Zamzar

We’re often asked here at Zamzar how you can embed videos into Microsoft Powerpoint presentations, to give them that extra “wow” factor.

We decided to put together a step by step guide to take you through the process – we’ll even tell you how you can grab a video from YouTube and use that in your presentations (without the need for an internet connection when presenting !)

Selecting the Video – From your computer

If you want to use a video which is already on your computer then follow the steps below. If you want to use a YouTube video instead just skip to the next section:

(1) Open up your web browser and go to to http://www.zamzar.com.

(2) Click the “Browse” button and find the video file you want to use within Powerpoint and select it.

Selecting the Video – From YouTube

To use a video from YouTube in your presentation just:

(1) Open up your web browser and go to http://www.zamzar.com/url.

(2) Enter the link to the YouTube video in the first box on the page.

Preparing the Video

Now that we have selected a video to use, the next step is to get that video into a format which Powerpoint can use. To do this:

(3) On the Zamzar website select a format to convert the video into from the dropdown list in “Step 2″ of the site. Select one of the 3 following formats to ensure you get a video which can then be imported into PowerPoint (they each have different benefits):

• AVI – Highest quality video, biggest file size
• MPG – Lower quality video, smaller file size
• WMV – Medium to high quality video, file size in between AVI and MPG

(5) Enter the email address where Zamzar should send the link to your converted file to.

(6) Click the “Convert” button – check all the details you entered look right then click “OK”.

(7) Hey Presto ! Within minutes the link to your converted file will appear in your email inbox – just click this link.

(8) Clicking the link in the email will take you to a page on Zamzar where you can grab your converted video file – Click the “Download Now” button and your download will start – save this to a location on your computer where you know you will find it again !

Embedding the Video

Once you have the video in a useable format the next step is to put it into your presentation:

(9) Open up your presentation in Microsoft Powerpoint (or start a new one), then follow the instructions below for the version you have:

Office 2003 – Navigate to the menu option “Insert” then Select “Movies and Sound” then “Movie from File”

Office 2007 – Navigate to the menu option “Insert” then Select “Movie” then “Movie from File”

Office 2010 – Navigate to the menu option “Insert” then Select “Video” then “Video from File”

(10) When prompted, choose whether you want PowerPoint to play the movie automatically withint your presentation or whether you would prefer to click on the image of the Movie to make it play when presenting.

You’re Done !

We’ve shown you how you can take a video file from your computer or on YouTube and embed it into your PowerPoint presentation using Zamzar.

We hope you’ve found the tutorial helpful – why not share it with friends or tell us in the comments what other tutorials you might find helpful ?

Happy Presenting !
The Zamzar Team