It's true that Microsoft PowerPoint is a business program made for creating official-looking presentations for school or office settings — but that doesn't mean you can't use it to make your presentations fun, too. Show
One way to spice up a presentation is to add music — in a business setting, it'll be unexpected, and the fun surprise may just make your colleagues sit up straighter, pay attention, and maybe even enjoy the meeting. This feature can also give a little extra umph to a school presentation — for example, a presentation on America in the '60s could be enhanced by the addition of some Motown music in the background. Check out the products mentioned in this article:Microsoft Office (From $149.99 at Best Buy)Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)Acer Chromebook 15 (From $179.99 at Walmart)How to add music to a PowerPoint presentation1. At the top of the PowerPoint screen, on the toolbar, click the "Insert" tab. 2. Under "Insert, on the right side of the screen, click "Audio." At the top of the screen, click Insert > Audio. Melanie Weir/Business Insider3. If you're using a PC, click the option for "Audio on My PC." If you're using a Mac, click the option for "Audio from File" or "Audio Browser." Note: You can also record your own sound if you select "Record Audio." On a PC, click "Audio on My PC…" Melanie Weir/Business Insider4. Locate the file you'd like to use, then click "Insert" in the dialog box. You can use MP3, MP4, WAV, or AAC files. Find the file you want to use, then click "Insert." Melanie Weir/Business Insider5. The file will appear on your PowerPoint as a little playback bar. You can use this to control the song. Move it to a part of your slide where it won't be in the way. Move the playback bar to an appropriate spot in your presentation. Melanie Weir/Business insider6. If you want the sound to play throughout the presentation, rather than just on the slide that the audio file is located on, click on the file to bring up the "Playback" tab on the toolbar at the top of your screen, and click on it. Click on the "Playback" tab to make the playback menu appear. Melanie Weir/Business Insider7. Directly underneath the "Playback" tab, click the option for "Play in Background" to play the sound throughout. Adjust any other options you want in this tab, like volume, fade in and out, and looping. When you're finished, return to the home tab to continue working on your presentation, or click save to finish. Click "Play in Background," then adjust any other settings you'd like. Melanie Weir/Business Insider
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Melanie Weir Freelance author Melanie Weir is a freelance author for Insider, mainly focusing on the Tech Reference section, but occasionally contributing to Lifestyle and Entertainment topics as well. She is also a freelance writer for ScreenRant, and is the Lead Weekend News Editor at TheThings.com. In her spare time she writes plays for both stage and screen. She can be reached at , or through LinkedIn. Read more Read less Depending on the type of slideshow you’re creating in Microsoft PowerPoint, music might be the perfect addition to the show. You may want a fun upbeat song on a slide or a soft subtle melody throughout the presentation. We’ll show you how to add music to PowerPoint a few different ways and then use a single song on a slide or play background music from start to finish. Contents
Upload a song from your computerProbably the easiest way to add music to your slideshow is to upload a song from your computer. This can be a tune you’ve saved and listen to often or one from a playlist. Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation and select a slide to add the music. Step 2: Go to the Insert tab and choose the drop-down arrow for Audio on the right side of the ribbon. Step 3: Pick Audio on my PC, browse for the music file, and select Insert. Step 4: You’ll then see an audio icon on your slide for the song. Step 5: Use the Play button to listen and the Playback tab to adjust the playback options. Download free musicMaybe you have the type of song in mind you want, but don’t have a copy saved to your computer. There are a few online resources for obtaining royalty-free songs for presentations at no cost. Fesliyan Studios Inc.: Choose a genre at the top such as commercial, happy, sad, or relaxing. Press the Play button to listen, then check out alternate versions where available. Choose Download to get the song. Chosic: You’ll see a slew of songs for presentations from upbeat to soft. When you hear the song you want, select Download > Free Download. SoundCloud: If you’re already a SoundCloud listener, this is a good option for presentation music. Type “free downloads” or similar into the search box and review the results. When you find the song you want, select More or the three dots to download the tune. If you can find royalty-free music on YouTube as well, there are a number of ways to download MP3s from YouTube. Once you download one of these songs, save it to your device and simply upload it to the slideshow as described above. Record music while creating the slideshowIf you’re lucky enough to be gifted with musical talent, you can use your skills to record a song directly in PowerPoint. Warm up your vocal cords or grab your guitar and make your own presentation music. Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation and select a slide to record the music. Step 2: Go to the Insert tab and choose the drop-down arrow for Audio on the right side of the ribbon. Step 3: Pick Record audio. Note: You must have either a built-in or external microphone for your computer. Step 4: When the Record Sound box appears, select the red, round Record button to start recording. Step 5: Press the square Stop button when you finish. To listen to the recording, press the green Play button. Step 6: When you finish, select OK to insert it onto the slide. Step 7: You’ll then see the audio icon just like with an inserted audio file. Press the Play button to hear the recording. Add an offscreen videoSometimes the ideal song for a situation is attached to a video. While you can’t currently just play the audio and you probably don’t want the video as part of your presentation, there’s a workaround to get that tune in your show. Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation and select a slide to add the video. Step 2: Go to the Insert tab and choose the drop-down arrow for Video on the right side of the ribbon. Step 3: Pick This Device, Stock Videos, or Online Videos and follow the prompts to insert the video. Step 4: When the video appears on the slide, drag a corner or edge to make it smaller and then drag it off of the slide to one of the sides. This allows you to play the video to hear the audio but not see the video in your slideshow. Step 5: Select the video and use the Playback tab to adjust the options for playing it when clicking the slide or automatically. Play the song or use as background musicOnce you add the music to PowerPoint, you can set it to play on a single slide or last the duration of the presentation. Step 1: Go to the slide containing the music and select it. Note: If you want the music to play in the background throughout the slideshow, you’ll likely want the file on the first or second slide per your preference. Step 2: Head to the Playback tab and choose to play the song with the slide or as background music. Step 3: To play the song only on that slide, choose the Start drop-down box in the Audio options section of the ribbon and pick how you want the music to begin. You can select In click sequence, Automatically, or When clicked on. When you advance to the next slide, the song stops playing. Step 4: To play the song throughout the presentation, select Play in background in the Audio styles section. This automatically checks the boxes for Play across slides and Loop until stopped. You can also choose an option in the Start drop-down box for how to begin playing the song. Keep in mind this only works with audio files, not the video file method described above. Step 5: Adjust any other options on the Playback tab per your preference. You can increase or decrease the volume, rewind the song after it plays, or add a fade in or out effect. Remember to practice your presentation after you add the music to make sure it sounds the way you want. You might also consider adding closed captioning for the hearing impaired. Editors' Recommendations
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