Slides can only say so much. Presentations become far more engaging when you, the presenter, guide your audience through them, explaining, elaborating, and adding a personal touch that static text and images can’t provide. ✨
Adding a voiceover to your PowerPoint allows you to deliver that experience, even when you’re not presenting live. It transforms a passive slideshow into an engaging, narrated experience.
In this blog post, we’ll explore how to add voiceover to PowerPoint in just a few simple steps. Follow along! 📽️
How to Add Voiceover to PowerPoint in a Few Easy Steps
⏰ 60-Second Summary
Adding a voiceover to your PowerPoint can make presentations more engaging and professional. Whether for training, pitches, or tutorials, here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Prepare your presentation: Ensure your slides feature clear text, aligned visuals, and well-timed animations. Draft a script or key points for smooth narration
- Access the Recording feature: Navigate to the Insert tab, select Audio, then Record Audio. Name your recording for easy identification
- Start recording: Click Record, speak clearly and steadily, and use an external mic for better sound quality. Minimize background noise
- Review & edit: Listen to your recording, check for clarity, and re-record if necessary. Adjust the placement of the audio icon on your slide
- Record entire presentation (Optional): Use the Slide Show tab and select Record Slide Show to narrate all slides in one go
- Finalize & export: Play through your presentation to ensure seamless narration. Save as a PowerPoint file for live presentations or export as a video for easy sharing
Recording voiceovers on PowerPoint presents challenges, such as re-recording for mistakes, large file sizes slowing presentations, inconsistent playback across devices, and limited real-time collaboration.
Consider using advanced tools like , with extensive screen recording features like Clips, to create engaging video presentations with voiceovers. It supports real-time collaboration, simplifies communication, boosts productivity, and streamlines your presentation workflow.
How to Add Voiceover to PowerPoint?
Adding a voiceover to your PowerPoint can transform a static presentation into a more interactive and engaging experience. Whether you share instructions, present data, or narrate a story, a voiceover adds a personal touch, enhances clarity, and helps guide your audience through the content.
Let’s walk through the step-by-step process of adding voiceovers to your PowerPoint presentation. 💁
Step #1: Prepare your presentation
Before you press Record, take a moment to finalize your slides. Make sure:
- Text is error-free and easy to read
- Images and graphics are in the right place and lined up well
- Adjust slide and animation timings (if any) and ensure they’re working as intended
Also, consider what you’ll say for each slide. If you’re unsure, jot down a short script or key points to stay on track and keep your narration within the slide timings. A little preparation now will save you time later when recording.
💡Pro Tip: PowerPoint allows you to add speaker notes to help guide your narration. Use the Notes section beneath each slide and type in your key points. When presenting, use Presenter View (under the Slide Show tab) to see your notes while your audience only sees the slides. This way, you can stay on track without memorizing everything!
👀 Alternatively, use ’s AI to generate a short script based on your topic and add it to Notes. Try it for free and find out yourself.
You can use the Rehearse Timings feature under Slide Show to practice your delivery, while PowerPoint records the ideal timing for each slide.
Once you feel prepared and confident about recording, start with the slide where you’d like to add your narration. In the left-hand slide pane, click on the slide you want to focus on. This is especially useful for presentations with many slides.
⚡ Productivity Hack: Want to control the flow of your presentation? You can manually set slide timings in PowerPoint to ensure smooth transitions.
- First, go to the Transitions tab on the PowerPoint ribbon
- In the Timing group, look for the Advance Slide section
- By default, slides advance on a click, but you can uncheck On Mouse Click and check After, then set a custom duration in seconds
- Apply this to individual slides or click Apply to All if you want consistent timing throughout
Step #2: Access the audio recording feature
Now, you’re ready to record. Go to the Insert tab in the PowerPoint toolbar. Click on Audio from the options. Choose the Record Audio.
A dialog box will pop up, asking you to name your recording. Use a simple naming system, like ‘Slide 1 Audio clip,’ to quickly identify recordings later. You can also record yourself while presenting with external tools.
