Music can set the tone for a PowerPoint presentation and help it better convey the message you want to send. Nevertheless, if your presentation is somewhat long or covers several topics, adding a single music file to the slide show might not suffice. Multiple songs in your PowerPoint presentation can make transitions between key points or slides not only more effective but more professional as well. Adding multiple songs to a presentation does require some preparation and tinkering, but it is not particularly difficult.
Step 1
Launch PowerPoint and open the presentation to which you want to add multiple music tracks.
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Step 2
Click and select the slide in your presentation at the point at which you want your first audio file to begin playing. Click the slide to view in the main editing window.
Step 3
Click "Insert" on the ribbon bar tab menu. Click the "Audio" button. Click "Insert Audio," then browse to the first music file to insert in the PowerPoint presentation. Wait while PowerPoint imports the music file into the presentation.
Step 4
Use the mouse to drag the audio icon on the slide to a corner or other area that does not block text or images on the slide.
Step 5
Click "Playback" on the "Audio Tools" tab. Determine whether you want the music to play during the current slide only or across multiple slides. If you want the music to play during one slide only, click and select "Automatically" in the "Start" drop-down box. To play the music on two or more slides, select "Play across slides."
Step 6
Match the length of time the music file plays to the display time for the slide(s). One method is to click the "Trim Audio" button and use the sliders to set start stop points for the music. This method is effective for choosing only a portion of a music file to play during a single slide. A better method for matching the duration of a song during multiple slides is to use the "Rehearse Timings" option on the "Slide Show" tab. This method allows you to use your mouse to advance slides manually and determine the number of slides that display during playback of an audio file.
Step 7
Select other slides and insert additional music files in the same manner. Insert the music file in the slide at the point in your presentation where you want the song to start playing. Use the "Trim Audio" or "Rehearse Timings" option to synchronize additional music files with slides in the presentation.
Step 8
Click the "Slide Show" tab, then "From Beginning" to review all of the slides and listen to the songs as the presentation progresses. Use the "Rehearse Timings" option to fine tune the slides so that they advance properly during playback.
Step 9
Click "File" then "Save" to save the new music files and timings with the presentation.
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