Google Slides is a free Slide presentation program developed by Google. It is an alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint and is available for free for all users for personal use. However, selecting between these two software depends on the user’s needs. You can use Google Slides to create professional and attractive presentations and download them in Microsoft PowerPoint format. The basic requirements to use this tool are you should have a Google account and an active internet connection. In this article, we will see some Google Slides tips and tricks that will help you make the best of its features.
Google Slides Tips and Tricks
Now let us take a look at some Google Slides Tips and Tricks along with some advanced features to make your presentations look aesthetic & professional:
- Insert images from the web
- Mask your images
- Interlink Slides in your Google Slides presentation
- Add audio to your Google Slide presentation
- View edit history and restore previous versions
- Use Voice Typing
- Explore themes or use a custom image background
- Customize your personal dictionary
- Create a professional presentation using pre-designed diagrams
- Embed your presentation on your website
Let’s see all these tips and tricks in detail.
1] Insert images from the web
Google Slides lets you insert images directly from the web. Hence, if you are creating presentations in Google Slides, you can take advantage of this feature and insert the images without downloading them to your computer. Moreover, you need not open a separate tab in your browser to insert images into your presentation. Google Slides will open a panel on the right side where you can search for the images and insert them into your slide.
To insert images into Google Slides, follow the steps written below:
- Select the slide into which you want to insert the images.
- Go to “Insert > Image > Search the web.”
- A panel will open on the right side of Google Slides. Search for the images by entering the keywords.
- Select the images that you want to insert and click on the Insert button.
- Resize the image after inserting it.
2] Mask your images
The images that you insert in Google Slides are in a square or rectangular shape. You can make your presentation more attractive by using the Mask image feature in Google Slides. This feature lets you change the shape of the inserted images.
The following steps will help you mask images in Google Slides:
- Select a slide and insert an image into it.
- Select the image and click on the drop-down arrow next to the crop icon.
- Select the shape to mask the image.
3] Interlink Slides in your Google Slides presentation
While presenting, sometimes you need to jump to a particular slide. You can make this easy by interlinking the slides in your Google Slides presentation. For example, if you are on slide 10 and you want to show slide 2 to your audience, you can add a link in slide 10 that will take you to slide 2 directly. Similarly, you can add a link in slide 2 that will take you to slide 10 directly.
4] Add audio to your Google Slide presentation
You can make your Google Slides presentation unique and more impressive by adding audio. The procedure of adding audio to Google Slides is different from that in PowerPoint. Unlike PowerPoint, you cannot import audio directly to Google Slides because there is no option to insert an audio file into Google Slides.
You can add audio to your slides in Google Slides by using any of the following methods:
- Add audio to Google Slides from online streaming services.
- Add audio to Google Slides using YouTube video.
- Add audio to Google Slides by converting it into MP4 format.
5] View edit history and restore previous versions
Google Slides keeps saving your changes automatically. You can view all the changes you made to Google Slides in the edit history along with timestamps. This is a useful feature as it lets you restore your Google Slides presentation to the previous version.
Go through the following steps to know how to view edit history and restore previous versions in Google Slides.
- Open a presentation in Google Slides.
- Click on the “Last edit was…” link. You will see this link next to the Menu bar.
- As you click on that link, Google Slide will display the version history of your presentation on the right pane along with the date and time.
- Click on the date and time to view what changes you made on that day. To restore the previous version, select a particular date and time, and click on the Restore this version button. The same option appears if you click on the three vertical dots next to a particular timestamp.
6] Use Voice Typing
Like Google Docs, Google Slides also has a voice typing feature. You can use this feature if your keyboard is not working properly or if your typing speed is slow and you have to complete a project in a short time. The following steps will show you how to use the Voice Typing feature in Google Slides.
- Open your presentation in Google Slides.
- Go to “Tools > Voice type speaker notes” or press the Ctrl + Shift + S keys.