Alternatively, click on Record > Audio to get the same dialog box as above. From there, simply select Record Audio to begin your narration setup.
Step #3: Start recording
In the dialog box, you’ll see a red record button. Click it, and start speaking into your microphone. While recording, speak clearly and at a steady pace.
To do this effectively:
- Stay close to your microphone but not too close to avoid distortion
- Pause briefly before and after you speak to avoid cutting off your voice
- Don’t rush. Take your time explaining each slide, and use a conversational tone. Your audience will value clarity and connection more than a stiff or overly formal tone
💡Pro Tip: A USB microphone is an excellent investment if you want crisp, clear audio when using presentation tools. Built-in microphones can pick up a lot of background noise or sound tinny, distracting your audience. Find a quiet spot to record. Turn off fans, close windows, and silence your phone. Often, even minor background noises, like typing or chair squeaks, can be noticeable.
Step #4: Stop and review your recording
When you’re done talking, hit the Stop button. You’ll see options to review your recording. Click Play to listen to it and check for clarity, volume, and pacing.
Not happy with the recording? No worries—you can re-record the audio or video for the same slide as many times as you need. Once you’re satisfied, just click anywhere outside the playback box, and the audio will automatically attach to the slide. You’ll see an audio icon appear, which you can move around to keep it out of the way.
Repeat the process for all other slides that need narration. You can manually set slide timings in PowerPoint to ensure smooth transitions. This lets you tackle your presentation in smaller, manageable chunks rather than recording everything at once.
🔍 Did You Know? According to the Glance Test, your audience should be able to understand what you’re showcasing in just three seconds. If you pass the test, you can convey your message and keep their attention.
Step #5: Record the entire presentation at once (optional)
If you want to record all slides in one session, here are the steps:
- Go to the Slide Show tab in the toolbar
- Click Record Slide Show
- Choose either Start Recording from Beginning or Start Recording from Current Slide
After this, you should see the recording controls and your speaker notes on the screen, which you can reference while narrating.
Press the video button on the panel to keep your video on or off. Ensure that you are not on mute before hitting record. Once you press Record, you will also get a 3-second countdown to prepare yourself better.
Follow the script and narrative as you advance through your slides. PowerPoint will save the recordings with each slide and play automatically when needed.
💡 Pro Tip: To engage your audience, your tone should match the mood of your presentation. Serious topics call for a calm, steady delivery, while lighter subjects can benefit from a more upbeat tone.
Step #6: Review and edit recordings
Once all your slides have audio, go through the entire presentation. Keep these in mind:
- Play each slide to make sure the narration matches the visuals. Also, check your audio play settings to ensure the narration starts as intended—either automatically or on click
- Check if the audio cuts off too early or overlaps with animations
- If you spot any issues, you can delete the audio for that slide, right-click the audio icon, select Delete, and record again. This is helpful if you only need to revise a recorded slide segment without redoing the entire presentation
- End the presentation with a summary of all the points covered
🚨 Quick Tip: A presentation slide must contain around 40 words or even fewer to allow the audience to focus on only key phrases.
Step #7: Save and export your presentation
Once everything looks and sounds great, save your PowerPoint file.
- For live presentations: If you’re presenting live, your PowerPoint file with voiceovers will work perfectly on its own
- For sharing as a video: Go to File > Export > Create a Video. This will convert your narrated presentation into a video format, allowing you to share it with others easily. Once exported, review your video on the video playback page to ensure the audio syncs properly with each slide
Limitations of Adding Voiceover to PowerPoint
Voiceovers can make PowerPoint presentations more impactful, but you might encounter technical, logistical, or practical challenges.
