In today’s times, a presentation that has page after page of nothing but lists of benefits, charts, and other graphs slides across the screen is boring and unfashionable. Meanwhile, a good video is guaranteed to rouse the audience and attract the viewer’s attention to the necessary information.
Let’s imagine that you need to add a video to your Microsoft PowerPoint slide show. Obviously, by default, you will have the first frame of the video displayed until you play it. However, if this isn’t the right part of the video or the wrong image you want to show first on the slide, you can change it.
So, here’s how to set up a preview image for a video in your Microsoft PowerPoint slide show.
How to use an image as a preview for a video in PowerPoint
If you want to use an image as a preview for a video in your Microsoft Powerpoint slide show, you have to follow these steps:
- First of all, open your slide show and find the slide that contains a video.
- Then, click on the video and open the “Video Format” tab.
- Click on the “Poster Frame” drop-down arrow and select “Image from File”.
- After that, select an image from your PC, a stock image, an icon or an online picture.
- Finally, find the image you want to use and click “Insert”.
You will now see a preview image for your video instead of the first frame. When you play the video during your presentation, the clip will play as usual.
How to use a certain frame as the preview image for a video in PowerPoint
If you want to use a certain frame as the preview image for a video in your PowerPoint slide show, you have to follow these steps:
- At first, open your PowerPoint presentation and go to the slide containing the video.
- Then, click on the “Play” button on the video.
- Once you see the frame that you want to use the preview image, click on the “Pause” button.
- After that, navigate to the “Video Format” tab and click on the “Poster Frame” drop-down arrow.
- Finally, select the “Current Frame” option.
Once you do, you’ll see the image displayed for the video on the slide update to the frame of your choice.
How to reset the preview image for a video in PowerPoint
If you want to reset the preview image for a video in your PowerPoint slide show, you have to follow these steps:
- Choose a clip and navigate to the “Video Format” tab.
- After that, click on the “Poster Frame” drop-down arrow.
- Finally, click on the “Reset” option.
Once you complete these steps, the preview image returns to the first default frame.
If you’re presenting a video in a slideshow, the content usually speaks for itself. However, it’s important to make sure that the image is displayed on the slide before the video plays.
How to insert video from YouTube into PowerPoint
The difficulties for this are minimal. The only thing you need is an Internet connection.
And that’s only if, during the presentation, you plan to scroll through the video directly from YouTube. If the video file you previously downloaded to your PC, you can insert it into your presentation as an ordinary image.
Well, if you want to insert video from YouTube into PowerPoint, you have to follow these steps:
- The first thing you have to do, of course, is choose the content itself. Simply put, find the right video to include in your presentation. Go to YouTube, search for it, find it.
- Next, find the HTML code for that particular video. To do this, open the “Share” menu below the video, and then click the on “Embed” button.
- Open your PowerPoint presentation file and select the slide where the clip will be placed. Go to the “Insert” tab (above the toolbar) and click the “Video” button on the panel. In the menu that appears, choose the “Video from a video site” option.
- In the text box that immediately opens, paste the code of the clip you just copied and click the “Paste” button. The window will close and the clip will appear in the selected slide of the presentation. However, at this stage, it will look like a “black square”. It’s okay.
You can move it around and resize it just like a normal picture. You can also open a preview to see how the video will look in the presentation. Playback options (animation effects, positioning, rotation, etc.) can be adjusted in the Playback tab.
