Yes, video is becoming ubiquitous. YouTube, cell phone video, digital camcorders… the possibilities are endless for creating and sharing video with people. So it only makes sense that people are getting more interested in incorporating video into their speeches and PowerPoint Presentations.

But please beware: everything is more complicated once you decide to deal with video.

For starters, before you put video into a presentation, ask yourself “why am I doing this? Does the video really add to the meaning and experience for my audience? Or am I doing this just because I can? Or because I think it will be cute? Or because I think it will deflect attention away from me having to speak?”

Make sure you have a good reason to use video. I often use video in my keynote speeches because I talk about how great leaders communicate to live audiences and the media. Therefore, I have to show video clips of everyone from Winston Churchill to Martin Luther King, Jr. to Ronald Reagan. Plus I show how modern leaders like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton use specific techniques to maximize their effectiveness anytime they speak.

So I have to use lots of video clips in any keynote address I deliver. To my audience, it all looks easy and seamless. But it’s not. There is a lot of extra work involved.