Have you ever inserted a video into a PowerPoint presentation, only to discover that you are unable to distribute your presentation as a single file? Typically, inserting a video (or videos) into a PowerPoint will require that you make sure the video(s) are always placed within the same folder as the PowerPoint file, making the distribution or sharing of your PowerPoint very complicated.
This is the case for 99% of the ‘how to insert a video into PowerPoint’ tutorials that I found on the web. However, this post will show you how you can embed a video file into a PowerPoint presentation that will be self contained within a single PowerPoint file (PPT, PPTX, PPTM, PPTS, etc), and that you can share with colleagues and distribute online without needing to share the video files separately, without having to send zipped archives, and without having to instruct people on what to do with them. This post last updated: on Jun 19th, 2012. Separate instructions are now available for PowerPoint 2003, 2007 and 2010.
Note on PowerPoint 2010 vs. earlier versions: In PowerPoint 2010, it became possible to embed a video file into your presentation fairly easily.
If you are using PowerPoint 2010 of after then click here for instructions.
Instructions for PowerPoint 2003 and 2007
The Method: in a nutshell, convert your video to a flash (SWF) file, then embed the file within your PowerPoint presentation. Embedded flash objects will be saved within the PowerPoint file itself, and will play as video. The original video does not need to be placed in the same directory as the PowerPoint file. Problem solved!
For PowerPoint 2003: from ‘step 3’ onwards, the LEFT side of the tables below show the process and screenshots for PowerPoint 2003 (it is essentially the same as 2007, but the interface is obviously different).
For PowerPoint 2007: from ‘step 3’ onwards, the RIGHT side of the tables below show the process and screenshots for PowerPoint 2007.
For PowerPoint 2010: the ‘convert to flash first’ method as explained here WILL WORK on 2010 as well, but there is an easier and more straightforward way to do it on 2010 (see here).
Step 1: download and install a tool that can convert your video to flash (SWF)
(This applies to PowerPoint 2003 and 2007 both). You can convert to flash using many video conversion programs. Any of the following video converters can do it, as can many many others:
- Freemake Video Converter: the best overall free video conversion in my opinion
- DVDVideoSoft’s Free Video to Flash converter: a specialized tool which I will use to illustrate the rest of this tutorial.
- This tiny tool also will do it.
Step 2: convert your video to SWF
(This applies to PowerPoint 2003 and 2007 both). Do it whichever way you want to and go to step #3. Alternately here’s a quick step-by-step on how to convert your video to flash. First, install DVDVideoSoft’s Free Video to Flash converter (make sure to uncheck the unnecessary crapware toolbar during the install process). Run the converter, then:
Drag and drop your video onto the interface- Select SWF
- Uncheck ‘create HTML template’;
- Select destination folder
- switch to high quality (optional) and
- click ‘convert’.
See the annotated screenshot to the right.
Note: once your SWF file is generated, check out the size on disk. If it is too high and you want it to be smaller, re-convert using a lower quality setting.
Step 3: in PowerPoint, enable the developer tab in the ribbon
| PowerPoint 2003 | PowerPoint 2007 |
| You do not need to worry about this in PowerPoint 2003 | Launch PowerPoint. Go to the start orb, then click ‘PowerPoint Options’. |
| You do not need to worry about this in PowerPoint 2003 | Then click on ‘Show Developer Tab in Ribbon’. You should now be able to see a new ‘Developer’ tab in the ribbon. |
Step 4: create a SWF object in PowerPoint
| PowerPoint 2003 | PowerPoint 2007 |
Go to View menu then ‘Toolbars’/ ‘Control Toolbox’. |
Select the ‘Developer’ tab then click ‘More Controls’ |
When the Control Toolbox appears, click on the tools icon in the bottom left and scroll down to ‘Shockwave flash object’ |
Scroll down to ‘Shockwave Flash Object’ then click ‘ok’ |
Next, draw a rectangle with the mouse (this will define the size of your video). |
Next, draw a rectangle with the mouse (this will define the size of your video). |
Step 5: link up your flash object with your flash SWF video file
| PowerPoint 2003 | PowerPoint 2007 |
Right click on the video and select ‘Properties’. |
Click on ‘Properties’ in the ribbon. |
 In the dialog that appears, find ‘EmbedMovie’ and change the value to ‘True’ |
 In the dialog that appears, find ‘EmbedMovie’ and change the value to ‘True’ |
| Scroll down to ‘movie’ and paste in the path to the flash movie you made. It should be a full path (e.g. “C:\Folderlocation\filename.SWF”) with the .SWF file extension included.There are other controls that you could toggle as well, such as Loop (true by default, set to false if you don’t want your video to loop). |  Scroll down to ‘movie’ and paste in the path to the flash movie you made. It should be a full path (e.g. “C:\ Folderlocation\ filename.SWF”) with the .SWF file extension included.Also make sure that ‘playing’ is set to ‘True’ (it should be so by default).There are other controls that you could toggle as well, such as Loop (true by default, set to false if you don’t want your video to loop). |
Step 6: that’s it. Save your file.
This step applies to both PowerPoint 2003 and 2007.
To preview your flash video, just start the PowerPoint slideshow (the keyboard shortcut CTRL+F5 by default). Save your PowerPoint file and you’re done.
Instructions for embedding a video if you are using PowerPoint 2010:
1. Go to ‘Insert’ then ‘Video’ then ‘Video from file’.
2. Browse to the video that you want to insert
3. Choose whether you want the video to start automatically when the slide opens.
4. Once the video is placed on the slide, you can resize it if you need to.
5. That’s it. In PowerPoint 2010, the video is embedded in your PowerPoint file. Save and you’re done
If you have any thoughts or comments, please share them below.
Samer Kurdi
