How to Add to the Sounds Available in PowerPoint

Win over your audience by adding sounds to your PowerPoint presentation.

Adding sounds to Microsoft PowerPoint is an effective way to liven up a presentation and grab the attention of an audience. PowerPoint comes with a range of pre-installed audio clips, including applause and cheers, but you can add to the audio clips available in PowerPoint by embedding audio files from your computer.

Instructions

1. Launch Microsoft PowerPoint.

2. Click "File" and then "Open" to use an existing PowerPoint presentation. Click "New" to start a new PowerPoint presentation.

3. Click the slide on which you want to add the audio clip.

4. Click "Audio" in the "Media" group on the "Insert" tab.

5. Click "Audio from File" to find and add audio files stored on your computer. These are in addition to the sound effects that come with PowerPoint's audio clip art library.

6. Double-click your chosen sound to add it to the PowerPoint slide.

7. Click the "File" tab and select "Save" to save the presentation.

Tips & Warnings

• To add preinstalled PowerPoint sounds to the presentation, click "Clip Art Audio" in Step 5. Read through the list of available audio clips in the "Clip Art" task pane, and click the clip to add it to the slide.

• To preview the audio clip before adding it to the presentation, roll the mouse over the clip's thumbnail in the "Clip Art" task pane. Click the arrow icon, and then click "Preview/Properties" followed by "Play."

References

• Microsoft Office: PowerPoint 2010: Add and Play Sounds in a Presentation

Resources

• Microsoft Office: PowerPoint Help & How-To