teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

PowerPoint — love it?  hate it?  Most of us still feel we have to use it.  I know that many of our readers are having to teach online — some for the first time.  So you might appreciate this short post from the Faculty Focus website “How Much Multimedia Should You Add to PowerPoint Slides When Teaching Online?” (September 22, 2010).

This instructional video shows you how to embed a YouTube video directly into a PowerPoint 2007 presentation. Note that you have to have an internet connection, sound connected, and it might take 5-10 seconds or more for the video to start up. If you need to do this in PowerPoint 2003, check out How to Embed a YouTube Video in PowerPoint (2003).

Yes you can – sometimes.  It might be helpful to have a copy of a YouTube video or commercial on your computer hard drive — so you don’t have to rely on an internet connection to show it in class.  A friend introduced me to a website (KeepVid) which allows you to download videos from YouTube and other sites.  I have found this doesn’t work on all sites, including BusinessWeek and The Wall Street Journal.  Still, for videos that download, you can show them in class without the need for a fast Internet connection.

Here is a trick for you.  Do you know how to get access to Wall Street Journal articles without an online subscription?  Just Google (or Bing or Yahoo) the title of the article.   As of this time, the Wall Street Journal has chosen to allow this “back door” to its content — but I have read that they are reconsidering this.  Note – this doesn’t work for AdAge.com and some other subscription only sites.  Most academics should be able to access Advertising Age articles through library databases like Business Source Premier — although I have found that they appear here a couple weeks after the print or online version.

Do you want to add more photos and images to your PowerPoints?  I like to add photos of products or a company logo to remind me of an example I want to use.  I will go to Google and do an “image search” for “7-11 logo”.  You can then click through to the image.  If you move your cursor over the top of the image and “right click” you can choose the option “Copy Image.”  Then go back to the slide, right click and choose “Paste.”  Resize the image as you would other PowerPoint objects.  If my understanding of educational (Joe is not a lawyer) use is correct, there are no issues with copyright if you are simply using the images in your own class.

Do any of you have other ideas for adding interest to your PowerPoints?

Teaching Tip:  Do you want to add online videos to your PowerPoint presentations?  There are different ways to achieve this, but the following process is simple and effective.  This technique requires an Internet connection in your classroom.

1. Start by copying an image from the Internet (see other Teaching Tip in this newsletter).  I often get the logo of the company in the video.  You can also insert a PowerPoint shape.
2. Then go to the website where the video you want to show is located.  Double click on the web address so that the whole address is highlighted.  Choose the “Ctrl” and “C” keys to copy the address.
3. Go back to your PowerPoint and right click on the image.  Choose the “Hyperlink” option.
4. In the window that opens, click on the blank next to “Address:” and use “Ctrl V” to paste the address in.
5. From Slide Show mode, you simply click on the image and the web page will open up (this might take a few seconds).
6. You can then control the web page – perhaps choosing to show the video clip full screen if this is an option at the website.
7. Warning:  be sure to test this in your office – and on the computer you are using in class.  You want to make sure that sound is working and the site loads properly.