OHSU's Software Forum

Susan Conrad · Joined: 02 Nov 2007 Posts: 31

Several people have asked us about inserting educational videos from YouTube into PowerPoint. PowerPoint does not support the .FLV movie files used by YouTube, but there is a workaround. Here's how to do it.

Requirement: You MUST have a connection to the Internet while playing slideshows with YouTube videos. You can only create a link to the video. You cannot embed it.

Caution: This procedure does not work with PowerPoint Viewer. You must start your slideshow from the PowerPoint application.

PowerPoint Setup – Do one time only

1. Open PowerPoint 2007.

2. If you do not see a Developer tab, click the Office button > PowerPoint Options button > and under “Top Options for Working with PowerPoint”, check Show Developer tab in the Ribbon.

3. Click OK.

4. Select the Developer tab and click on Macro Security.

5. Check Disable all macros with notification.

Add YouTube Video to a Slide

1. Add a new slide; e.g., Title Only, and type your title.

2. Select the Developer tab and click on the More Controls button. It has a hammer and an ellipsis (…) on it.

3. Scroll down and select Shockwave Flash Object. Click OK.

4. The mouse arrow changes to a crosshair. Drag your mouse to create a placeholder for the YouTube vide. Note: You can adjust size and move the placeholder after creating it.

5. Go to the YouTube video you wish to link to and copy the URL.

6. Go back to your PowerPoint slide, right-click on the Shockwave Flash Object area and select Properties.

7. Click on the ellipsis button (…) next to (Custom) to open the “Property Pages” window.

8. Paste the YouTube video URL into the “Movie URL” text box.

9. Make the following change to the URL so that PowerPoint can read it:

Delete the text watch?v= and replace it with v/

Example:
Original YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o

Edited YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/v/dGCJ46vyR9o

10. Make sure that “Embed Movie” is unchecked and leave all other choices alone. The Properties’ options will readjust when the video is played the first time.

11. Click OK to close the “Property Pages” window; then close the “Properties” window.

12. Save the PowerPoint slideshow with the PowerPoint macro-enabled . pptm extension.

13. That’s it! Click OK, and make sure you’re connected to the Internet and play the slideshow.