It’s pretty common to have a slideshow presentation in a meeting or classroom lecture. These visuals help attendees view graphs and follow along with the lecturer. It also makes it a little easier to take notes. Many times, presentations are even uploaded to websites for later viewing. If you want to reference a PowerPoint presentation in your MLA paper, you’ll need to know how to cite it correctly.
If your instructor presented the PowerPoint slideshow during your regular classroom time, you can cite it as a lecture in MLA style:
In-Text Citation
Works Cited Format
Instructor’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Lecture.” Title of Course, Date of lecture, Location. Lecture.
Works Cited Example
Torres, Javier. “Adam Smith and the ‘Bible of Capitalism’.” Philosophy 101. 26 May 2018. Highlands University. Lecture.
If you accessed the PowerPoint presentation at a later date or outside of the classroom, use this format to cite the source in MLA style.
In-Text Citation Example
If you don’t know the slide number, you may leave it out.
As you create your works cited list, you will need to include any lectures or meeting notes. You’ll use the instructor’s name and the title of the course in the entry. Then, add the type of presentation, such as Prezi or PowerPoint.
Works Cited Format
Instructor’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of PowerPoint Presentation.” Title of Course, Date of PowerPoint presentation, Location of presentation. Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.
Torres, Javier. “Adam Smith: Bible of Capitalism.” Philosophy 101, 26 May 2018, Highlands University, Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.
If the slideshow was created by other presentation software, such as Prezi, use that instead.
Note: Use the date of access if the presentation is undated. It’s optional.
Lectures are considered primary sources and you may find useful sources within the Works Cited slide. The Works Cited slide is usually the last slide of the presentation and is formatted the same as it would be for a research paper allowing for a smaller size. MLA uses a Works Cited page rather than a bibliography or references list.
Although lectures are primary sources and you can use them to back up your research, it is better to use other sources like published peer-reviewed articles and books.
If you are preparing a research-based PowerPoint presentation, make sure you include a Works Cited slide and proper in-text citations. PowerPoint, Prezi and other slideshow software offer a fun and interesting way to inform your readers about your MLA school essay. Slideshows can be converted easily into videos and posted on YouTube and other sites.
