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Recording in PowerPoint

  Recording in PowerPoint (Written and Video Guides)

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  Hint: Use this to change the instructions for your particular device (it will save your setting automatically)


Introduction

For some assignments, you may be asked to record a PowerPoint, on this page, you can learn about some best practices, as well as how to record using the desktop apps of PowerPoint.

Use of Cameras

 Note: For some of your assignments, you may be required to leave your camera on to record yourself, please double-check with your lecturer, or through your module handbook to find out if you are required to do this. For the steps on how to do this, please see below.

 

To either turn on or off your camera in PowerPoint, on the 'Record' screen, click the icon of a camera to toggle it on or off.

 

  Hint: If the camera icon has a line through it, the camera is off, and if it doesn't, the camera is on, you will also notice your camera appearing in the bottom right of your screen if it is on.

A screenshot displaying the location of the disabled camera icon on the PowerPoint record screen.

A screenshot displaying the location of the enabled camera icon, and the camera circle on the PowerPoint record screen.

Recording best practices

A screenshot displaying the location of the 'Retake' dropdown on the record screen of PowerPoint.'

  1. You are not LIVE!
  • As you are just recording, you can feel more relaxed as only you will see your recordings until you export them and upload them for submission.
  1. You can retake a single slide, or restart the entire recording
  • As mentioned above, because you are not live and you’re only recording, don’t worry about making mistakes as you are free to retake a specific slide, or clear an entire recording and start again whenever you need to.
  1. Recordings can be stopped/paused

    A screenshot displaying the location of the resume recording button on the record screen of PowerPoint.'

  • If you want to take a quick break while recording, you can press the ‘Pause’ button to pause the recording, after clicking this, you can press the same button again, which will be renamed to ‘Resume’ to continue your recording.

 

  • You can also press the ‘Stop’ button to stop your recording at any point.
  1. Take your time and know that making a small mistake is fine
  • It's always important not to rush a presentation as you may make more mistakes, stumble your words, or forget some of your words, take your time and enjoy talking about your topic/presentation.

 

  • Remember that it's ok if you make a small mistake, for example, saying ‘uh’, or slightly stumbling a word, we’re all human and we make mistakes, so don’t panic, and just continue as normal, because you wouldn’t restart your slide or presentation if you were doing this in front of people in a class would you?
  1. Finish speaking before moving onto the next slide
  • If you continue speaking while moving onto your next slide, PowerPoint may skip out some of your audio, so it’s always recommended to finish speaking and then move onto your next slide.

Written Guide

Microsoft have created a written guide on how to use the recording tool built into PowerPoint, and you can access it through their support page linked below:

Video Guide

The video guide linked below has been provided by LinkedIn Learning, which is a platform that can be used to complete courses, and learn about a variety of topics.

Record and export a presentation

LinkedIn Learning is available to all staff and students, and you can learn more about it on our LinkedIn Learning page.

If you would like to learn more about PowerPoint, you can access the full PowerPoint Essential Training course on LinkedIn Learning.


Introduction

For some assignments, you may be asked to record a PowerPoint, on this page, you can learn about some best practices, as well as how to record using the desktop apps of PowerPoint.

Use of Cameras

 Note: For some of your assignments, you may be required to leave your camera on to record yourself, please double-check with your lecturer, or through your module handbook to find out if you are required to do this. For the steps on how to do this, please see below.

 

To either turn on or off your camera in PowerPoint, on the 'Record' screen, click the icon of a camera to toggle it on or off.

 

  Hint: If the camera icon has a line through it, the camera is off, and if it doesn't, the camera is on, you will also notice your camera appearing in the bottom right of your screen if it is on.

A screenshot displaying the location of the disabled camera icon on the PowerPoint record screen.

A screenshot displaying the location of the enabled camera icon, and the camera circle on the PowerPoint record screen.

Recording best practices

A screenshot displaying the location of the 'Retake' dropdown on the record screen of PowerPoint.'

  1. You are not LIVE!
  • As you are just recording, you can feel more relaxed as only you will see your recordings until you export them and upload them for submission.
  1. You can retake a single slide, or restart the entire recording
  • As mentioned above, because you are not live and you’re only recording, don’t worry about making mistakes as you are free to retake a specific slide, or clear an entire recording and start again whenever you need to.
  1. Recordings can be stopped/paused

    A screenshot displaying the location of the resume recording button on the record screen of PowerPoint.'

  • If you want to take a quick break while recording, you can press the ‘Pause’ button to pause the recording, after clicking this, you can press the same button again, which will be renamed to ‘Resume’ to continue your recording.

 

  • You can also press the ‘Stop’ button to stop your recording at any point.
  1. Take your time and know that making a small mistake is fine
  • It's always important not to rush a presentation as you may make more mistakes, stumble your words, or forget some of your words, take your time and enjoy talking about your topic/presentation.

 

  • Remember that it's ok if you make a small mistake, for example, saying ‘uh’, or slightly stumbling a word, we’re all human and we make mistakes, so don’t panic, and just continue as normal, because you wouldn’t restart your slide or presentation if you were doing this in front of people in a class would you?
  1. Finish speaking before moving onto the next slide
  • If you continue speaking while moving onto your next slide, PowerPoint may skip out some of your audio, so it’s always recommended to finish speaking and then move onto your next slide.

Exporting your video

First, make sure you are happy with your recording and that you are ready to export, next, head to 'File' and then 'Export'.

 

A screenshot of the open file menu, displaying the location of the 'Export' option.

 

On the export screen, click the 'File Format' dropdown and change it from 'PDF' to 'MP4'.

 

A screenshot displaying the location of the 'File Format' dropdown.

 

After changing the file format, you will be presented with some extra options that you can change, for example the 'Quality' option. When you have made your changes (if any), click 'On my Mac'.

  Please Explain: As you are exporting a video, the file size may be large, and if you choose to upload to your OneDrive, you would be both exporting and uploading a large file at the same time, which may take a while depending on the speed of your internet, so saving it to your Mac means that you don't have to worry about potential internet issues.

 

A screenshot displaying the location of the 'On my Mac' button.

 

Once you have selected 'On my Mac', you can click the 'Where' dropdown to choose a different folder on your Mac, and once you have selected the location, click 'Export' and the video will begin exporting.

 

A screenshot displaying the location of the 'Where' dropdown, and the 'Export' button.

 

You can check the progress of the export by keeping an eye on the progress bar at the bottom of your screen.

 

A screenshot displaying the location of the 'export' progress bar.

 

Written Guide

Microsoft have created a written guide on how to use the recording tool built into PowerPoint, and you can access it through their support page linked below:

 Note: In Microsoft's guide towards the end of the guide, it displays an 'Export as Video' button, if you don't see this button on your screen, please refer to our export instructions mentioned above.

Video Guide

The video guide linked below has been provided by LinkedIn Learning, which is a platform that can be used to complete courses, and learn about a variety of topics.

Record a presentation

Export a presentation

LinkedIn Learning is available to all staff and students, and you can learn more about it on our LinkedIn Learning page.

If you would like to learn more about PowerPoint, you can access the full PowerPoint Essential Training course on LinkedIn Learning.

Introduction

For some assignments, you may be asked to record a PowerPoint, on this page, you can learn about some best practices, as well as how to record using the desktop apps of PowerPoint.

 Note: Unfortunately, it is not possible to record using the online version of PowerPoint, which you may be using if you have a Chromebook for example, if this is the case, please see our guidance on using Panopto.
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This guide was last updated: Oct 14, 2025 4:30 PM