- A microphone icon will appear on the left side. Click on that icon. When it turns red, start speaking.
When you use the Voice Typing feature in Google Slides, the text will not appear in your slide. Instead, it will appear in the Speaker notes section. This section is available at the bottom. When you are done, you can cut the text from the Speaker notes section and paste it into your slide.
7] Explore themes or use a custom image background
Google Slides comes with some pre-designed themes. You can use these themes in your presentation. To access and use these themes, select a slide in your presentation. If you are typing in a slide, press the Escape button. Now, click on the Theme option available on the Toolbar. You will see all the available themes on the right side. Select any of these themes to use it in your presentation.
In addition to using the pre-designed themes, you can also use a custom image as background in your presentation. For this, select a slide and click on the Background option on the Toolbar. After that, click on the Choose image button and you will see different options to upload an image. You can upload an image from your computer, by turning on your camera, by URL, from Google Drive, from Google Image Search, etc. After uploading the image, click Done.
8] Customize your personal dictionary
Google Slides has an auto spell check feature which is enabled by default. When you type an incorrect spelling, it either corrects it automatically or underlines it in red to show you the spelling mistake. You can correct the words underlined in red color by right-clicking on them. However, the auto-spell check feature is not always correct. That’s why Google Slides has an option using which users can add words to their personal dictionary.
To customize your personal dictionary, follow the steps written below:
- Click on Tools.
- Go to “Spelling and grammar > Personal dictionary.”
- Type a word and click Add.
- Now, click OK.
Apart from customizing your personal dictionary, Google Slide also has a feature using which, you can search definitions and synonyms of a particular word in Google Slides. You need not open a separate tab for this. This feature is helpful if you want to replace a particular word with its synonym. The following instructions will show you how to use this feature in Google Slides:
- Open your presentation in Google Slides.
- Go to “Tools > Dictionary” or press the Ctrl + Shift + Y keys.
- A dictionary will open on the right side of the interface. Now, type a word to read its definition and find its synonyms. After that, hit Enter.
Read: Top 10 Most Useful PowerPoint Tips and Tricks.
9] Create a professional presentation using pre-designed diagrams
Diagrams play an important role when it comes to creating professional and more impressive slide presentations. Different types of diagrams are available, including Timeline, Process, Cycle, Hierarchy, etc. Depending on your diagram, you can customize it. For example, if you select Cycle, you can increase and decrease steps by clicking on the drop-down.
To insert a diagram, go to “Insert > Diagram” and then select a particular category of a diagram. After that, you will see different diagrams in that category. Now, click on a diagram to insert it into your slide.
10] Embed your presentation on your website
You can also embed a Google Slide presentation on your website. This is an amazing feature of Google Slides. If you have a website, you can make your article richer in content by embedding a slide presentation of your topic. This will result in audience engagement, as slide presentations are easier to understand.
To embed a Google Slide presentation on your website, follow the steps written below:
- Open your presentation in Google Slides.
- Go to “File > Publish to the web.”
- Now, select the Embed tab and click on the Publish button.
When you click on the Publish button, Google Slides will show you a code. You have to add this code in your blog post to embed the slide presentation. After that, Google Slides will keep publishing your presentation. If you make any changes to your presentation, those changes will automatically be updated in your presentation embedded on your website.
Read: Google Docs Tips and Tricks.
How do I make my Google Slides pretty?
You can make your Google Slides pretty by:
- Adding beautiful themes to your slides.
- Adding beautiful images as background to your slides.
- Selecting the correct layout for your presentation.
- Adding different transition effects to different slides.
How do I make my Google Slides professional?
You can make your Google Slides presentation professional by selecting the correct theme and correct layout. Google Slides also has some pre-designed diagrams. You can insert these diagrams to make your presentation professional. For example, if you are making a presentation on your company’s production process, you can add a process diagram to your presentation.
That’s it.
Read next: Google Sheets Tips and Tricks.
