Google Slides

Facilitator(s): Dr. Bruce Ellis (@DrBruceEllis)

Insert Audio in presentation

If you are editing on a computer, you can now insert audio into your Slide deck. Though this edit feature isn't available on phones and tablets yet, the audio will still play on any device. Just follow these simple steps:

On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides.
Select the slide that you want to add the audio file to.
Click Insert and then Audio.
Choose an audio file and click select.

You can add .mp3 and .wav files stored in your Drive to a presentation.You can use .wav files from Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.

Consider using one of these online audio recorders if needed: Online Voice Recorder, SpeakPipe, or Audio Voice Recorder.

Show blank slide during presentation

At any time, you can change the presentation slide to all white or all black with keyboard shortcuts. The keyboard shortcut is “b” for black and “w” for white. You can use a blank screen to remove any material from the screen, to pause a presentation, go off topic, or to answer a question.

Present slides with captions

NOTE: Consider using a screencasting tool (such as Screencast-O-Matic or Screencastify) to record your video with the captions. This is GREAT if you want to share the videos from Drive but not from YouTube.

Having auto captions turned on during a presentation is a great literacy reinforcement for students (and adults). If the device you are presenting from has a microphone set up, Google Slides will generate captions for you. You may need to test it out to see how close you need to be for it to pick up you. It does NOT record the captions nor create a transcript.

Begin your slide presentation.
Click on the arrow just left of the CC button to edit the position (top or bottom) and size (small, medium, large, and extra large) of the captions.
Click the CC button to begin captioning.
If needed, click the CC button again to stop captioning.

Mask an image in Google Slides

To fit an image into a shape in Google Slides, you can mask an image.

On your computer, open a presentation.
Click the image you want to mask.
At the top, next to Crop , click the Down arrow .
Click the shape you want.
Your shape will mask your image. To adjust your shape, click and drag the colored handles.

Adding Linked Charts

If you have charts in a spreadsheet, you can add them to Google Slides AND keep them linked so the presentation is always showing the most current data.

Go to the slide in your presentation where you want to add the chart.
Click INSERT --> Charts--> From Sheets
Locate the spreadsheet that contains the chart(s), click on the spreadsheet to select it, and click the Select button.
Charts contained within the selected spreadsheet will appear. Click on the desired chart.
Be sure "Linked to spreadsheet" is checked so that the data in the presentation will automatically update.
Click the Import button.

Free Slide Templates

Here are a few of the template sites that I look at when considering using a template. Slide templates typically include multiple layouts that all have the same theme. Some sites may require you to create an account to download the template.

Submitting a Slide Deck to Your Organization's Template Gallery

If you have created a slide deck that you want to share with others in your organizational unit, you can submit it to the org's Slide Gallery. Others will be able to easily find it and use it when they are looking at Google Slide decks from Drive. Just follow these easy steps:

Begin by going to http://slides.google.com
Expand the Tempate Gallary at the top of the window by clicking the icon.
You can view slide templates provided by Google or those provided from within your organization. Click on your organization.
Click the Submit a Template button
Locate and select the Slide deck.
If you want a copy of the deck added, select the checkbox to add a copy...that is, not link directly to the slide deck.
If you want the template to have a different name, you can change the title now.
Choose a category. Even if a relevant category isn't available, you will need to select a category to assign it to.
Click the Submit button.

Finding Presentations Online

Besides searching within Google Drive, you can find a lot of presentations online. Use this technique if you want to find Microsoft PowerPoint (that you can import into Google Slides) or Google Slides presentations.

Being by going to google.com
Enter the topic you are searching for. We'll use "cell division" as our focus.
Now enter the following after your search query (without quotes) "sites:docs.google.com/presentation" This will limit all the search results to only those that have that as part of their url.
Hit Enter. You'll notice all the search results are have that part of the URL in the address. Just click on a link to view the slide deck.

NOTE: If the url of the presentation ends with htmlpresent, the person has shared it in presentation mode. Just delete htmlpresent from the url and hit enter to have it reload so that you can view the slide deck. You will also be able to download the deck as a PowerPoint (FILE --> Download --> PowerPoint) or save a copy to your Drive (FILE --> Make a Copy).

Save Google Slides as Animated Gif or mp4

You may find it advantageous at times to be able to share your presentation in a different format...such as an animated gif or an mp4. Creator Studio is an add-on for Google Slides that lets you do that. The mp4 in the free licensed version doesn't include audio - you'll have to upgrade for that addition. Here's the process:

Go to Creator Studio in the G Suite Marketplace to locate the add-on. Click the blue install button to add the add-on to Google Slides.
Open you Google Slides presentation that you want to export. In this example we will export the presentation as an animated gif.
Click on ADD-ONS --> CREATOR STUDIO --> OPEN. The first time you do this, you will need to give permission for the add-on to run.
The Creator Studio menu will open on the right-hand side of your presentation.
Identify how wide you want your animated gif to be. The height will automatically be adjusted to accommodate the scale.
Identify the length you want each slide to show. All slides will appear for the same amount of time (in seconds). You cannot make some slide appear longer than other slides.
Choose the Animated GIF radio button.
Click the black GO button. The animated gif will be created and saved to your Google Drive in the Creator Studio folder that it created.
You can now view the animated gif by clicking on the eye icon next to the animated gif radio button.
At the time of writing these instruction, the download button did not function correctly. You are, however, able to preview the animated gif and download from that window.

Use Q&A Feature

Click on the dropdown box next to the Present button to select the Presenter View feature.

If your screen is extended, you'll be able to easily allow students to ask questions and submit info during your presentation that you can access and make use of to make it more interactive!

Use Google Slides for Signage

If your have the ability to broadcast your browser to multiple monitors and/or you have a project that displays your signage, you can make use of Google Slides. This is a great way to do morning announcements as well that the teacher shares so that all classrooms aren't disrupted at the same time.

Up to 100 people can simultaneously comment and edit your Google Slide with normal sharing. If it is possible for more than 200 people to view the file at one time, then you will want to publish the file. Publishing the file will remove that limitation.

Just follow these easy steps.

Above is a sample Google Slide presentation that has been published.

Complete your Google Slides deck with the information you need.
Click on FILE-->Publish To The Web
If you want to embed the presentation, then click on Embed otherwise complete the information on the Link screen.
Adjust how long you want each slide to show (they will all appear for the same amount of time).
You probably want to select both checkboxes (Start slideshow... & Restart the...)
Click the Yellow Publish button.
You'll be shown a url that you can copy/paste as needed as well as a few easy ways to share the link (gmail, Facebook, and Twitter).

What’s new in G Suite?

Wanting to stay up with the latest features that the Google developers are adding? The go to their Help Center and select Slides from the "Narrow By" dropdown. Here you will see a chronological list of features that have been added. Each feature rollout will have a link to learn more about the update.

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