Tips for great presentations

On this page

• Design your presentation
• Tips to build your presentation
• Tips when presenting

               

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Design your presentation

Get a jump start with templates

Whether you're creating a template that your team can reuse or keeping your external branding consistent, use templates to help your presentations look sharp and professional.

Learn how

Use a template from the Template Gallery

1. On your computer, go to Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, or Sites homepage.
2. At the top right , click Template Gallery.
3. Click the template you want to use.
4. A new file with the template opens.

Tip: If the template you choose has "Add-on" next to it, you may have to install an add-on to use it. Learn more about add-ons.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

Use a template with your organization's branding

1. On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides.
2. In the top left, click Templates .  
3. At right, click the template you want to use.

Note: The Templates option appears only if your administrator makes organization-branded slides available.

 

 

Use Theme builder to create template slides

Want to keep a consistent theme throughout your presentation? Use the Theme builder editor in Google Slides to create templates slides. You can change the background, theme, layout, and more for all your slides.

• Add your company logo or other branding to each slide.
• Keep text size and color consistent.
• Create unique layouts that you can reuse.

Learn how

1. Go to Slides.
2. Choose an option:
   • Open an existing presentation.
   • To create a new presentation, click New .
3. (Optional) To rename your presentation, click Untitled presentation and enter a new name.
4. (Optional) To add more slides, click SlideNew slide.
5. Click ViewTheme builderclick the template slide to edit it.
6. (Optional) To choose an existing theme, on the right, select a theme.
7. From the toolbar, choose options to customize the template.
8. When you're done, at the top of the slide, click Close .

 

 

Import themes from other presentations

See a presentation with a theme you like? Need consistent styles and branding across all your team's presentations? Instead of creating your slides or themes from scratch, import them using Google Slides.

• Train new employees remotely.
• Get clients up to speed with project ideas.
• Hold virtual conferences and present your ideas.
• Share your meeting notes, projects, roadmaps, and research with international stakeholders.
• Brainstorm and edit proposals with remote team members.

Learn how

Import a theme from another presentation

Important: Your imported theme must be from an existing Google Slides or PowerPoint presentation. You can also use your own image as the background for the entire presentation. 

1. On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides. 
2. At the top, click Slide Change theme.
3. In the bottom right, click Import theme.
4. Double-click the presentation you want to use. 
5. Click the theme you want. 
6. Click Import theme.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

Import slides from another presentation

1. Open a presentation.
2. Click FileImport slides.
3. Choose a presentation from Drive or choose a presentation to upload from your computer.
4. Click Select.
5. Click the slides in the presentation you’d like to import. Use the Select Slides: All option to quickly select all slides.
6. Check the Keep original theme box if you want to import the slides unmodified. Uncheck the box if you want the slides to fit into the look of your new presentation.
7. Click Import slides.

 

 

Do more with add-ons and scripts

Use ready-made add-ons to do more with Gmail and Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms. You can also create your own scripts in any of the Docs editors with Google Apps Script.

• Add Google Analytics to your spreadsheet.
• Add a thesaurus to your document.
• Add form responses in Docs to create a poll.
• Add interactive questions to your presentation.
• Manage sales and customer relationships directly in Gmail.
• Add custom menus and windows with Google Apps Script.

Learn how

Install an add-on

1. On your computer, open a document, spreadsheet, or presentation.
2. Click Extensions Add-ons Get add-ons.
3. Point to an add-on to find a short description. To find a full description, click the add-on.
4. To install the add-on, click Install Continue.
5. For most add-ons, a message will appear requesting access to data that the add-on needs to work. Read the message, then click Allow.
6. After the add-on installs, click Done.

Create a script

1. In Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Forms, open a document, spreadsheet, presentation, or form.
2. If you’re using Docs, Sheets, or Slides, click ExtensionsApps Script.
3. If you’re using Forms, in the top-right corner, click MoreScript editor.
4. Create your script.