Let’s take a look at some of them. 📂
- Editing and updating audio is tedious: Replacing or adjusting voiceover segments often requires re-recording entire slides
- File size increases significantly: Large audio files can slow down PowerPoint and make sharing difficult. Compressed formats like MP3 reduce quality, while uncompressed WAV files add bulk. This can bloat your presentation and affect its performance
- Playback issues: Voiceovers may not function consistently across different devices or PowerPoint versions
- Lack of real-time collaboration: Team members can’t add or refine voiceovers together, leading to delays and misalignment
- No version history for audio updates: PowerPoint doesn’t track changes to voiceovers, making it hard to revert to previous versions or track changes
🧠 Fun Fact: The concept of presentations dates back to the 17th century when images were projected using early devices like the magic lantern. Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch scientist, invented it.
Create Engaging Presentations With Voice Over With
, the everything app for work, is designed to help individuals and teams manage their work effectively. Whether you’re juggling tasks, planning projects, or collaborating with a team, it offers a suite of powerful tools to streamline your workflow.
📮 Insight: 37% of our respondents use AI for content creation, including writing, editing, and emails. However, this process usually involves switching between different tools, such as a content generation tool and your workspace. With , you get AI-powered writing assistance across the workspace, including emails, comments, chats, Docs, and more—all while maintaining context from your entire workspace.
Let’s walk through the steps to create a presentation with voiceover using :
Organize ideas in Whiteboards
Whiteboards give you a virtual canvas to collaborate on real-time presentation ideas and content. With shapes and connectors, creating flowcharts and defining relationships between ideas is easy. You can add text boxes to expand on preliminary ideas and connect with relevant Docs to provide extra context.
Ensure consistency with ’s ready-to-use templates
offers presentation templates that let you quickly build slides with a structured framework. Pick a template that suits your needs and add your content.
Presentation Template helps you design visually engaging presentations while keeping everything organized. From the initial structure to final feedback from stakeholders, you can manage it all in one place, ensuring consistency across different presentations.
The template helps you:
- Brainstorm with your team in real time: Identify the key message you wish to convey and link to supporting information, data, or examples that will strengthen your points
- Track the progress of action items: Break your presentation into small, trackable tasks, assign them to relevant team members, and monitor progress with Goals
- Enhance ideas with visual elements: Add images, icons, fonts, and color schemes to make your presentation engaging and effective
🚨 Quick Tip: Play ‘PowerPoint Karaoke’ with your team during presentations! It’s a fun challenge where participants present random slides without prior knowledge, encouraging improvisation and engaging the audience.
Add a voiceover to your presentation with Clips
Clips is a solid screen recording software that lets you record engaging voiceover videos to share ideas, offer feedback, or explain complex topics—making communication more personal, clear, and effective.
Look for the camera icon in the upper-right corner of your workspace, or navigate to the Clips option in the Quick Action menu. Click on it to open the screen recording interface. This is your gateway to creating professional voiceover content.
You can decide what part of your screen you want to record.
- Full screen is ideal if your presentation spans multiple windows or apps. This will capture everything on your screen, including any open applications or browsers
- Window is great for staying focused on just your slides or a particular application. This option records a specific application or window you have open, making it helpful in avoiding distractions from other apps
- Current tab is perfect if your presentation is online or browser-based. This option records only the active tab in your browser, which is ideal for web-based presentations or apps
Pick the option that fits your presentation needs and double-check that everything is ready on your screen before you begin recording.
Press the Record button to begin. If needed, you can pause or stop the recording at any point without losing your progress. As the recording runs, guide your audience through your slides or content. Keep your tone steady and draw attention to what matters most.
Once you’re done recording, will process your clip, and you’ll have the option to copy the link or embed it within the platform. Copy the link to share it instantly via email, chat, or within Tasks. Embed the clip directly into projects, so your team can access it without digging around.
Unlock the Full Potential of Your Presentations with
Adding voiceovers to PowerPoint is a great way to enhance your presentations. Follow the simple steps we discussed to make your slides clearer, more engaging, and easier to follow.
But if you’re looking for something even more versatile, why stop at PowerPoint? With , you get more than just voiceover capabilities. It simplifies real-time collaboration and boosts productivity, from screen recording with voiceovers to AI-powered transcriptions and interactive commenting.
Sign up to for free today! ✅
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
