Multimedia Slide Shows
Updated: April 14, 2004
Curriculum Areas: Language arts/math/social studies/science
Grade Level: 2 and up
Application: Microsoft PowerPoint® 2002
Tip: Integrate multimedia files into a presentation in PowerPoint.
Description: Adding sounds, movies, and animated picture files to presentations can really jazz them up. Students can even record their own voice, and then insert it into a slide. This is a great way to prompt, ask a question, read text to young children, or just narrate a slide. How about controlling a music CD from within PowerPoint? All those things are possible... as long as you know how.
How to:
First, open a presentation you've been working on, or create a new one. Then, move to the slide where you would like to add a multimedia file.
To insert a sound (.wav or .mid file) from the PowerPoint collection:
1. | Select Movies and Sounds from the Insert menu, and then select Sound from Clip Organizer. 
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2. | Scroll through the selection, or click the Modify button to type your own search word(s), such as lion. If you conduct your own search, be sure to select Sounds from the Results should be drop-down list. |
3. | To hear a preview of the sound, point to the picture, click the arrow next to the picture, and then select Preview/Properties. Click Close when you are finished listening to the sound. |
4. | To insert the sound into the slide, click once on the picture representing the sound. When you are prompted, click Yes if you want the sound to play automatically during the slide show. A picture of a loudspeaker appears on your slide to represent the sound. You can drag the picture and resize it, just as you can with regular pictures. While working on your presentation, you can hear the sound at any time by double-clicking the loudspeaker icon. |
5. | If you want to hide the loudspeaker icon during the slide show, right-click it, and then select Custom Animation. In the Custom Animation pane on the right side of your screen, click the arrow next to the media item, and select Effect Options. In the Sound settings section, select Hide while not playing, and click OK. |
6. | Try viewing your slide show to hear how the sound clip sounds during the presentation. |
To insert a movie (an animated picture) from the PowerPoint collection:
1. | Select Movies and Sounds from the Insert menu, and then select Movie from Clip Organizer. 
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2. | Scroll through the selection, or click the Modify button to type your own search word(s), such as American flag. If you conduct your own search, be sure to select Movies from the Results should be drop-down list. |
3. | To see a sneak preview of the movie, point to the picture, click the arrow next to the picture, and then select Preview/Properties. Click Close when you are finished previewing the movie. |
4. | To insert the movie into the slide, click the picture once. When you are prompted, click Yes if you want the movie to play automatically during the slide show. An image representing the movie appears on your slide. You can drag the image and resize it, just as you can with regular pictures. Just be careful not to make the image too large; it will get distorted if it is too large. |
5. | View the slide show to see how the movie looks. |
To record your voice and add it to a slide:
NOTE: You need to have a microphone connected to your computer in order to record your voice.
1. | Select Movies and Sounds from the Insert menu, and then select Record Sound. 
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2. | When you are ready to start recording, click the Record button (the one with the red circle). When you are finished recording, click the Stop button (the middle button). Click the Play button (the one with the triangle) to hear your recording. In the Name box, type a name for your recording, and then click OK. |
3. | A loudspeaker icon appears on your slide to represent the recorded sound. You can drag the loudspeaker icon and resize it, just as you can with regular pictures. |
4. | While working on your presentation, you can hear the recording at any time by double-clicking the loudspeaker icon. Try viewing your slide show to hear how the recording sounds during the presentation. |
To control a music CD during a slide show:
1. | First place a music CD into your CD drive. If the CD starts playing, close the media player program. |
2. | In PowerPoint, select Movies and Sounds from the Insert menu, and then select Play CD Audio Track. 
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3. | In the Start area, specify the track number and time at which point you'd like the CD to start playing (select 00:00 if you want to start from the beginning). Next, select the End track number and time at which point you'd like to stop playing the music (or just leave the time that appears by default, which indicates the real time of the song or songs you've selected). Click OK when you're finished. |
4. | When you are prompted, click Yes if you want the music to play automatically during the slide show. An picture of a CD with musical notes appears on your slide to represent the CD. You can drag the picture and resize it, just as you can with regular pictures. |
5. | Double-click the CD picture to hear the track(s) and the timing you selected. Try viewing your slide show to hear how the music sounds during the presentation.
IMPORTANT: You must have the music CD in your drive in order for PowerPoint to play the track you specified. |
More Ideas:
If you have some sound, movie, or other multimedia files on your computer from outside sources such as the Internet, you can insert them into your presentation, too. To do so, click Movies and Sounds on the Insert menu, and then select Movie from File or Sound from File. Locate the folder that contains the file you want to insert.
Try some of the following online resources:
