Many Google Products are starting to become more common for collaborative work – this is because Google Sheets, Google Docs and Google Slides are shareable with people. This means multiple people can work on the same project at once.
Especially commonplace is Google Slides. So, here are 5 of the best tips for creating outstanding presentations that will get you a great grade on your next group or solo project. Having these tips will help you better present your slides as well!
Tip 1: Use Unique Templates
Slides from SlidesGoOne of the most important suggestions is to use a unique template on your slides presentation! Google Slides does have a section for slide templates, however, many will opt to choose these standard templates. So, instead, try to look for templates on other websites such as SlidesGo, SlidesCarnival, GraphicMama, and Canva.
To use slides from these different sites, you can often create a copy of the slide deck on the template website for Google Slides, as illustrated in the photo below. Alternatively, you can save the slides as images and insert them onto a blank slide deck.
Tip 2: Use Images as the Background
Another great option for the background of slides is using images. This can both help portray the information you are trying to get across and can look aesthetically pleasing. In particular, using an image as the background is perfect for the first slide with minimal text or for one showing a case study you’re featuring in your presentation.
To find images, students have two options. First, students can take images from articles, news sources, studies etc provided they cite the images correctly in their references. Alternatively, students can use royalty-free images from Pexel or from Unsplash.
When adding images to Google Slides, students can simply drag the png or jpg files from their desktop to the slides interface. Or, you can also choose the insert tab and scroll down to image to insert one onto the slides. Here, you can choose where you upload the photos from including Google Drive, Google or the desktop.
Tip 3: Put Images in Shapes
For slides that will be including text, it may be a good idea to put images in other shapes instead of just the shapes they happen to come in. For example, if you have a slide with quite a bit of text, it may be preferable to put images in the forms of circles instead of squares so that they take up less space. Alternatively, where there is no text it may be nice to use the image as the whole background or keep square shapes. Finally, circles again or ovals may be optimal for flow diagrams with arrows in between images. Using squares here may look too clunky, so round edges are a better call.
To do this on Google Slides, click the image you want to place into a shape. Then, click crop at the top of the presentation interface, drop down and choose the shape you’d like to use. To adjust the size, just pull at the edges of the image shape!
Tip 4: Add Sound to the Presentation
Sound can be a nice way to break up a presentation when it’s very long and includes a sole presenter. For instance, adding sound works to give your voice a break and allows you to look at your upcoming q cards.
Further, sound can be integrated in a number of ways into Google Slides – you can record your own voice and place it onto a slide, play a youtube video, or any other type of sound clip such as a podcast or spoken word reading. Each of these can be added through the insert sound or video tab. YouTube videos can be included in your slides by adding the link on the slide or downloading the YouTube video and embedding the mp4 via a hyperlink.
Tip 5: Answer Audience Questions With a Q & A Feature
Q & A’s can often follow presentations in class and outside – students are usually encouraged to ask the presenters questions. Google Slides has a tool that allows students to submit these questions digitally, this is advantageous for large lecture presentations and for students who may feel shy about asking questions in such a big group.
When using the Q & A tool, the audience will see the words accepting questions with a web link as well. So, to ask questions the audience opens the displayed link and types their question into the prompt box for the presenters to see and reply to.
In order to set up the Q and A, students need to open the present button and scroll down to choose presenter view. Following this, students should go to the new window that opens and click audience tools. From here, click start a new session.
When done, just click the switch to stop accepting questions. This will end the flow of questions coming in from your audience.
These 5 tips can take your slides presentation up to the next level. Further, they are fairly easy to implement. So, as Google Slides become the new norm try to recall many of these tips so that you can create polished, aesthetically-pleasing presentations for any of your courses or even your work.