For help, see Overview of Google Apps Script.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Tips to build your presentation

Analyze presentation data with charts

If your Slides presentation has a lot of data, help your audience easily visualize it by turning your information into charts. Just create a chart in Sheets and add it to your presentation. Your chart is linked to your Sheets data, so any changes you make to your data automatically update in your presentation.

Learn how

Add a chart from Google Sheets to a presentation

1. On your computer, open a document or presentation in Google Docs or Google Slides.
2. Click Insert Chart From Sheets.
3. Click the spreadsheet with the chart you want to add, then click Select.
4. Click the chart you want to add.
   • If you don't want the chart linked to the spreadsheet, uncheck "Link to spreadsheet."
5. Click Import.

Edit chart data from a slide

1. On your computer, open a document or presentation in Google Docs or Google Slides.
2. Click a chart or table to select it.
3. In the top right corner of the chart or table, click Link options  Open source.
4. You can now change the original file.

Update your chart to the latest data

If you make a change in your spreadsheet, you might want to make sure your chart gets updated in your presentation

1. On your computer, open a document or presentation in Google Docs or Google Slides.
2. In the top right corner of the chart, table, or slide click Update.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Enhance your presentation with images

If you’re discussing complex processes in your presentation, use images to make your content easier to understand. If your organization has Gemini for Google Workspace, use Gemini in Slides to create images based on your content.

Learn how

Add an image to a presentation

1. On your computer, open a document or presentation in Google Docs or Slides.
2. Click Insert  Image.
3. Choose where to get your image from.
   • Upload from computer: Insert an image saved on your device.
   • Search the web: Search the web for an image.
   • GIFs and stickers: Insert a GIF or a sticker to your slide.
   • Drive: Use an image saved to your Google Drive.
   • Photos: Use an image from your Google Photos library.
   • By URL: Insert a link to your image or insert a .gif.
4. Click Insert or Open.

Learn how to add images in Sheets.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

Generate an image with Gemini in Slides

1. On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides.
2. At the top right, click Ask Gemini .
3. In the side panel, select a suggested prompt or write your own prompt.Select a suggestion
   1. Select from the list of suggestions.
      • Tip: To get more options, select More suggestions.
   2. At the bottom, in the prompt box, replace the example text with the information that you want.
   3. Press Enter.
   Enter a prompt in Gemini
   1. At the bottom, in the prompt box, enter a prompt.
   2. Press Enter.
4. Optional: To remove your history, click More options Clear history.
   • Tip: To avoid losing your history, insert a suggestion into your presentation. You lose your conversation history when:
     • You refresh your browser.
     • You close and reopen the presentation.
     • Your computer goes offline.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Add transitions and animations

Transitions make moving from one slide to the next a little more interesting, by fading or sliding into the next slide. Animations make shapes, images, or text boxes dynamic—they can fade in or out, appear and disappear, or fly in and out with the click of a button.

Learn how

Animate text or images

1. On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides.
2. Click the text or image you want to animate.
3. Click Insert Animation.

Add slide transitions

1. On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides.
2. On the left, click the slide you want to transition to.
3. Click Slide Change transition.

Change animations and transitions

1. On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides.
2. Click View Animations.
3. Click the animation you want to change.
4. To change the speed of the animation, drag the slider.
5. To animate lists one line at a time, check the box next to "By paragraph."

 

 

Add flowcharts and diagrams

Flowcharts and diagrams make difficult concepts easy to understand. Create them right in your browser with Google Drawings, no software needed.

Learn how

Create a flowchart, diagram, or other type of drawing

1. On your computer, open a document.
2. In the top left, click Insert  Drawing  From Drive.
3. Click the drawing you want to insert. 
4. Click Select.

Add your drawing to a presentation

1. On your computer, open a document.
2. In the top left, click Insert  Drawing  From Drive.
3. Click the drawing you want to insert. 
4. Click Select.

The inserted drawing is linked to the original drawing.

