PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Lecture slides

How to Cite PowerPoint Slides in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for PowerPoint slides gives the presenter's last name and first name, the title of the slides in italics, the website or course platform that holds them in italics, the date, and the URL. You can end with the format, like PowerPoint presentation, so your reader knows what kind of file it is. The in-text citation is the presenter's last name, plus the slide number when you quote one slide: (Schilbach, slide 9).

The format

Last Name, First Name. Title of the Slides. Site or Course Platform, Day Month Year, URL. PowerPoint presentation.

PERRLA MLA Experts ยท Updated October 27, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Slides from a Network of the National Library of Medicine training class? Paste the class page's link into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads the presenters, the class date, and the title, and builds the Works Cited entry for you.

For any other deck, type PowerPoint into the reference search, or choose Lecture & Presentation Materials from the reference types. Add each Presenter (or switch the role to Group Presenter (organization) for an agency or company), then fill in the Title of the Material, describe the file in the Format box (for example, PowerPoint presentation, which PERRLA prints with PowerPoint in italics), pick the Presentation Date, and enter the site or course platform in Institution or Platform and the URL. PERRLA puts the title in title case and italics, writes the date the MLA way (23 July 2025), and starts the entry with the title when the organization that made the slides also published them. No title on the slides? Type a short description inside brackets in Title of the Material, like [Slides on fall prevention]. PERRLA drops the brackets and leaves the description in plain type.

Quoting one slide? When you add the citation, choose Other under Page or location, type slide in lowercase in the Label box, and type the slide number in the Value box.

Copied a link from inside Canvas, Blackboard, or Brightspace? PERRLA can't open pages behind your school's login, so it tells you that instead of guessing. Enter the slides by hand and use the platform's home or login page as the URL.

Look up
Paste An NNLM class page link, get the reference

https://www.nnlm.gov/training/class/connecting-older-adults-health-information

Hastie, Shanna, and Bennie Finch. Connecting Older Adults to Health Information. Network of the National Library of Medicine, 23 July 2025, www.nnlm.gov/training/class/connecting-older-adults-health-information. PowerPoint slides.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Presenter

Start with whoever made the slides: last name, a comma, and first name, as the slides print it. For slides your instructor wrote, that's your instructor. Two presenters: invert only the first name, then write and and the second name in normal order. Three or more: the first presenter, a comma, and et al.

Hastie, Shanna, and Bennie Finch.

When an organization made the slides and also published them, like a government agency's training deck, leave the author spot empty. The entry starts with the title, and the organization's name goes later, as the site that holds the slides.

2. Title of the slides

A slide deck stands on its own, so its title goes in italics, in title case, followed by a period. Use the title on the first slide or on the page that offers the slides.

Connecting Older Adults to Health Information.

No title at all? Write a short description in plain type instead, like Slides on fall prevention, with no italics and no quotation marks.

3. Site or course platform

The website or learning management system that holds the slides is the container. MLA 9 puts its name in italics, followed by a comma. For slides your instructor posted, that's the platform: Canvas, Blackboard, or Brightspace.

MIT OpenCourseWare,

MLA's own Blackboard example also names who posted the slides, after the platform: uploaded by Carson. When the presenter posted the slides, the entry already names them first, and PERRLA leaves the uploaded by part out.

4. Date

Give the date the slides were presented or posted, as fully as the source gives it: day, month, and year. Abbreviate months longer than four letters (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.). If you find only a year, give the year. If there's no date anywhere, leave it out.

23 July 2025,

5. URL

End the container with the web address, followed by a period. MLA 9 leaves off the https:// in the printed entry. For slides inside your course site, use the platform's home or login page, because a link to the file opens only for people in the course.

ocw.mit.edu/courses/14-13-psychology-and-economics-spring-2020/resources/mit14_13s20_lec22/.

6. Format (optional)

MLA lets you add what kind of file it is at the very end, when that helps your reader. MLA italicizes the names of software programs, so PowerPoint goes in italics. For a PDF of slides, write Lecture slides instead.

PowerPoint presentation.

Examples

Slides from a public training session

Slides from a 2025 Network of the National Library of Medicine webinar on finding health information for older adults, posted on the class page for anyone to download. Both instructors go in the author spot, and the class date is the date.

  • In-text citation(Hastie and Finch)
  • Narrative citationAs Hastie and Finch explain, …

Slides by an organization

The communication module of TeamSTEPPS 3.0, AHRQ's teamwork training for health care teams. The agency made the slides and published them, so MLA starts the entry with the title and names the agency once, as the site that holds the slides. Your in-text citation uses a short form of the title.

