How do I insert an mp4 video into PowerPoint?

Raise your hand if you tune out as soon as someone opens a PowerPoint deck during a meeting at work. Everyone? Of course. While PowerPoint remains one of the simplest ways to create a presentation, its also become one of the most dreaded parts of office life. Luckily, theres an easy way to overcome death by PowerPoint: embedded videos.

Before we dive in, its important to remember that a PowerPoint presentation is only as good as the video embedded within it. And if you need to make engaging, stylish, and relevant videos, you can do it in minutes with Biteable.

Grab a video template from our library, punch it up with your own text, and embed it right into your PowerPoint presentation. Come to think of it, are you sure you need Powerpoint at all? Instead, use a Biteable video to lead the charge at your next work meeting. You may just render PowerPoint presentations obsolete.

Why video presentations?

Why is video so special? Its predicted that by 2021, online videos will make up more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic. And yet, only 4% of presenters utilize video during their presentations.

This is surprising, considering that viewers retain 95% of a messages information when they watch it through video. Compare this to 10% retention when reading text, and you can see theres a huge opportunity to make your business presentations snappier and more engaging.

Whether youre selling an idea, product, or strategy, youll capture the attention of your audience much more effectively with a video. Say goodbye to droopy eyelids. Youre entering a whole new league of PowerPoint presentations.

How to insert video into PowerPoint

The process for adding a video to PowerPoint varies depending on what version of PowerPoint youre working with. The following are instructions for Powerpoint 365, though they dont deviate much from earlier Powerpoint versions, so you should be able to follow along just fine.

Embed a video from a file on PC

1. Click on the slide you want, then go to Menu > Insert.

2. In the top right corner, click Video > Video on My PC.

3. Find the video you want to add and click Insert.

4. Adjust the settings in the Video Format toolbar to make sure it plays the way you want. For example, if you want your video to take center stage as soon as you click on the slide, make sure you select Play Full Screen and Start Automatically.

5. Preview your presentation to check your video plays exactly how you want it to. Thats it! Youre done.

Embed a YouTube video in PowerPoint

The process for embedding a video from YouTube varies depending on your operating system and version of PowerPoint. For Powerpoint 365, simply click Insert Video, then choose Online Video. Insert the web address for any video from YouTube, Slideshare, Vimeo, or Stream. For this to work, youll need internet during your presentation.

The following steps work for embedding YouTube videos in PowerPoint 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010 from a PC.

1. On YouTube, find the video you want, click the Share button below the video frame, and choose Embed.

2. Copy the Embed code. Make sure its the right code. Dont copy the URL on the initial Share popup screen. After clicking the Embed icon, wait for a popup screen called Embed Video. Here, click the Copy button in the bottom right corner. The correct code should start with <iframe width.

3. Switch to PowerPoint and select the slide youll add your video to.

4. Click Insert. Here, you can insert different objects into the slide.

5. Click Video > Online Video. If youre in PowerPoint 2019 or earlier, choose Video from Website instead.

6. Click Paste Embed Code Here and paste the Embed code you copied in Step 2. For PowerPoint 2010, click Insert Video From Website.

7. Select the video and click Playback.

8. Click the Start menu to select how the video plays. This is important. Your video wont work unless you choose one of these options.

9. Be online when you hit Play. Youll need the internet for your video to work.

Master video-centered Powerpoint presentations with these tips

There are a few best practices when creating Biteable videos for presentations.

• Be clear with your script. This video replaces bullet points, so use clear and concise language. A simple message makes it easier for your audience to follow along.

• Pick colors that pop. A good-looking video goes a long way to keeping your audiences attention. Increase engagement with colorful (but not gaudy) backgrounds and animations. You can find a ton of easy-to-edit animation scenes in the Biteable library.

• Keep it short and sweet. Generally, a video between 30-60 seconds is ideal for a presentation. If a video runs longer than a minute, break it up across multiple slides so it can be digested in bite-sized chunks.

Make videos to embed in your next smash-hit PowerPoint presentation

Biteable makes it easy to create embedded videos for PowerPoint so your next important presentation becomes a smash-hit. Create infographics, explainers, or video presentations in a jiff. Dive in right now and pick one of our hundreds of templates to start editing.