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A narrated presentation is for a specific audience to which you would ideally

present in person or online in real time, but for practical reasons, you need

to record for later viewing.

While Microsoft PowerPoint is considered the default presentation tool for

presentations, you may consider using other presentation platforms or tools.

Just be sure the tool supports prerecorded narration.

Preparing for Your Presentation

As with any project, it is good to begin by creating an outline. This will help

you determine how many slides you will need to develop and how much

information you will need to present on each slide. It should also help

determine a logical order in which to present material.

Course Resource

Presentation Resources

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Be sure to

dedicate

enough time

to the

narrated

presentation

to get the

timing for

transitions

right, and

ensure that

the sound is

clear and the

narration is at

the right

volume.

Creating

Slides

A good

recorded presentation shares most of the same traits as a good live

presentation. Your presentation should not be an academic paper cut into

text-filled slides. You are giving a talk to an audience, so the narrative should

provide most of your ideas and argumentation. Be sure the themes either

flow or transition appropriately from slide to slide.

Here are some recommendations:

Keep slides uncluttered by using brief bullet points—only a few key

words each.

An easy way to make your presentation look more appealing is to use

one of the designs provided within PowerPoint.

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Adding images and/or clip art is another good way to add visual interest

to your presentation, but don't overuse slide transitions or animations,

as these can be distracting.

When you are citing sources of information on a slide, use a small font

size so the citations don't detract from the primary points.

Be sure to proofread carefully: Any errors on a slide will be particularly

noticeable because of the relatively small number of words.

When you record audio for each slide, a loudspeaker icon will appear in

the middle of the slide. You can drag this icon to a better position (often

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the bottom right corner of the slide) so it doesn't interfere with the

text.

Writing the Script

The script for your presentation can be a complete word-for-word

documentation of what you intend to say as each slide is displayed, or it can

be a much briefer set of notes to use as a reminder while you are recording

to ensure that you cover all the points. The latter approach is preferable,

because this makes it less likely that you will sound rushed or overly scripted

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when speaking. Keep in mind that if you were making the presentation in

person, you would not want to be reading your comments; instead, you

would want to make eye contact with the audience.

Here are some additional recommendations for your script:

Try to keep the amount of narration to less than two minutes per slide.

If you need to say more than that, create another slide so the audience

doesn't get bored.

Make sure the script and what appears on the slide are closely related

so the audience can easily follow what you have to say.

Don't simply read the material on the slide—add value by providing

additional information.

Recording the Narration

At this point, you have created and saved slides as a PowerPoint

presentation, and you have the script ready. Now it's time to record the

audio.

Here are a few general recommendations before you record:

If you are using a computer to record, use a headset/microphone

combination rather than using the computer's built-in speakers and

microphone for better audio quality. It isn't necessary to spend a lot on

a headset/mic (typically $20 or less), and you will be rewarded with

better sound quality and less background noise.

Make sure the headset/mic is installed and working. There are simple

programs on both Macs and PCs that allow you to test whether

recording is occurring and whether the sound quality is acceptable.

Choose a quiet location to record so that background noise is minimal.

When you begin recording, speak clearly and conversationally without

rushing.

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Remember that it's easy to redo the audio for a slide. If you're not

happy with the way it sounds, you can do it again.

Once you have completed and narrated the presentation, it is a good

idea to email the file to another computer. If you are able to watch and

listen to the slide show successfully on the second computer, you will

know that the audio files have been successfully embedded in the

presentation.

For Technical Support

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Below are

specific

recording

instructions

for some

common

tools for

presentations

:

Record a

Slide Show

With

Narration and

Slide Timings

in

PowerPoint

(https://supp

ort.office.co

m/en-

us/article/rec

ord-a-slide-show-with-narration-and-slide-timings-0b9502c6-5f6c-

40ae-b1e7-e47d8741161c)

Getting Started With Microsoft Sway (https://support.office.com/en-

us/article/getting-started-with-sway-2076c468-63f4-4a89-ae5f-

424796714a8a)

If you have technical difficulties with using PowerPoint, contact the UMGC

360 Help Desk, available 24/7:

Website: Help Center | UMGC (https://www.umgc.edu/help#)

Phone: 1-888-360-UMUC (8682).

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All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the

validity or integrity of information located at external sites.

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