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Create a Narrated Presentation Using PowerPoint & Kaltura

Creating narrated presentations is an effective way to help students engage with the course content. This type of presentation provides a way for you to communicate your knowledge and expertise on the topic and to share information, examples, & concepts to enhance learners’ experience in the course. Additionally, narrated presentations help demonstrate your presence in the course and can affect the students’ perceptions of learning and satisfaction.

In this guide, you'll learn how to:

  • Design effective narrated presentations
  • Add audio to slides in PowerPoint
  • Export your narrated presentation as a video
  • Upload the video to Kaltura
  • Share it with your students in Canvas

Through this simple process, you can turn your slides into engaging, instructor-led resources your students can revisit anytime.

 

Best Practices for Creating Your Presentation

Designing Your Presentation

  • Create an Outline. It is highly recommended to create an outline of the topics to be covered in each presentation. Organizing and sequencing topics will help create a fluid transition between topics presented in a logical order. An outline will help identify gaps in content coverage or the need to balance, or even reduce, the amount of content per presentation.
  • Consider what information to include. When creating your outline and transcript, you might consider the following to help shape the content of your presentation:
    • Why is this topic important?
    • Clarify or emphasize the key components discussed in this module.
    • What are some relevant challenges, misconceptions, or considerations?
    • What important concepts are not covered in the readings or need to be explained?
    • What would you tell the students if they were sitting in front of you?
    • Provide examples to help students connect with the topics discussed.
  • Write a transcript. In addition to meeting ADA requirements, a transcript allows you to organize your thoughts, ensuring your presentation is clear, concise, and includes all key concepts for students. Write your script for how you speak, keeping it natural-sounding. If you write your script as if you were going to read it, it will sound stiff. We speak much more casually than we do in reading and writing. So, write your script in your voice and with the flow of your mind.
  • Keep text on the slide to a minimum. Include keywords and brief points that you expand on with your narration.
  • Include images to convey points. There are many resources, such as Pixabay and Pexels, that offer images under Creative Commons licenses. Be sure to add alt text to maintain accessibility.
  • Design for future use. Creating narrated presentations takes significant time and effort. It is best practice to create presentations that can be delivered to students multiple times. In order to do so, it is recommended to avoid including information that will or may change from one academic term to the next, such as course name and/or course number, specific information related to the next term in which it will be delivered, numbering presentations in the order in which they appear in the current course structure, i.e. Narrated Presentation #1, Week #2, Section #3, etc., and specific assignment information, such as instructions or requirements, point values, and due dates.

Presentation Length

  • Presentations should be around 10 minutes. Studies show that shorter lectures are more effective for online students. Presentations 10-15 minutes in length are ideal. Presentations 30–60 minutes long should be broken into separate, shorter “chunks” at natural transition points. Note, the average person speaks between 125 and 150 words per minute. Presentations 10–15 minutes in length would have a total somewhere between 1,250 and 2,250 words.

Tips for Recording

  • • It is helpful to practice recording. Practice reading the script aloud to ensure that it sounds natural and flows smoothly, help identify awkward sentences, use of contractions and abbreviations, and reduce mistakes when recording.
  • Set up your environment. Choose a quiet space to minimize distractions.
  • Check your microphone for clear audio.
  • Speak clearly and at a steady pace—as if you are explaining the slide to someone in person.
  • Pause briefly at the start and end of each slide to make transitions smoother.
  • Save frequently to avoid losing your work.
  • Preview each slide after recording to make sure the audio is clear and accurate.
 

Recording Your Narrated PowerPoint

Recording your audio directly in PowerPoint, one slide at a time, makes the process simple and manageable. You can focus on a single concept, fix mistakes without redoing the whole presentation, and re-record individual slides as needed. This approach also makes it easy to rearrange or update slides should future edits be necessary.

For instructions on adding audio to your PowerPoint presentation, see the following guide from Microsoft. Be sure to select PC or Mac at the top of the page.

 

Converting Your PowerPoint to Video

After your recording is complete and saved to your computer, the first step to sharing it with students through Kaltura is to save it as a video file. Converting your narrated PowerPoint into a video file suitable for upload to Kaltura is a relatively simple process that can be completed on a PC or Mac.

For instructions on converting your PowerPoint to Video, view the following guide based on whether you use a PC or a Mac:

 

Uploading Your Video to Kaltura

The University-supported video hosting platform, Kaltura, will allow you to upload your video file for easy sharing. Kaltura integrates seamlessly with Canvas, allowing you to embed your video directly within a page in your course.

For instructions on uploading the video of your presentation to Katura, view the following guide:

 

Captioning Your Video

Captioning your video is helpful for all students, even those without a documented accessibility need. Any instructor can request machine captions in Kaltura and edit them as necessary for accuracy. Please note that any SAS accommodations for captioning will go through the Student Accessibility Offices for professional captioning. The following information will explore how to add captions to your video in Kaltura. 

Kaltura REACH

Kaltura REACH uses automated speech recognition (ASR) to transcribe spoken words in your video and generate machine-generated captions. Kaltura REACH captions are typically 75-85% accurate and can improve over time as the program adapts to learn your voice. Kaltura REACH also provides an editor to revise and improve the accuracy of your video captions.

Adding Captions to Your Video

Once your video is saved, it will be processed and added to the My Media section of your Kaltura Library. To access the video:

  • Navigate to .
  • Log in to your Kaltura account using your kent.edu credentials.
  • Click on your name in the top right corner to access My Media.
  • Follow the steps in this guide to add machine captions to your Kaltura video.
 

Adding Your Video to Canvas

Once your video is created and captioned, you are ready to share it with your students!

Embed Via the Rich Content Editor

Kaltura integrates seamlessly with the Canvas rich content editor, so you can share your video with just a few clicks.

Often, narrated presentations are shared through a page in the relevant module. However, you can add your video to any place in Canvas you like. Consider placing and labeling them consistently throughout your course so that students' navigation experience is consistent across modules. 

Upload Your Script

Along with the video, please upload a document version of your script. If you stray from the script, as is common, be sure to edit it before posting so that it serves as a word-for-word transcript. Providing a transcript not only ensures accessibility for all learners but also supports different learning preferences.

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