How to record a presentation with your face on a Mac

1. PowerPoint for Mac

PowerPoint for Mac (Microsoft 365, 2024 or 2021) has a recording studio built in.

1. Open your presentation and click Record at the top right, or choose Record › From Beginning (or From Current Slide).
2. In the recording toolbar, turn on your camera and microphone. Your camera appears as a cameo on the slides.
3. Present as usual, moving through the slides. Stop when you’re done.
4. Choose Record › Export to video to get a video file you can upload anywhere.

PowerPoint for the web can’t record a slide show, so use the Mac app.

2. Keynote

Keynote’s Play › Record Slideshow records your voice over the slides. It doesn’t add your camera by itself.

To show yourself, add a Live Video to the slides first (it’s in the toolbar) and place it in a corner. People who use this report that the camera is captured in the recorded slideshow; check a short test before recording a long one. When you’re done, export the recorded slideshow as a movie with File › Export To › Movie.

3. Google Slides

Google Slides has a recorder that captures your voice and your webcam with the slides. It came first to Google Workspace plans (Business Standard and up, Enterprise and Education Plus) and works in Chrome on a computer.

Since August 2026, Slides also has a newer Record option, powered by Google Vids, that Google is rolling out to all Workspace customers and to personal Google accounts. It gives you a link to share. The older recorder moved to View › Slides Recording.

If neither is available on your account, record the Slides tab with a screen recorder, below.

4. Any app: a screen recorder with a camera bubble

A screen recorder doesn’t care what’s on screen: slides, a website, a spreadsheet, code. You can switch from your slides to a demo halfway through, which a slides app can’t record. In PlumCam:

1. Open your presentation, in full screen or in a window.
2. In PlumCam, click New recording and pick that screen or window.
3. Choose your camera and microphone. Drag the bubble to the corner your slides leave free, and pick its size; background blur hides the room behind you.
4. Click Start recording, give your talk, and stop with Option R.
5. On Pro, cut out the stumbles, add captions written for you, and export an .mp4.

For how screen recording on a Mac works in general, see how to screen record on a Mac.

5. Which to use

If your lessons are only slides and you already use PowerPoint, its recorder is enough. If you switch between slides and other apps, or want to cut mistakes and add captions, use a screen recorder.

6. Tips for lessons and courses

• Keep videos short. One topic per video, a few minutes each. They’re easier to re-record, and easier for students to come back to.
• Leave room for your face. Keep one corner of your slides empty, so the camera never covers anything important.
• Light your face from the front. A window or a lamp behind the screen, not behind you.
• Use a headset or a USB microphone if you can. Sound quality matters more to viewers than picture quality.
• Add captions. They help students who watch without sound, in a second language, or with hearing loss.
• Export .mp4. Every course platform and learning management system accepts it.

Questions

Record your next lesson in one take

Slides, demos and your face, with captions written for you. Basic is free; Pro’s first month is free, then $9.99 a month.