Overlooked Features of PowerPoint and Google Slides

In preparation for a meeting with a teacher about using Google Slides, I put together a list of some overlooked features of PowerPoint and Google Slides. Since these are probably our most common presentation tools, I thought I would share them with you all here.

PowerPoint Features

Screen Recording

Are you making a presentation about a lesson or unit or trying to "flip" your classroom? Try using the screen recorder that is built into PowerPoint! Your recorded video is automatically inserted into the slide that you have open at the time you make your recording. Find the screen recorder in the “Insert” menu in PowerPoint. Once open you'll be able to select the field that you would like to record, and whether or not you'd like the pointer to be displayed and audio to be recorded. This is great for quick demonstrations or directions too!

Sound Recording/ Sound Upload
Add your voice to your slides through the audio recorder built into PowerPoint. This is particularly useful if your slides will be viewed by students independently. The sound recording and sound upload options are found in the “Insert” menu in PowerPoint. When finished, you also have the ability to export your PowerPoint as a video file that could be shared or posted to YouTube, if you are looking to create your own instructional videos.

Word Art
Tired of the same old fonts? Use Word Art to create custom fonts. You’ll find Word Art in the “Insert” menu in PowerPoint.

Dictation
Microsoft’s Dictate tool will let you dictate the text that you want to have appear in your slides.


Google Slides Features
Add Audio to Your Slides
There are two ways that you can do this. Slides allows you to upload an audio file or upload one from Google Drive. You could also place a YouTube music video in your slide and then shrink it down and hide it in the corner of your slide.

Make Interactive Diagrams or Stories
One of my favorite things to do is us the hyperlink tool in Google Slides to link multiple parts of one slide to other slides within the same presentation. By selecting text or an object, you can insert a link (Ctrl + K) and choose another slide in that presentation. You can take this further and your students can begin to build choose-your-own-adventure stories in Google Slides.

Play videos without using YouTube. 
Google has added the option to include videos in your slides that are saved to your Google Drive account. Then you can import it directly into any slide.

Live Q&A
You can launch a live Q&A channel forum for your audience directly from the Presenter View menu. Your audience can submit questions by going to the Q&A link that is automatically displayed across the top of your slides when you have Q&A activated. This is a great way to get students to respond to a question asked aloud in class - especially if the answer is personal. Likewise, it can increase participation for those students who typically don't like to participate aloud.

Import your old PowerPoint slides
You can import your old PowerPoint files into Google Slides right from the “file” drop-down menu in Google Slides. Many (though not all!) PowerPoint features are supported after being converted to Google Slides.