Hi Sunflower, you won't believe how easy it is to add sound to a 2003 PP
presentation but you will need one thing: An external microphone.
I will describe the simplest way to add your sound. There are other ways and
more expensive and more complex programs you can use, but this will use
everything that comes with Windows.
Windows has a simple little sound recorder under: Start --> Accessories -->
Entertainment --> Sound Recorder
Use this program to record up to 60 seconds of speech via your microphone.
You may need to go into the settings to get your microphone to activate. (If
you do, realize that your microphone settings are different from your
playback settings. The biggest problem I run into when helping people with
microphones is that the playback and recording controls don't look vastly
different from each other and if you don't look closely you won't realize you
are not adjusting the microphone settings.)
Other programs (I use something called Audacity myself. It's a nice little
shareware audio recorder) allow longer recording sessions, but Sound Recorder
comes with Windows so it's free and already installed.
Next go into your PP file. Go to the slide you want the sound file to be
inserted in and chose: Insert --> Movies and Sound --> Sound from File ...
Simply choose the recorded file or files you created and insert it/them. Do
this for each slide.
I usually record a different sound file for each slide. This way if I change
(add, remove, edit) a single slide I don't have to re-record the entire
presentation. I just re-record the sound file for that single slide.
You can set all the various settings you can to ANY PP slide object by right
clicking on the sound icon. Chose from the property menu the setting you
want to change and go for it.
If you ever need to remove the recording from the slide, just click on the
icon and hit Delete.
One suggestion: If you have a lot of animation going on in the slide, record
your sound file while watching the slide perform. This way your words will
match the actions on the screen.
P.S. What's really neat is to buy one of those "100,000 Sounds" disks and
add some "really neat" sounds to a presentation. Clapping, cheers, horns,
etc.
BUT, for heaven's sake, DO NOT OVERLOAD your slides with sounds. Too much
sound is as bad as too many garish colors in a painting.
I hope this answers your request. Enjoy -- The N.P.P.