Have you ever wondered how to upload a PowerPoint to YouTube? That’s a fairly common question among many Microsoft PowerPoint users.
After creating a PowerPoint presentation, you may want to share it on YouTube to reach a greater audience.
Unfortunately, YouTube can only accept video files. A PowerPoint presentation may have video and audio elements embedded in it, but it is still not a video file.
You need to convert your presentation to a video file to upload it to YouTube. This tutorial will show you exactly how to do that.
Step 1: Create Your PowerPoint Presentation
Create your PowerPoint presentation as you normally would. However, keep in mind that you won’t be doing a live presentation, so try to include everything you need to make a great video, including audio clips.
Your audio could be music, sound bites, a narration (your voice recordings), or a combination of all these. Make sure to use them meaningfully.
Here is how to add audio to your presentation:
1. Click the Insert tab on the ribbon
2. Click Audio from my PC
Browse through the audio files on your computer and select the one you want to add to your presentation.
3. Click the Insert button to add the file
Step 2: Convert Your Presentation to a Video
This next step on how to upload a PowerPoint to YouTube is crucial because you can’t share your file on the widely accessible video platform without converting it to a video format.
Here’s how to convert your presentation to a video.
1. Click the File tab on the PowerPoint (2010 version or later)
2. Click the Export tab
3. Click Create a Video from the list of options
You can tweak some of the settings, including slide durations, video resolution, and narrations.
You can leave the resolution to full HD if you don’t know what to select. Simply let YouTube handle the file compression.
You can simply set how long you want each slide to display, especially if your presentation doesn’t have recorded narrations and timings. For example, you can set individual slides to show for 15 seconds.
4. Next, click the Create Video box below the settings
5. Click Save on the next dialog box to export your presentation in video format
Your PowerPoint presentation is now ready for YouTube.
Step 3: Upload to YouTube
Now that you’ve converted your presentation to a video, it’s time to upload it to YouTube. Here’s how to do that:
1. Sign in to your YouTube account or click the app on your mobile device
2. Click the Create icon on the top right corner of the window
3. Click Upload video
On a mobile device, tap the circled plus sign at the center bottom of the screen and tap Upload a video.
4. Locate the PowerPoint video file and click Open
You may be asked to create a YouTube channel if you don’t already have one. You can rename the file, write a description, set the privacy, and apply other settings when the upload is complete.
Tips to Make Your Video Better
Although your presentation will be viewed on YouTube, you still need to remember a few simple tips for a great video.
- Keep the visuals as simple as they can be; presentations generally work best that way. You don’t want to clutter the entire screen. Instead, allow a few empty spaces on each slide for improved readability
- Highlight only the most essential facts. Your audience should not have to endure a long list of bullet points. Remember that you are presenting, not writing a book
- Make use of themes or templates to give your presentation a uniform feel. You might mar an otherwise good presentation unless you are an expert with lots of experience creating eye-catching yet appealing presentations
- Use audios, effects, and transitions in meaningful ways. You want to engage your audience, but at the same time, you don’t want to appear cheesy
Why You Should Share Your PowerPoint Presentation on YouTube
Learning how to upload a PowerPoint to YouTube gives you the advantage of reaching a wider audience, whether or not they have a presentation program on their computers.
While Microsoft PowerPoint is a fairly popular presentation program, not everyone has ready access to it. Some of your clients, co-workers, students, or friends may not have the software on their computers. Others may have it (or some other similar application) but don’t know how to use it.
However, just about anyone can access YouTube from a computer, smartphone, or other mobile devices. It’s as simple as searching for your video on the platform and clicking play – no downloads or any other technical know-how required.
Closely related to this is that users don’t even need a computer to view your presentation. Not many mobile devices have a PowerPoint program, but they can all play videos, whether it’s an iPod, iPhone, or mobile phone.
Also, you don’t have to worry about specific PowerPoint versions. Usually, presentations in one version of PowerPoint might not work too well on another. A video eliminates all that worry. Users can even view the presentation on a DVD player by downloading it to disk.
You can easily embed the video in your blog or on any web page. Video files have better web support than presentation formats.
In a nutshell, more people can access your PowerPoint presentation if you share it on YouTube. You can copy and share the link to your video to make it easy for people to watch it.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, you now know how to upload a PowerPoint to YouTube. Don’t worry if your video presentation doesn’t come out as you expected at first. You can also tweak things around until you get exactly what you want. The key is to experiment with the settings during the conversion process.
You can reach more people you can ever imagine with a YouTube presentation. Remember to set proper metadata (or description) so that people can easily find your video on YouTube.
