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Adding music to your Microsoft PowerPoint presentation can be a great way to enhance your slides and engage your audience. Whether you’re looking to add a fun, upbeat song to a specific slide or a soft, continuous melody throughout your presentation, PowerPoint offers several options to include audio.
Upload a Song from Your Computer
The simplest way to add music to your presentation is by uploading a song from your computer. Follow these steps:
- Open your PowerPoint presentation and select the slide where you want to add the music.
- Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon and click the drop-down arrow for Audio.
- Choose Audio on My PC, browse for your music file, and select Insert.
- You’ll see an audio icon on the slide. Use the Play button to listen to the song and adjust playback options on the Playback tab.
Download Free Music
If you don’t have a song saved on your computer, you can download free, royalty-free music online. Some resources include:
- Fesliyan Studios Inc.: Offers a variety of genres such as happy, sad, or relaxing. Simply listen and download the song of your choice.
- Chosic: Provides a selection of songs suited for presentations, which can be downloaded for free.
- SoundCloud: Search for free downloads and choose the one that fits your presentation.
After downloading the song, save it to your device and follow the steps above to upload it to your PowerPoint slideshow.
Record Music While Creating the Slideshow
If you’re musically inclined, you can record your own music directly in PowerPoint:
- Select the slide where you want to add the recording.
- Go to the Insert tab and choose Record Audio.
- In the Record Sound box, click the red Record button to start, and the Stop button when you’re done.
- Listen to your recording using the Play button. If you’re satisfied, click OK to insert it into the slide.
Add an Offscreen Video
If the perfect song is attached to a video, but you don’t want the video visible in your presentation, here’s a workaround:
- Insert the video onto your slide using the Insert tab and choose Video.
- Drag the video off the slide to one of the sides. This way, the audio will play, but the video won’t be seen during the presentation.
- Adjust the playback options on the Playback tab as needed.
Play the Song or Use it as Background Music
Once your music is added to the slide, you can decide whether it should play on a single slide or across the entire presentation:
- Select the slide with the music file.
- On the Playback tab, you can choose to play the song on the slide or as background music.
- To play the song only on that slide, choose the Start option under Audio options and select how it should begin (e.g., Automatically or When Clicked On).
- To play the song throughout the presentation, select Play in Background. This will enable the song to play across slides and loop until stopped.
Lastly, customize your playback options such as volume, fade-in or fade-out effects, and rewinding after playing, to ensure the music complements your presentation seamlessly.