Creating portable PowerPoint content

When creating a PowerPoint lecture that you plan to move from computer to computer, or to store on a burned CD, flash drive, or other external media source, there are a few details to remember.

• First, it’s important to remember that media content such as video and sound are not integrated into your PowerPoint presentation.  Should you move your PowerPoint presentation to a different folder without moving the media files involved as well, or vice versa, the media files in your PowerPoint presentation will not function correctly when you run the presentation.  To ensure that all of your media plays correctly in your PowerPoint presentation, create a new folder in which to save and store your PowerPoint file as well as copies of any media files you plan on using in your presentation even before you start creating the presentation. 
• If you plan on transferring your presentation to other media formats like CD or a flash drive, simply transport the entire folder containing the presentation and its media files to the disc or drive.  For Windows users, there is another option; after creating your presentation, select file, and then package for CD.  By following this step by step wizard, PowerPoint will conveniently place copies of all the necessary files as well as your presentation into its own folder, which can then be burned or transferred to external media.
• It’s important to consider the computer you’ll be presenting on.  Large video files, especially files with advanced compression techniques, such as “.avi” files, will tax a system’s resources more dramatically, and may perform poorly on older and underpowered systems.  When at all possible, use small video files, and use video sparingly.