How do you dictate in PowerPoint on a Mac?

To dictate in PowerPoint on a Mac, use Microsoft's Dictate button. Dictate is Microsoft's feature, not Apple's, and it works only with a Microsoft 365 subscription, a microphone and a reliable internet connection. Microsoft's general dictation article lists PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac among the apps it covers ¹. Microsoft also says Dictation in Office needs a microphone and a reliable internet connection ².

Dictate needs Microsoft 365, not an older Office license

Dictate depends on the subscription. Microsoft says Dictate is not available in Office 2016 or 2019 without Microsoft 365 ³. If your PowerPoint is a standalone 2016 or 2019 copy with no subscription, you will not get Dictate. Check your version and your Microsoft 365 sign-in first when the button is missing.

Find Dictate on the Home tab, and confirm it on your Mac

Microsoft's PowerPoint article gives its steps for PowerPoint for the web and for Windows. It says to select Home, then Dictate in the Voice section ⁴. Word for Mac uses the same route, with the steps Home > Dictate ⁵.

We did not find a Microsoft page with Mac steps for PowerPoint itself. So the Home tab is the place to look, but it is not a confirmed path for PowerPoint for Mac. Some third-party guides say the button is missing from certain PowerPoint for Mac versions. We did not verify that against Microsoft, so if the Home tab shows no Dictate button, check your version and subscription before you assume the feature is gone.

Dictate into a slide in five steps

Microsoft's PowerPoint dictation article gives the steps for the web and Windows. The list below follows those steps and Word's Mac steps.

1. Open the presentation and click into a slide placeholder, or into the slide notes.
2. Select Home > Dictate, then wait for the button to turn on.
3. Speak your text. Microsoft says you can insert punctuation at any time by saying the punctuation word ⁶.
4. Fix mistakes with the keyboard. You do not need to turn the microphone off to correct a word.
5. Select Dictate again to turn it off when you are done.

The steps follow Microsoft's web and Windows instructions for PowerPoint and Word's Mac steps. Check them against your own screen, because we could not read Microsoft's PowerPoint for Mac steps.

When Dictate is greyed out or does not start

If the Dictate button is greyed out, check whether the document is open as read-only. Microsoft says to make sure the document is not in a read-only state ⁷. If it is, open an editable copy and try again.

If Dictate starts but hears nothing, check that the microphone is working in macOS, and close other apps or browser tabs that might be using it, such as a video call. The question on why Dictate is not working in PowerPoint lists the other checks. For Word on Mac, the question on dictating in Word on a Mac covers the same Home tab route, and the question on why Dictate is greyed out in Word on a Mac covers the greyed-out case in more depth.

Apple Dictation is a fallback, and it is untested here

Apple says that with Dictation on a Mac you can speak to enter text anywhere you can type ⁸. A text box in a PowerPoint slide is a place where you can type, so Apple Dictation may work there. We did not test it in PowerPoint for this answer. Use it as a fallback when Microsoft's button is missing, and read the slide text closely afterward, because dictated words are not always right.

Apple's Dictation turns on in System Settings > Keyboard, and the Mac dictation shortcut guide explains the shortcut options. The Apple Dictation glossary entry covers how that feature differs from Microsoft's.

Which route to use

Use Microsoft's Dictate button when you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, a microphone and a connection, because it is the feature Microsoft documents for Office. Use Apple Dictation when Microsoft's button is missing or you are working in a place where Office does not offer Dictate. Either way, check the result, since neither route is a substitute for proofreading a deck that will be shown to other people.

For the wider picture, see our guide to dictation in Mac apps and our overview of dictation on Mac. For the Outlook side of Microsoft's Dictate, read the question on dictating in Outlook on a Mac. The Dictate in Microsoft 365 glossary entry explains the feature across Office apps.