How to Cite a PowerPoint Presentation in APA, MLA or Chicago

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Let’s be honest: Sometimes the best information for a paper comes straight from a professor’s PowerPoint presentation. But did you know that source needs to be cited?

Whether you’re making use of your instructor’s lecture materials or pulling information from a Powerpoint found online, you need to make sure to cite your sources if you use information from it in a project or paper.

Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes: 

By now, you’re probably familiar with how to cite websites, books or journal articles, but not as knowledgeable about how to cite a Powerpoint presentation. In actuality, citing PowerPoint presentations aren’t all that different from citing written materials, so don’t let yourself be phased! It’s not too hard and compiling an MLA works cited or APA reference page doesn’t take too long—each one should take just a few minutes to create.

To help you with the process, we’ve put together a handy guide demonstrating how to cite a PowerPoint presentation in three commonly used citation styles: MLA, APA and Chicago.

Let’s start by looking for basic information you’ll need for the citation.

Information you may need to cite a PowerPoint Presentation:

  • Author or authors of the presentation
  • Presentation title
  • Date of publication/presentation
  • Place of publication/where the presentation was given
  • URL (if used to locate the presentation)

Cite a PowerPoint Presentation in MLA format:

MLA format citation structure:

Author Last Name, First Name. Presentation Title. Month Year, URL. PowerPoint Presentation.

Example citation:

Park, Lisa. Effective Working Teams. Jan. 2011, https://www.company.meetings/teams. PowerPoint Presentation.

In-text citation structure:

(Last Name)

Example in-text citation:

(Park)

Cite a PowerPoint Presentation in APA format:  

APA reference structure:

Author or Presenter Last Name, Middle Initial. First Initial. (Date of publication). Title of presentation [PowerPoint presentation]. Conference Name, Location. URL

Example reference:

Park, L. (2011, March 24-28). Effective working teams [PowerPoint presentation]. Regional Dairy Workers National Conference, New York, NY, United States. https://www.company.meetings/teams

Cite a PowerPoint Presentation in Chicago Style:

Chicago citation structure:

Author Last Name, First Name. “Presentation Title.” Lecture, Location of Lecture, Month Day, Year.

Example citation:

Park, Lisa. “Effective Working Teams.” Lecture, The Plaza Hotel, New York, NY, January 11, 2011.

Troubleshooting

Solution #1: How to cite a PowerPoint that has multiple authors.

In APA

For a presentation with multiple authors, list the authors alphabetically by last name for the full reference citation. The citation will list each author by Last Name, First Initial.

If the PowerPoint has just two authors, separate them with a comma and an ampersand (&). If the PowerPoint has more than two authors, list the authors separated by commas.

Reference examples:

Felner, D., & Nguy, A. (2021 April 10-12). The history of Claymation [Slideshow]. Animation Now, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

Felner, D., Nguy, A., Becham, G. (2021 April 10-12). The history of Claymation [Slideshow]. Animation Now, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

For an in-text citation for two authors, give both surnames separated by an ampersand (&) followed by a comma and the year of publication or presentation.

For an in-text citation for three or more authors, list the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” followed by a comma and the year of publication or presentation.

In-text citation examples:

(Felner & Nguy, 2021)

(Felner et al., 2021)

In MLA

For a PowerPoint with two presenters or authors, include both names in the full works-cited citation. The names need to be written as follows: First presenter’s Last Name, First Name, and then the second presenter’s First Name and Last Name.

For an in-text citation, simply list the surnames of both presenters.

In-text citation example:

(Nguy and Felner)

Work-cited entry example:

Nguy, Anna and Dominic Felner. The History of Claymation. Apr. 2021. PowerPoint Presentation.

For a PowerPoint with three or more presenters, only list one presenter’s name followed by a comma and “et al.”

For an in-text citation for three or more authors or presenters, list the surname given in the full works-cited citation followed by “et al.”

Examples:

(Nguy et al.)

Nguy, Anna et al. The History of Claymation. Apr. 2021. PowerPoint Presentation.

 

Solution #2 How to cite a slideshow that wasn’t made with PowerPoint

In APA

If making a full works-cited citation for a slideshow that was made with another program other than PowerPoint, include the medium in brackets instead of PowerPoint.

If the presentation is not in PowerPoint, and you can’t determine what software was used, include the word “slideshow” in brackets in place of PowerPoint.

Reference examples:

Nguy, A. (2021 April 10-12). The history of Claymation [Prezi presentation]. Animation Now, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

Nguy, A. (2021 April 10-12). The history of Claymation [Slideshow]. Animation Now, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

The in-text citation will be formatted like any other APA in-text citation (author last name, year).

(Nguy, 2021)

In MLA

At the end of your full works-cited citation, include the program the slideshow was made with, formatted as:  ______ Presentation.

If you are uncertain of the program used, end your citation with “slideshow” followed by a period.
Nguy, Anna. The history of Claymation. Apr. 2021. Prezi Presentation.
Nguy, Anna. The history of Claymation. Apr. 2021. Slideshow.

The in-text citation will be formatted like any other MLA in-text citation (author last name).

(Nguy)

Hello all paper writers! Take a moment to try our spell checker, or refresh your knowledge on English basics with our EasyBib grammar guides! Discover a determiner definition, learn what is an adverb, review an interjection list, and more.   

Updated April 26, 2021.

Citation Guides

APA Format

MLA Format

 

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How do I cite a PowerPoint presentation?

To cite PowerPoint presentation slides, include the author name, year/date of presentation, the title, the source description, the website and/or university name, and the URL where the source can be found.

APA

Reference list Author Surname, X. Y. (Year, Month Day). Title of the presentation [PowerPoint slides]. Publisher. URL
Note: When you have more than one author, separate them with a comma and add an ampersand before the last author with a comma.
Example Aarons, J. (2012, May 4). Electricity and magnetism [PowerPoint slides]. SlideShare. https://www.worthschools.net/userfiles/308/Classes/1781/3-5%20Physics%20Elec%20%20Mag.pptx
In-text Citation – Parenthetical (Author Surname, year)

(Aarons, 2012)
In-text Citation – Narrative Author Surname (year)

Aarons (2012)
Note: If you are referring to specific content from the slide, mention the slide number in the citation, for example, (Author Surname, year, slide 2).

If the PowerPoint presentation is not accessible to the reader, cite the slides as personal communication.

MLA

Reference list Author Surname, First Name “Title of the Presentation.” Website, Day Month Year, URL. Medium.
Example Aarons, James. “Electricity and Magnetism.” SlideShare, 4 May 2012, https://www.worthschools.net/userfiles/308/Classes/1781/3-5%20Physics%20Elec%20%20Mag.pptx. Slideshow.
In-text Citation – Parenthetical …(Author Surname)

…Aarons
In-text Citation – In Prose Author Surname…

Aarons…
Note: If you are referring to specific content from the slide, mention the slide number in the citation, for example, (Author Surname, slide 2).
How do you in-text cite a PowerPoint?

If you want to cite a PowerPoint in MLA or APA style, you need to have basic information including the name of the author(s), title of the presentation, date and place of publication, and URL. For in-text citations, you need to include only the author name(s) in MLA style and author name(s) and year in APA style. 

APA in-text citations

Template:

(Author Surname, publication year)

Example:

(Dhanalakshmi, 2004)

MLA in-text citations

Template:

(Author Surname)

Example:

(Dhanalakshmi)