The Easiest Way to Record a Presentation

Summary

The article outlines a method for educators to record presentations using Microsoft Powerpoint, emphasizing ease and efficiency for online course delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

The author, faced with the challenge of transitioning to online teaching due to COVID-19 restrictions, shares a straightforward approach to recording lectures for a large student audience. Utilizing Microsoft Powerpoint, the method involves recording each slide separately, which simplifies the process of editing and updating content. The article also touches on the use of iMovie for personalizing lectures with introductory and concluding video segments and the benefits of exporting the final recording as a MOV file for student convenience, such as variable playback speed.

Opinions

The author believes that adding a 'talking head' video throughout the lecture may not significantly enhance engagement when the audience is not visible.
Including personal video segments at the beginning and end of a lecture can provide context and a sense of conclusion, making the presentation more personal without overwhelming the content.
Powerpoint's recording feature is praised for its efficiency, as it allows for easy re-recording of sections if mistakes occur or if content needs to be updated for future course iterations.
Students appreciate the ability to listen to lectures at variable speeds and navigate through the content more easily when the recording is exported in MOV format.
The author finds it helpful to include detailed notes in the presentation, serving as prompts during the recording process, which can be particularly useful when the lecturer cannot visually engage with the audience.
Uploading the recorded lectures to an institutional platform or YouTube (with privacy settings) is recommended for distribution, with YouTube being a viable alternative for those without access to a dedicated educational platform.

3 steps to recording your presentation for online delivery

COVID-19 restrictions came in when I was half way through delivering a biology course to around 700 students. Within days face-to-face teaching was no longer possible and classes needed to move online. I wanted to use the easiest way to record my lectures, leaving more time to address challenges such as how to have students isolate DNA at home.

I chose Microsoft Powerpoint as it is an application I, and most people, are familiar with.

I didn’t add my face as a ‘talking head’ as I felt it would not add much value throughout the lecture when I couldn’t see the audience I was engaging with. And as the lecture recordings at my institution generally only capture the screen this format is what my students were familiar with.

If you do think featuring yourself would make the presentation more personal, one option I tried was recording two pieces to camera and using imovie to add these at the start and end of the lecture — these provided context and a conclusion. I find imovie quite easy to use as you can even film and edit a presentation on your iphone!

The recording feature of Powerpoint is particularly efficient as you record each slide separately. This makes it easy to repeat a portion if you make a mistake or are interrupted. It also means you can update content easily if you want to update the slides or your narrative in the next iteration of the course.

So let’s get you started…

Step 2:

The recording will start immediately, but I prefer to press the pause icon and restart once I am ready. Each slide is recorded separately, so there is no editing required, if something goes wrong you just restart. This also means you can easily respond to any feedback from students by adding slides or updating the lecture for the next iteration of a course.

The yellow arrow indicates how to stop and restart a recoding for a slide in Powerpoint. Author’s own image.

Step 3:

Once the recording is completed (and saved as a .pptx), select ‘File’ from the dropdown menu and ‘Export’. Choose ‘MOV’ from the formats displayed.

Select Export from the File menu and save the file in MP4 format. Author’s own image.

Step 3 is one that students have told me they really appreciate. Students can listen to the recording in Powerpoint, and changing the format to a movie makes the file substantially larger. Yet it allows students to vary the speed that they listen to the lecture, and to skip ahead to a section easier. Yes, many students prefer to listen to lecture recordings at 1.5 or 2 times the normal speed!

Most of my lectures have writing in the notes section, which I have added in case anyone else needs to deliver my lectures. I found this really helpful when recording! While I do not use these when giving lectures in a theatre, it was quite different making a recording and I needed these prompts.

I uploaded the files directly into the platform my institution uses for lecture recordings. If you don’t have that option then YouTube is probably the easiest place to upload, and you have the option to publish as unlisted (where only those with the link can find your video) if you prefer.

The Easiest Way to Record a Presentation

3 steps to recording your presentation for online delivery

Step 1:

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Step 3: