If you're putting together a solid PowerPoint presentation, adding a short video clip can be a great way to add a little of motion or activity to keep people's attention. With recent versions of PowerPoint, this process is as simple as it gets.

In some cases you will need to use the video's embed code. You can get a YouTube video's embed code by clicking the Share button and click the Embed link to pull up the HTML code.

Step 1

  • In PowerPoint 2013 or 2016, go to the Insert tab and click on Video > Online Video.
  • In PowerPoint 2010, go to the Insert tab and click on Video > Video from Web site.

Step 2

  • In PowerPoint 2013 or 2016, you'll see a dialog box where you can search for a YouTube video from PowerPoint, or you can paste the embed code from any video site.
  • In PowerPoint 2010, you will have to paste the embed code for the video in the dialog box that appears and click Insert.

Step 3

Once the video is inserted, you can resize and move it to appear where you want it in your presentation. It will look like it's a screenshot, but in preview mode (keyboard shortcut Shift-F5), you will be able to play the video.

You can also right click the video and and click Start to select whether the video will begin playing automatically when you open that slide or whether you want to start playing after you click the video.

Related: How to Embed a YouTube Video

What About PowerPoint 2007?

The process in PowerPoint 2007 is a little bit more complicated and requires you to access the Developer tab of the program.

  1. Click the More Controls button > Shockwave Flash Object > OK.
  2. Using your mouse, drag and draw the rectangle where you want the video to appear in your slide.
  3. Right-click the rectangle and select Properties.
  4. In the Movie field, paste the URL of the YouTube video you want to use. In the URL remove watch? and replace the equal symbol (=) with a forward slash (/).
  5. If you want the video to start playing automatically, in the Playing field, choose True. If you don't want it to automatically play, choose False. If you don't want the video to loop, in the Loop field, choose False.

To see that process in action, check out the video below:

Do you use videos in your PowerPoint presentation? What tips and tricks do you use for giving a great PowerPoint presentation? Let us know in the comments?