• To update the drawing—Click the drawing. In the top right, click Update.
• To unlink the drawing—Click the drawing. In the top right, click Unlink .

Add a diagram to your presentation

Important: You can insert a diagram in any language that uses the Latin alphabet.

1. On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides.
2. Go to the slide where you want to add the diagram.
3. At the top, click Insert  Diagram.
4. Choose your style, number of levels, and template.
5. The diagram will get added to the slide. You can change it how you want.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Space table rows & columns evenly in Slides

In Google Slides, you can resize table rows and columns so that each one is evenly spaced.

Learn how

Evenly space table rows & columns in Slides

1. On your computer, open a document or presentation.
2. Right-click a table.
3. Click Distribute rows or Distribute columns.

 

 

Add text with your voice

 

Chrome Browser only, microphones required

You can type and edit by speaking in Google Docs or in Google Slides speaker notes. Anything you say turns into text.

• On the go? Speak your notes, edits, and feedback to add them to documents.
• Use voice commands to change font styles, add tables, insert links, and more.

Learn how

Start voice typing in a document

1. Open a document in Google Docs in a supported browser.
2. Click Tools Voice typing. A microphone box appears.
3. When you're ready to speak, click the microphone.
4. Speak clearly and at a normal volume and pace. Learn how to add punctuation.
5. When you're done, click the microphone again.

Start voice typing in Slides speaker notes

1. On your computer, in a browser, open a presentation in Google Slides.
2. At the top left, in the menu bar, click Tools Dictate speaker notes .
   • The speaker notes open and a microphone box displays.
3. When you're ready to speak, click Microphone .
4. Speak clearly and at a normal volume and pace. Learn how to add punctuation.
5. When you're done, click Microphone .

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Change how text fits in placeholders and text boxes

When you’re entering text in a presentation, you can customize how text fits in placeholders and text boxes. For example, you can resize a placeholder to fit the amount of text you need. Or, size your text based on the size of a text box.

Learn how

Customize how text fits in placeholders and text boxes

1. Go to Slides.
2. Open an existing presentation or click New .
3. Select the placeholder or text box.
4. Next to the box, click the icon and choose an option:
   • To allow text to exceed the placeholder or box, select Do not autofit.
   • To resize text based on the size of the placeholder or box, select Shrink text on overflow.
   • To resize the placeholder or box to fit the text, select Resize shape to fit text.

Customize default setting for new text boxes

You can change the setting for any new text boxes you create. Changing the setting will not affect any placeholders or boxes in templates.

1. Open an existing presentation or click New .
2. Go to ToolsPreferences.
3. Check the Use custom autofit preferences box.
4. Under Theme text placeholders and New text boxes, select Do not autofit, Shrink text on overflow, or Resize shape to fit text.
5. Click OK.

 

 

Update presentations on the go

Edit presentations on your mobile device with the Slides app. Whether you’re on the way to the airport or visiting a customer, it’s easy to update training modules, pitch decks, and more. Any changes you make automatically sync to all your devices, so you’re always up to date.

Learn how

Use the Google Slides app

1. Open the Play Store.
2. In the top search bar, enter Google Slides.
3. Tap Install. The Google Slides app will appear on your Home screen.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Tips when presenting

Present to remote audiences

You can use Google Meet to show a Slides presentation and share links to reference materials using the built-in chat. If you're presenting in an office meeting room, use Companion mode when presenting from your laptop to avoid echo.

Present a Tab with Google Meet using Google Workspace for business

Learn how

Control Slides presentations in Google Meet

If you’re using Google Meet on an eligible work or school account, you can control Google Slides presentations from within a Google Meet video meeting. You can also make other people in the video meeting co-presenters.

Important: To control a Google Slides presentation from a Google Meet video meeting, you must use a computer with a Chrome browser.

