Crabby Office Lady

Creating the perfect PowerPoint presentation takes a bit of skill, a dash of knowledge...and a fair amount of patience (especially if you want to add animations, video, or sound to it).

PowerPoint is the object of a lot of jokes and good-natured ribbing. I've seen cartoons about it in The New Yorker, have heard newscasters mention it in stories, and, of course, anyone who works in an office has had to sit through a bad presentation at one time or another. (This is where some of the "good-natured" parts of the jokes become downright mean-spirited...and sometimes not without reason.)

However, as many jokes as folks want to make about the predominance of PowerPoint, it is a mighty handy tool when you need to show a lot of information visually. Adding some special effects such as music, sounds, and video can spice up your own presentation and keep your audience enthralled. So this week I'm covering how to add multimedia to your presentations...and how to successfully travel with everything intact. Just keep in mind that a little can go a long way.

Soothe that savage beast: Adding music and sound

The savage beast I'm referring to is the audience. They may not be as receptive as you'd like. However, as you may or may not know, you can add music, songs, and sound effects to your presentations to spice them up. You can also decide how and when these effects play:

• Automatically, when you display a particular slide.
• Manually, when you click the sound icon on a particular slide.
• Continually, over one or multiple slides (in other words, throughout all or part of your presentation).

I've found a lot of information about how to add this type of zing to your presentation, so take a little time to read (or, in the case of demos, watch) before you jump right in there. You may save yourself some time (not to mention aggravation, if you're having trouble).

• About music and sounds
  This article offers a basic overview of the types of sound files you can use in a presentation, some of the limitations regarding file size, and what you need to actually hear the sound.
• Add music, songs, or sound effects to a slide show
  This article gives you the procedural info you need to add sounds or music to your presentations.
• Demo: Add music to a presentation
  This demo shows you how to take a song from your favorite CD (or from a music file or clip) and set it to play in exactly the way you want.
• Playing sound
  This free online training course tells you how to play sounds in a presentation — how to start them and make them play when you want, for as long as you want. The course walks you through the entire process, so get your sound card, CD, and speakers ready.

Now that you know how to add these effects, if you plan to present on a computer different from the one you created the presentation on, there can be a few glitches.

Have sound, will travel: Troubleshooting sound problems

You have your music or sound file running smoothly on your computer and you're preparing yourself for the kudos that follow after your presentation. So why are you met with dead silence — from your presentation and your audience? You copied all the files (including the music files) to the CD or directly to the computer on which you're presenting; in other words, you thought you did everything right.

There are a few possible reasons for this silence — reasons that may or may not be specific to your using the presentation on another computer:

• The music is a linked file (instead of an embedded file), and it's linked to a source (such as a piece of music) that lives on your home computer (or somewhere you can't get to right at the moment you need to).
  The problem with this is that while your presentation is desperately looking for the music file, the music file is at home on your computer, twiddling its thumbs and waiting for something to do. This is akin to offering to pay for that expensive dinner when you realize your wallet is in your other jacket or purse. While your date might believe that story out of pity, it doesn't solve the problem.
• Your file is embedded but it's in a format that PowerPoint doesn't recognize.
  When this happens, PowerPoint decides for itself to add the file as a link, not as an embedded object. So if you travel with this presentation and think your sound is embedded, think again. It's linked, and just like the point above, PowerPoint doesn't know where to look for that linked files. So remember: Sound files need to be in .wav format to embed them in a presentation. (Don't say I never told you.)
• The size of your embedded files is more than 50 megabytes (MB).
  You've embedded the file, so it should have traveled nicely from one computer to the next. But it's a lengthy piece (think Brahms' "Tragic Overture;" think Pink Floyd's "Sheep"), thereby forcing PowerPoint to add it as a linked file. The default setting for automatically linking sound files is 100 kilobytes (KB), but you can change it to 50,000 KB (50 MB). (However, remember that this will substantially increase the overall size of your presentation, so be aware that it might take some time to open it and people do have short attention spans).

Here is a little more information about the difference between linked and embedded files and how to figure out what's the best situation for you: Use embedded and linked sound files in PowerPoint

A feast for the eyes: Adding video and animation

Not only can you add sounds and music effects, you can also add movies and animated GIFs to slides from files on your computer, the Microsoft Clip Organizer, a network or intranet, or the Internet. And again, you can start your movie or animation in several different ways: Have it play automatically when the slide is displayed; click it with the mouse to play; or create a timing for it so that it plays after a certain delay. It can also be part of an animation sequence

• Add a movie or animated GIF to a slide
  This article tells you exactly how to add movies or animated GIFs to your presentation and also tells you which formats are supported.
• Playing sounds and movies in PowerPoint
  Learn about some of the options for playing music, sounds, and movies in PowerPoint.
• Add sound and video to a PowerPoint presentation
  This article, adapted from Microsoft Office System Inside Out (by Michael J. Young and Michael Halvorson), shows you not only how to add video or sound to your presentation, but also cautions you against relying too much on this feature. These Michaels explain why too many special effects can be confusing and distracting to your audience, but they also offer suggestions about how to use them judiciously.
• Insert a movie (or video) into PowerPoint and run it full screen
  This is written by by Mary Feil-Jacobs, a Microsoft Presentation Design Specialist, who works on executive presentations for Microsoft corporate events. In it, she teaches you how to insert a movie and play it automatically, play the movie full screen, and add an "On Click" effect to start the movie.
• Playing movies
  This free training course teaches you how to play movies in PowerPoint and control how they start and how long they play. As an extra, you learn how to create buttons to run your movies.

You have the voice of an angel: Adding narration

Sometimes you may want to add narration to your presentation. Maybe it's a self-running presentation at a conference booth, or perhaps it's a Web-based presentation that you're working on.

And just like with music or sounds, you have the choice to either link to or embed the narration. Embedded narration becomes part of the file and travels with the presentation; it also makes for a large file size. If you decide to link the narration, make sure the narrated portion of the presentation is stored somewhere on the hard drive. This type of narrated file is smaller and also plays faster. But remember: If you're planning on presenting this narrated presentation on another computer, be sure to bring along the narration file.

• Voice Narration
  Read all about how to record a voice narration, how to record a sound or voice comment on a single slide, and even how to re-record what you've already done. (Hey, it's OK; we all make mistakes.)

Final words and warnings

I don't blame you if you're chomping at the bit, extremely excited at the prospect of adding all these nifty special effects to your next presentation. However, my advice to you is this: Go wild, go crazy, try everything...and then cut out about 75 percent of it. (I liken this to writing a hate note to someone: Spill your guts and then cut back some before sending.) Once again, a little goes a long way. You don't want your audience feeling like they're trapped in your own personal indie flick.

"He uses his folly like a stalkinghorse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit."  — William Shakespeare (from As You Like It)

About the author

Annik Stahl, the Crabby Office Lady columnist, takes all of your complaints, compliments, and knee-jerk reactions to heart. Therefore, she graciously asks that you let her know whether this column was useful to you — or not — by entering your feedback using the Was this information helpful? tool below. And remember: If you don't vote, you can't complain.