How+to+add+an+audio+file+to+a+PowerPoint+presentation

How to Add an Audio File to a PowerPoint Presentation
Oftentimes we might want to add an audio file to a presentation to enhance the presentation's effectiveness. For example, if I wanted to teach the Star Spangled Banner to my students, I could provide the words of the song on a PowerPoint page along with an audio version for the students to hear. This way they can read the words and hear the song at the same time. This is particularly useful for students who are strong auditory learners. For younger students we might provide sounds that go along with pictures, such as a parrot singing along with the picture of the parrot helps illustrate the animal in a very effective way.

 In order to add the audio file, the first step is to create the Powerpoint presentation. Once the presentation is developed, the next step is to find an audio file that will work best with the page that you want to enhance. A very effective method is searching for an audio file is the internet. On the Google search page, type words that will illustrate best what you are looking for. In the sample below, I am looking for parrot sounds so I typed those words in the ribbon, then clicked the magnifying glass symbol on the right.



A number of options opens in Google. In my example, I selected: Once at the website, I right clicked the Yellow Crown.mp3 file and copied and pasted it  to my desktop.


 * [[image:Parrot_2.png width="618" height="161" align="center"]] ||  [[image:Parrot_3.png]] ||

Now that I have my audio file saved on my desktop I can proceed to adding it to my PowerPoint presentation as follows:

1. Open the presentation and move to the page where you would like the audio file placed. 2. On the top ribbon, select the Insert ribbon then Sounds on the very right:



3. When the Sound box opens, the next step is to locate the sound on the desktop that you had previously saved and click Open.



4. Another box will open allowing you to choose whether you want the sound to play the sound automatically when the page in the presentation is opened or whether you prefer the sound to play upon clicking the mouse:



5. After selecting automatic or mouse click, a sound symbol is then placed on the page of the presentation and can be moved to a location on the page that is more convenient. To move the icon, simply click and hold the mouse button and move the icon to another area.



Now, when you play the slide show, on the page where the illustration is displayed, you can simply click the sound icon with your mouse and the parrot sounds will play at the same time the students are able to see the picture of the parrots on the screen.

Combining illustrations or pictures along with sounds is particularly useful when teaching Special Education students. Using as many learning methods, i.e. audio and visual files will provide the tools to help students learn more effectively.

By Kristen Holden