1. In a Chrome tab or window, open the Slides file you want to present.
2. In a different Chrome window, open Google Meet and join a video meeting.
3. At the bottom of the meeting screen, click Present now A Tab.
   • You can either present from the Google Meet tab, or present directly from the Slides tab.
4. Select the tab with the Slides presentation, then click Share.
5. In Google Meet, at the bottom right of the screen, click Start slideshow.
   • Important: You can only control a presentation in Google Meet when you're in slideshow mode.
6. The control panel at the bottom right of the presented screen lets you:
   • Click to the next or previous slide with the arrow buttons.
   • Jump to a specific slide by clicking the slide number, and choosing from the list of slides.
   • Choose co-presenter(s).
     • Click Add a co-presenter . Then, next to the person you want to select, click More   Add as co-presenter  Add.
   • Open a panel for speaker notes in the Google Meet video meeting by clicking Show speaker notes . If you have speaker notes open, you can click Hide speaker notes .
   • Open links or play media embedded in the presentation.
     • After you click Slides media and hyperlink controls , a list of the links and media for the current slide will appear.
   • End the slideshow by clicking Exit slideshow .

Learn more at the Google Meet Help Center

 

 

Remember key points with speaker notes

Presentations can be long, detailed, and complex. Make your talking points easier to recall by using speaker notes in Slides. If you have a lot of ground to cover, use the timer feature to make sure you keep your presentation on track.

Learn how

View a presentation with speaker notes

1. Open a presentation in Google Slides.
2. In the top right corner, next to Slideshow , click the Down arrow .
3. Click Presenter view.
4. Click Speaker notes.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Focus your audience's attention with a built-in laser pointer

Have a lot of detailed information in your presentation? Focus your audience’s attention on specific parts of your slides by using your mouse as a laser pointer. Help your audience know where to look and when.

Learn how

Use other options when you're presenting

When you present, you can choose more options from the toolbar at the bottom of the presentation window:

• Select slides to present from a list
• Open "Presenter" view
• Turn on laser pointer
• Print the presentation
• Download the presentation in PDF or PPTX format

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Skip slides you don't want to show

You can skip slides you don't want to show to others when you're presenting. People you've shared the slide with will still be able to see the slide.

Learn how

1. On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides.
2. At the left, right-click the slide or slides you want to skip.
3. Click Skip Slide.
4. Optional: To show a skipped slide, click Skip Slide again.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Turn on closed captions

You can use automatic captions during your presentation to display your words in real time at the bottom of the screen.

Your computer microphone needs to be on and working and you need to be using Chrome. This feature is only available in U.S. English.

Learn how at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Engage your audience with interactive Q&A sessions

Instead of giving a one-sided talk, get your audience involved by conducting a Q&A session right from Slides. Audience members can submit questions in real time and vote on them during the presentation. 

Tips

• If you can’t get through everyone’s questions, just answer the questions with the highest audience votes.
• Want to know what people are interested in before your presentation? Send your audience the presentation link first so they can submit questions before you present.
• Encourage shy people to interact by submitting questions in real time, anonymously.

Learn how

You can start a live Q&A session in your Google Slides presentation and present questions at any time. Viewers can ask questions from any device.

Start your Q&A and get questions from viewers

1. Open a Google Slides presentation.
2. At the top, next to Slideshow , click the Down arrow .
3. Click Presenter View.
4. In the new window, click Audience tools.
   • To start a new session, click Start new.
   • To resume a recent session, click Continue recent.
   • To end Q&A, click the on/off switch in the Q&A window.
     • Tip: Even if you don't turn off Q&A, the Q&A view closes shortly after you end your Google Slide presentation.

When you start the session, a short URL for the presentation shows up at the top of the slides as you're presenting. Viewers can enter the URL in their browser to submit a question. You'll see questions in the Presenter view window.

Display a question to viewers

Presenters can display audience questions in a presentation:

1. Under "Audience Tools," find a question to display.
2. Click Present.
   • To change the question, find a different question and click Present.
   • To hide the question, click Hide.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

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