation.

Hide the Sound Icon During a PowerPoint Slide Show

A sure sign that a slide show was created by an amateur presenter , is that the sound file icon is visible on-screen during the presentation. Get on the right road to becoming a better presenter by making this quick and easy correction.

To hide the sound icon:

Select the sound file icon. The Audio Tools tab appears above the ribbon.

In the Audio Options group, select the Hide During Show check box.

The audio file icon will be visible to you, the creator of the presentation, in the editing phase. However, the audience will never see it when the show is live.

Change the Volume Setting of an Audio File on a PowerPoint Slide

There are four settings for the volume of the audio file that is inserted into a PowerPoint slide: Low, Medium, High, and Mute. By default, audio files that are added to a slide are set to play at the High level. This may not be your preference.

To change the volume of the audio file:

Select the sound icon on the slide.

In the Audio Options group, select Volume .

Choose Low , Medium , High , or Mute depending on your needs and preferences.

Select Play to test the audio volume.

If you choose a low audio volume, the audio file may play much louder than anticipated. Adjust the sound playback further by changing the sound settings on your computer, in addition to changing the audio volume in PowerPoint.

To make sure the audio plays at the right volume, test the audio on the presentation computer if this computer is different than the one you used to create the presentation. Also, preview your presentation in the location where the slide show will take place to make sure the audio sounds good with the room's acoustics.

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