  • In-text citation(TeamSTEPPS Module 1)
  • Narrative citationAs TeamSTEPPS Module 1: Communication explains, …

Slides from Canvas, Blackboard, or another course site

The MLA Style Center's own example of slides an instructor uploaded to Blackboard. The platform is the container, and the URL is the platform's address, not a link to the file. MLA's version adds uploaded by Carson after Blackboard; Carson is already named first, so PERRLA's entry leaves that out. Use this form when your reader, usually your instructor, can log in and see the slides.

  • In-text citation(Carson)
  • Narrative citationAs Carson explains, …

Lecture slides that aren't a PowerPoint, cited by slide number

Slides from an MIT lecture on happiness and mental health, posted as a PDF on MIT OpenCourseWare. They aren't a PowerPoint file, so the format says Lecture slides. The slides have no page numbers, so a quote points to the slide.

  • In-text citation(Schilbach, slide 9)
  • Narrative citationAs Schilbach explains, … (slide 9).

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for slides is the presenter's last name. Slides have no page numbers, so when you quote or point to one slide, add a comma, the word slide, and its number.

  • One presenter: (Schilbach)
  • Two presenters: both last names joined by and: (Hastie and Finch)
  • Three or more presenters: the first presenter and et al.
  • One slide: (Schilbach, slide 9)
  • Name in your sentence: give only the slide in parentheses at the end of the sentence: Schilbach notes that … (slide 9). With no slide number, you need no parentheses at all.
  • An organization that also published the slides: the entry starts with the title, so the citation uses a short form of it, in italics: (TeamSTEPPS Module 1)

Slides that were only shown in class and never posted can't be found by your reader. Cite the lecture itself instead: MLA treats a class session as its own work, with the course name and the school where it happened.

Common mistakes

  • Hastie, S., & Finch, B. (2025). Connecting older adults to health information [PowerPoint slides].Hastie, Shanna, and Bennie Finch. Connecting Older Adults to Health Information.That's APA. MLA spells out first names, joins two names with and, uses title case, moves the date after the site, and puts the format at the end without brackets.
  • (Schilbach 9)(Schilbach, slide 9)A bare number reads as a page number. Slides need the word slide, with a comma after the name.
  • (Hastie and Finch, 2025)(Hastie and Finch)MLA in-text citations don't include the year. The date lives in the Works Cited entry.
  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. TeamSTEPPS Module 1: Communication. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2023,TeamSTEPPS Module 1: Communication. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2023,When the organization that made the slides also published them, MLA 9 skips the author spot and names the organization once, after the title.
  • The link to the file inside your Canvas courseThe platform's home or login pageA link to a file in your course won't open for anyone outside the course. Give the address your reader can at least reach.
  • Citing the slides for a statistic the slides got from a published studyFind the study, read it, and cite the studyYour reader should be able to check the original. Cite the slides only for what the presenter added.

Quick checklist

  • Presenter inverted, full first name as printed
  • Organization as author and publisher: start with the title
  • Title of the slides in italics and title case
  • Site or course platform in italics, then the date and URL
  • Format at the end if it helps, like PowerPoint presentation
  • In-text: last name, plus slide and its number when you quote one slide

Questions students ask

How do I cite my professor's PowerPoint from Canvas in MLA 9?

Put your professor's name first, then the title of the slides in italics, the platform's name in italics (Canvas), the date, and the platform's home or login page as the URL. You can end with PowerPoint presentation. In your text, cite your professor's last name.

How do I cite a specific slide in MLA?

Add a comma, the word slide, and the number after the presenter's name: (Schilbach, slide 9). If the presenter's name is already in your sentence, put just (slide 9) at the end of the sentence.

Should I cite the slides or the sources on the slides?

Cite the original source whenever the slides quote or summarize someone else's work. Find the article or book the slide names, read it, and cite it. Cite the slides themselves for the presenter's own ideas, examples, or explanations.

What if the slides have no date?

Check the first slide, the last slide, and the page the slides came from. If there's truly no date, leave it out of the entry. MLA has no n.d.

What if my instructor only showed the slides in class?

Your reader can't find slides that were never posted, so cite the class session itself. MLA treats a lecture as its own work: the instructor's name, the course name (no italics or quotation marks), the date, and the school as the location.

How do I cite Google Slides, Keynote, or PDF slides?

Use the same pattern and describe what you have at the end, like Lecture slides for a PDF or Google Slides presentation. Everything else stays the same: presenter, italic title, italic site, date, and URL.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapters 5 and 6 (the core elements, containers, organizations as authors, supplemental elements, and in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center posts on slide presentations in a learning management system, citing course materials, italicizing names of software, and citing slides. Example sources verified on the NNLM class page, AHRQ's TeamSTEPPS 3.0 teaching page (Wayback Machine copy), MIT OpenCourseWare's lecture page and slide PDF, and the MLA Style Center's own Blackboard example.

PERRLA turns your slides' details into a finished MLA 9 Works Cited entry, with the title case, the italics, and the date done for you.

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