How to Make a Pre-Recorded Webinar Using PowerPoint and YouTube

Over the years, I’ve shared writing of various genres in my blog. These have included the following:

• Interview
• Medical writing
• Call for proposals
• Fitness writing
• Listicle
• Travel writing
• Public service announcement
• Poetry
• Review
• Checklist

With this post, I’m adding another genre to the list: webinar. Specifically, I’m sharing information about how to make a pre-recorded webinar. I’ll be letting you know how to use PowerPoint to record a webinar and post it to YouTube.

But first, some background. In June of this year, I made a webinar for the North Carolina chapter of the Fulbright Association. I serve on the board of the chapter and also as the chapter’s webmaster. Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while already know how impactful I’ve found my involvement with the Fulbright Program. For those who are new to my blog, you can read a two-part blog post about my Fulbright experience as well as a blog I wrote containing information about an article I published in Fulbright Chronicles. I also published a brief story about my Fulbright experience on the Fulbright Association’s website.

The webinar I made focused on the experience of publishing in Fulbright Chronicles. In the webinar, I provided an overview of the journal, outlined the submission guidelines, reflected on my experience publishing with the journal, and called on other Fulbrighters to publish articles with the journal as a way to #StandForFulbright. For those who aren’t aware, the Fulbright Program currently faces extreme challenges, including the resignation of members of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and proposed steep cuts to the program’s funding. Fulbrighters are doing all they can to advocate for the continuation of the Fulbright Program, and publishing in Fulbright Chronicles is a great way for Fulbrighters to lend their voices to this advocacy effort.

Screenshot from the webinar "Publishing in Fulbright Chronicles." (Personal collection/Karen P. Peirce)

Whether you want to make an informational webinar, a webinar focused on advocacy, or one that achieves both goals, as I did, you can use the following steps to make a webinar in PowerPoint that you can record and post online for your audience to view at their convenience. In my case, because I’ve made videos using these steps before, my webinar took about a weekend to create. You might find it takes you longer or shorter depending on your previous experience.

Without further ado, here are the steps to follow!

1. Open PowerPoint and choose a design for your slides.

2. Fill the slides with the visual information you want to share. Keep in mind the following tips:

• Use images to capture your viewers’ attention.
• Use as few words as possible on the slides. Slides are meant to supplement, not replace, your narration, so as much as possible, include only a few keywords on each slide.

3. Write your narration. I did this using the notes portion of the PowerPoint slides I made, but you can write out your script in a separate document if you prefer. If you use a separate document, be sure to indicate in your script which portion of the script corresponds to which slide.

4. Next, record your slide show. In my webinar, I chose to only record only audio narration to accompany the slides, not video, but you can do both. The recording will capture your narration as well as all your slide advancements and animations. Detailed directions are available at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/record-a-slide-show-with-narration-and-slide-timings-0b9502c6-5f6c-40ae-b1e7-e47d8741161c. Here are a few helpful tips to remember while recording:

• You can pause your recording, so if you need a break, that’s fine. You can pause and then re-start after you take a drink of water or the like.
• You can re-record slides, so if you make a mistake, or if your phone rings in the middle of recording, or something similar, you can have a do-over.

5. Next, save your recording in video form. While you can keep your recording in PowerPoint and either play it for your audience live in person or share the PowerPoint file with members of your audience, saving it in video form can be handy. This way, your viewers do not have to have access to PowerPoint to view the show, and it can be streamed on demand online. Detailed directions for saving a PowerPoint show as a video are available at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-your-presentation-into-a-video-c140551f-cb37-4818-b5d4-3e30815c3e83. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Depending on the length of your show, converting the file to a video can take a while. Be sure to plan ahead and give yourself enough time if you’re working to a deadline.
• I chose to save my file as an MP4, but you can choose WMV format instead. Both are commonly used.

6. Create a YouTube channel. Because I already have a Google account and YouTube is owned by Google, I chose YouTube as my video hosting service. You could choose another. If you do choose YouTube and you don’t already have a Google account, you’ll need to start there. Here are the steps to follow to create a Google account: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/161805. Once you’ve made a Google account, or if you already have a Google account, you can proceed to creating a YouTube channel. Directions are at https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1646861. Here are a few tips for creating your channel:

• Decide whether you want a personal channel or a business channel. A personal channel is only accessible by one person, whereas a business channel can be managed or owned by more than one person.
• You’ll be asked to create both a channel name and a YouTube handle. If you later want to change the handle, this is possible.

7. Upload your video to your YouTube channel. This is the final step! Uploading your video to a video hosting service like YouTube means your video can be streamed over the internet on demand. Directions for uploading your video to YouTube can be found at https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/57407. Here are a few tips:

• Don’t forget to publish your video after uploading it.
• There are limits to the file size and length of your videos on YouTube. See details at https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/71673.  

