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The Basics of Embedding

Audio Into Your PowerPoint
2013 Slides
Jeremy Hammel
Brandon Williams
Nigel Spears

Table Of Contents
Introduction

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Materials Needed

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Knowledge Needed

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Audio Format Table 1

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Embedding Audio

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Playback Settings

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Automatic Play
Hiding Sound Icon During Show
Playing Audio Throughout Multiple Slides
Trimming Audio

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Conclusion

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Reference

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Introduction
PowerPoint 2013 presentations are a great tool for speakers to use to help present
information effectively. Sometimes to improve the quality of these presentations
you can add audio files. By adding audio to slides you can keep a crowd
entertained, improve descriptions, or notify your audience of a slide transition.
These instructions will show you how to embed audio into your slides so that you
can make better presentations.

Materials Needed
You will need the following materials:
1. Windows PC
2. Microsoft Office 2013 software
3. A music file in one of the formats listed in Table 1 below.

Knowledge Needed
These instructions are intended for people with a basic knowledge of PowerPoint
and Microsoft Windows operating system. This manual assumes you have already
prepared slides and wish to add audio to them.

Audio Format Table 1

(Microsoft Office, 2015)

Embedding Audio
Step 1: Make sure your viewing the slide you would like to add audio to.
Step 2: Click the Insert tab near the top left of the screen as shown below.

Step 3: Click the Audio button located within the Insert ribbon near the upper right
side of screen as shown below.

Step 4: In the pop-up menu under the Audio button, click Audio on My PC as
shown above.
Step 5: An Insert Audio window pops up and lets you browse your music files.
Your file must have an extension that is listed above in Table 1.
1. Find and click on the folder containing your desired file.
2. Select your file
3. Click the Insert button on the bottom right of the window as shown below.

Once you click the Insert button, a sound icon will appear on the slide. By clicking
on this icon it will allow you to play, rewind, fast-forward, and control the volume
of the audio.

Step 6: Click on the slide show button near the bottom right of screen as shown
below.

In the actual slide show presentation, the audio controls will not be visible. Just the
sound icon.

Step 7: Roll your mouse over the sound icon and the control panel will pop up.
Step 8: Click play.
You have successfully embedded music into your PowerPoint slide.

Playback Settings
Having to click the play button on your slide can be a hassle and potentially take
away from your presentation. Now we will demonstrate how to automate and edit
the audio file to make your presentation more fluid and attractive.

Automatic Play
The following steps will elaborate on automating your audio so that you will not
have to use the mouse during your presentation. Before following these next steps,
press the Esc key on your keyboard to return to the editing window of
PowerPoint.
Step1: Click the sound icon.

Step 2: Click the PLAYBACK button in the light blue section shown above.
Step 3: Click the arrow next to Start to open a drop down menu.

Step 4: Select Automatically.

Now your audio will play at the beginning of the selected slide.

Hiding the Sound Icon During Show

Step1: Click on the sound icon to display the Audio Tools tab as shown below.

Step 2: Click the PLAYBACK tab in the light blue section shown above.
Step 3: Click the box next to Hide During Show as shown below.

Now the sound icon will not appear during the slide show.

Playing Audio Throughout Multiple Slides

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Step1: Click on the sound icon to display the Audio Tools tab as shown below.

Step 2: Click the PLAYBACK tab in the light blue section shown above.
Step3: Click the box next to Play Across Slides as shown below.

Now you are set to play audio throughout every slide.

Trimming Audio
This section will explain how to edit the audio to a desired length of time.

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Step1: Click on the sound icon to display the Audio Tools tab as shown below.

Step 2: Click the PLAYBACK tab in the light blue section shown above.
Step 3: Click the Trim Audio button as shown below.

Step 4: Once the trim audio window appears, there are two ways to
designate the portion of audio you would like to play.
1. There is a green marker and a red marker that will move back and
forth. Moving the green and red markers will adjust the beginning
and end time, respectively. Click play and it will play only what
you have selected. See picture below.
2. The arrows next to the start and end time will allow you adjust the
time in one second intervals. See picture below.

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Conclusion
With the knowledge you have gained from these instructions, you should be
able to embed audio into your PowerPoint 2013 slides to ensure a better
presentation. We recommend that you play around with it, as we have just went
through the basics. There is much more to learn but now you have a good start.

References
Microsoft Office. (2015). Video and audio file formats supported in powerpoint.
Retrieved from https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Video-and-audiofile-formats-supported-in-PowerPoint-d8b12450-26db-4c7b-a5c1593d3418fb59?CorrelationId=55902366-7d94-4ec0-b02bf329bc93d264&ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US