How To Get A Youtube Video In Powerpoint

One sure and simple way to enhance a PowerPoint presentation is to add a video from YouTube. This website is chock-full of educational and entertaining videos that can add a dynamic element to your content. Whether you want to use your own footage or "borrow" it from someone else's channel, here are the four ways to insert a YouTube video into a PowerPoint presentation.

1. Embed It as an Online Video

Starting from version 2010, PowerPoint includes a built-in tool to insert a YouTube video onto a slide. Here are the steps to use it:

Go to YouTube and find the video that you would like to embed into your presentation. Copy the link from the address bar.
Open your presentation and select the slide in which you would like to place the video, go to the Insert tab, and choose Video → Online Video.
Paste the link in the first address bar of the opened window. Using this field, you also can search for a video on YouTube directly. Click on the magnifying glass or press Enter on your keyboard to perform a search.
Click on the thumbnail of the video and press Insert.
You can adjust the video size just as with any other slide object.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Quick and easy

Cons

Requires that viewers have an Internet connection
Playback is not customizable
Can't be done in PowerPoint 2007 and earlier

2. Use an Embed Code

A more advanced way to add a YouTube video is to use the embed code. This method allows you to customize the video's attributes by using the YouTube API parameters.

To embed a YouTube video in one of your PowerPoint slides, follow the steps below:

Go to YouTube and find the desired video. Click on Share, and then choose the Embed icon to generate an HTML code.Copy the entire string.
Open your presentation and select the slide. Go to Insert and click Video → Online Video again.
Insert the code into the From a Video Embed Code field.
Click on Insert or press Enter.

Note: Before you insert the video into the slide, you can add some parameters into the code to make the video play the way you need it to. For example, you can let the video start playing automatically after a user opens the slide it's placed in, or you can specify at which number of seconds from the start the video will begin and when it will end.

You can read about all the available YouTube API parameters here.

Pros and Cons

Pros

More control over the video playback and appearance with the help of parameters

Cons

More time consuming than inserting a link
Requires that viewers have an Internet connection

3. Screen Capture a YouTube Video

While all of the above tips require viewers to have an Internet connection, you can make your presentation internet independent by making a screen capture of the video by using PowerPoint's built-in screencasting tool. This option is available in PowerPoint 2013 and later versions.

To capture a YouTube video:

Open the slide that you want to insert the screen recording into, go to the Insert tab, and select Screen Recording.
Open the YouTube video and click Select Area on the control menu. You'll see a cross-haired cursor. Click on it and drag it to select the area of the screen that you want to record.
Note: PowerPoint automatically records the audio and the mouse pointer. To turn off these options, deselect Audio and Record Pointer on the control dock.
Click Record. Click Pause when you need to stop the recording temporarily or Stop to end it.
When you've finished, save your presentation: File > Save. The recording is now embedded in the selected slide.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Video can be played offline

Cons

Quality of the captured video is lower than the original version
Requires more time than other techniques (the time required depends on the duration of the video you capture)
May violate the author's rights

4. Use iSpring Converter Pro

This method assumes that you need to add a YouTube video in your slide and then turn your PPT deck to HTML5 so users can open and view them in a browser or convert the entire presentation to video format. This is a perfect way to go if you want to share your presentation online and protect it from plagiarism and unfair use. You can do this easily with the help of iSpring Converter Pro.

Here's what to do if you need to add a video to your PPT deck before publishing it to the Web:

Download iSpring Converter Pro and install it on your computer.
Open your presentation in PowerPoint, and then go to the iSpring Converter Pro tab (The iSpring installer will automatically add a tab to your PowerPoint ribbon).
Choose a slide you want to have a video in and click on YouTube.
Insert the video's link. After that, you can preview a video and set a delay, after which the video will appear on the slide.
Click on OK to insert a video on the slide.
To see how your presentation looks in a browser, click on the Preview button.
If it looks the way you want it to, click on Publish .
Select My computer to publish your presentation to the Web. You can choose the HTML5 or MP4 video format. Or, you can upload your converted PowerPoint presentation to YouTube in an .mp4 format, with all effects preserved.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Slides can be shared online so learners can see them in a browser from any device (PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone) and on any OS (Windows, Mac, etc.)
Presentation can't be edited by external sources after conversion, so copyrights will be protected
Slides are safe behind a wall of protections – watermarks, passwords, and time and domain restrictions

Cons

Presentation can't be opened in offline mode
Requires downloading an additional tool

Start your free iSpring Converter Pro trial now→

How to Choose the Best Method

To simplify matters, take a look at this chart. It compares the pros and cons of all described methods in one place, so you can choose the one that's most suitable for your needs.

	Pros	Cons
1. Insert as an online video	Quick and easy	Requires that viewers have an Internet connection Playback is not customizable Can't be done in PowerPoint 2007 and earlier
2. Use an embed code	More control over the video playback and appearance with the help of parameters	More time consuming than inserting a link Requires that viewers have an Internet connection
3. Screen capture a YouTube video	Video can be played offline	Quality of the captured video is lower than the original version Requires more time than other techniques (the time required depends on the duration of the video you capture) May violate the author's rights
4. Use iSpring Converter Pro	Slides can be shared online so learners can see them in a browser from any device (PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone) and on any OS (Windows, Mac, etc.) Presentation can't be edited by external sources after conversion, so copyrights will be protected Slides are safe behind a wall of protections – watermarks, passwords, and time and domain restrictions	Presentation can't be opened in offline mode Requires downloading an additional tool

Conclusion

There are several ways to insert a YouTube video into a PowerPoint presentation. Each of them differs in terms of time required, playback options, and other factors. The fastest solution is to go for the YouTube feature. If you want to customize the video playback, stick to the embed code option. If your task is capturing an online video and inserting it into a presentation that will be played offline, record a screencast. And, finally, in case you want to share your slides online and are concerned with their security, opt for using iSpring Converter Pro.