That’s it! If you’ve followed these steps, you’ve created a pre-recorded webinar in PowerPoint that you’ve uploaded to YouTube. Your last step is to share it with your audience. Here you can see the webinar I made: https://youtu.be/tbnYUBx7Ozc. I hope you enjoy it!

Workplace Writing Revisited

In a couple of earlier posts, I shared some workplace writing. One was a blog post about self-driving tractor-trailers, and the other was a blog post about the US Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. I wrote both for a client with an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). However, before I had a chance to submit them, he decided he no longer wanted to maintain a blog. The same is true of one more example of workplace writing I’d like to share. This one’s about the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning, which is an organization focused on graduate-level STEM education. I hope you enjoy!

All About the International Group Improving STEM Graduate Education

It is widely agreed that the education and career pipeline in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has blockages. These blockages in the STEM pipeline result in fewer opportunities for many. For example, a report by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics revealed that women, people with disabilities, African Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, American Indians, and Alaska Natives were all underrepresented in science and engineering education and employment. Similar is true in technology and math.

A chart from a report by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) showing disproportionate undergraduate bachelor’s degrees earned by Whites in science, engineering, and other subjects. (NCSES/Karen Hamrick)

To unblock the STEM pipeline, an international group of experts in graduate education teamed up to propose new methods for helping graduate students learn to become better educators. The group’s hope is that by improving STEM education, more students will persist through the STEM pipeline. These experts, who make up the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), hail from institutions of higher education across the United States and Canada.

Purpose of CIRTL

According to the CIRTL website, it was established in 2003 to enhance STEM education by focusing on the development of highly skilled faculty members. Its aim is to instill in new faculty members evidence-based teaching practices designed to reach diverse learners. Through improved education, the CIRTL hopes to diversify STEM workplaces and improve STEM literacy.

Who’s Involved in CIRTL

The CIRTL website notes that after its initial founding by Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the CIRTL was broadened into a network in 2006. This network included representatives from Howard University, Texas A&M University, the University of Colorado Boulder, and Vanderbilt University. However, the latter two are no longer members.

Further expansion of the network has occurred several times over the years. Listed on the CIRTL website as joining the network in 2012 are 11 universities; 16 more joined in 2016, an additional five were added in 2020, and six more joined in 2021. The most recent to join were Arizona State University, California Institute of Technology, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Stanford University, and University of Connecticut. The total number of institutions currently involved is 42, with 40 of them spread across the United States and two in Canada.

CIRTL Values, Core Ideas, and Learning Outcomes

As outlined on its website, the CIRTL holds seven values to be of utmost importance. These are learner-centered education, equity and inclusion, diversity and representation, collaboration, intellectual generosity, inclusive excellence and innovation, and reflective decision-making. These values were adopted by the network in December 2019.

The CIRTL also notes on its website that it operates according to a list of three core ideas. The first is learning-through-diversity, which notes that excellence and diversity are intermingled; therefore, in order to reach excellence, diversity is required, and in order to achieve diversity, excellence is required. The second core idea is teaching-as-research, which calls for teaching to be treated as a subject of research-based study. The final core idea is learning communities, which emphasizes the importance of interpersonal relationships in generating new knowledge.

In addition to its values and core ideas, the CIRTL also outlines on its website learning objectives it deems important. These outcomes can be achieved at three levels, which result in being a CIRTL Associate, a CIRTL Practitioner, and a CIRTL Scholar. At the Associate level, participants understand the role of the three core ideas in effective teaching. At the Practitioner level, participants apply the core ideas to improve teaching practices. Finally, at the Scholar level, participants produce and share scholarship that forwards effective teaching.

CIRTL Programming

The CIRTL notes on its website that it offers a variety of programming to its members and non-members alike. STEM graduate students at member institutions enjoy priority registration for events that are open to non-members. This programming includes courses, workshops, MOOCs, clubs, summer institutes, learning communities, and more.

A few courses listed on the CIRTL website include “Diversity in the College Classroom,” “Teaching with Technology,” “Teaching-as-Research,” and “Online Teaching and Learning.” Topics for workshops have been writing an individual development plan, writing a teaching philosophy, and developing a CV or resume. The MOOCs offered are “An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching” and “Advancing Learning Through Evidence-Based STEM Teaching.”

The CIRTL website additionally highlights its journal club, which involves participants reading and discussing relevant articles on STEM education and teaching. Also highlighted are its annual summer institutes hosted by CIRTL member institutions, which involve in-depth sessions about STEM teaching that take place over several days. Another highlight are the CIRTL leaning communities that meet online to foster community in addressing such topics as learning through diversity and conducting an academic job search.

Support for CIRTL

The CIRTL website lists several sources of financial support. The National Science Foundation provided initial funding. Additionally, the Alfred P. Sloane Foundation, the Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation, and the Wisconsin Center for Education Research of the University of Wisconsin-Madison provide support.