How to Present Your Google Slides Slideshow Presentation

It's one thing to create an effective Google Slides presentation. It's another thing to present the slideshow you created.

Before you give your presentation, do some preparation work first. 

We'll cover how to present using Google Slides. You'll learn about Google's slideshow presenter (also called Presenter view). We'll also provide important information about how to get your presentation ready to present. You'll learn how to use the Google slideshow auto advance feature. Plus, discover how to use transitions and the Google Slides Speaker Notes tool. 

We also have a helpful complement to this tutorial. Download our FREE eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations. Grab it now before you read on.  

Start With the Right Template

In this tutorial, we’ll edit the Yukee Google Slides Presentation Template to show you how to present in Google Slides. Download the template to follow along, or use your own favorite tempalte.

This template is a multipurpose premium template from Envato Elements. It comes with 42 different slides. Plus, there are picture placeholders and icons.

If you find a PowerPoint template you like you can still use it in Google Slides. Here's a tutorial on how to convert a PowerPoint template:

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  How to Convert PowerPoint (PPT) to Google Slides Presentations on Import (+Video)
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Laura Spencer

  
  

  19 Dec 2022

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

How to Present Your Presentation

Now let's get into this how to present Google Slides tutorial, first digging into Presenter view: 

1. Learn About Presenter View

Presenter View allows you to pause, go to the next slide, and view Google Slides notes without letting the audience know.

Here’s how to access the Google Slides Presenter View.

First, open the Google Slides template that you plan to use. Here's the Google presentation I’ll use as an example in this tutorial:

Click the arrow next to the Slideshow button in the upper right of the screen. When you click on the arrow, you’ll see three options:

• Presenter view


• Start from beginning


• Present on another screen

Choose the Presenter view option from the menu. When you click on this window, a  Google Slides Presenter view window appears with the Google presentation in the background. It’ll look like this:

The Google Slides Presenter window allows you to control your Google presentation. Here are the controls from the Speaker Notes tab:

1. 
   Next Thumbnail. Click on the Next option to go to the next slide. It appears beneath a thumbnail in the center of the screen.


2. 
   Previous Thumbnail. Click on Previous option to go to the previous slide. It appears beneath a thumbnail in the center of the screen.


3. 
   Slide List. Click on the down arrow next to the slide you're on to see a list of your slides.


4. 
   Timer Pause. The Pause button next to the timer pauses the timer.


5. 
   Timer Reset. The Reset button next to the timer resets the timer.


6. 
   Zoom In and Zoom Out. Allows you to change the font size of the speaker notes in Google Slides.


7. 
   Audience Tools. Where you can interact with the audience. When you click Start New, a link generates. After giving the link to your audience, they can use it to submit questions.

For more information on the Q&A tool, Speaker Notes, and other Google Slides tips, study the following tutorial:

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  20+ (Quick) Tips & Tricks to Use Google Slides Like a Professional in 2020

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Laura Spencer

  
  

  09 May 2020

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Now that we've shown you how to access Presenter view, let's look at a few tips that'll help you to get ready to make your presentation:

2. Prepare for Your Presentation

Before you give a presentation, examine the following:

1. Decide if you want your presentation to advance automatically and loop. (This is good for online presentations).


2. Decide what type of transitions you want between your slideshow slides (if any).


3. Compose your presentation Google Slide notes and add them to your presentation (for live presentations).


4. Plan and practice your presentation.

Let's look at how to do each of these items individually:

Item 1. How to Set Up Auto Advance and Looping

Auto Advance causes your Google Slides presentation to automatically move to the next slide after a set period of time. Looping means that your presentation starts over after the last slide displays.

These features are used with presentations that are published online. This makes sense. Imagine how distracting it would be if your presentation automatically moved to the next slide while you were still speaking about the previous one in a live presentation.

To set up Google Slides Auto Advance feature, open your presentation. Then, select File >Share > Publish to the web menu option. The Publish to the web dialog box displays. On the Publish to the web dialog box, choose the Link or Embed tab from the top of the dialog box.

Here's how the Embed tab looks:

Use the Embed tab to incorporate your Google Slides presentation into a website or even a document. The presentation then becomes part of that website or document.

Here's the Link tab:

When you create a link to a presentation file, the recipient can view your presentation when they click on the link. The link can be shared through email, social media, or other means.

After you update the presentation, the next time someone clicks on the linked presentation they'll see your updates. This feature makes the Link option a good choice for sharing presentations that you expect to change often.

Setting up auto-advance and looping is similar regardless of which tab you choose from the Publish to the web dialog box. Here's how to do it, step by step: 

Step 1 

Click the up and down arrows beneath the Auto-advance slides field to display a drop-down menu with predefined times:

Step 2

Click on the desired time period in the drop-down menu. As you can see, time periods range from every second to every minute. Choose the best time period for your needs. Now you're ready to define what starts the Google slide show.

Step 3 

To start the slideshow automatically as soon as it opens, click the checkbox to the left of the Start slideshow as soon as the player loads.   

To make the Google slide show loop (begin again after the last slide), click the checkbox to the left of the Restart the slideshow after the last slide option.

Your screen should now look something like this:

Step 4 

After you've made your selections, the final step is to click the Publish button.

If you're working from the Embed tab, you'll see a link you can use to embed the presentation in a website or document:

If you're working from the Link tab, you'll see a link you can use to share the presentation through email or social media:

Notice that the Publish button now reads Published. This means that your Google Slides presentation is published to the web. But you can still change your mind and unpublish your presentation if necessary.

Step 5 

Select the File > Publish to the web menu option to unpublish your Google Slides presentation. The Publish to the web dialog box displays again:

This time you'll see the Stop publishing button in the lower left corner. Click this button, and any links to the presentation you've shared or any embedded code will no longer work.

Anyone who tries to access the presentation after you unpublish it'll see this error message:

2. How to Set Up Transitions

After you've set up the Google Slides Auto-advance and Looping features, add extra pizzazz to your presentation by using transitions between the slides in your presentation. Transitions are animation effects you can use when your presentation moves from one slide to another. Google Slides offers seven different transition effects.

Define transition effects using the Motion panel that opens when you click the Transition option in the toolbar menu. For a complete tutorial on how to use transitions and other special effects, study this tutorial:

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  How to Use Google Slides Animations and Timed Transitions

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Laura Spencer

  
  

  14 Aug 2017

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

3. How to Set Up Speaker Notes

You'll probably want to use the Google Slides Speaker Notes feature if you give your Google Slides presentation live.

So, what are speaker notes on Google Slides? It’s a feature that allows you to see Google presentation notes that your audience can't see as you're giving your presentation. You can view your Google Slides Speaker notes in Presenter view in Google Slides.

Google Slides Speaker Notes are an excellent way to remind yourself about specific points you want to make during the presentation.

To access the Google Slides Speaker Notes while you're editing your presentation, select the View > Show speaker notes menu option. Speaker notes for the current slide display beneath it:

Click in the Speaker Notes Google Slides area and begin typing to add your own notes to the slide.

Once you're in the Google Slides Presenter view, click the Notes icon to see your Speaker Notes display over the Presenter view in Google Slides. Here's what you'll see as the presenter:

Your audience can't see the presentation notes. Instead, they see your slideshow presentation. Click the ESC on your keyboard to close the Speaker Notes in Google Slides.

4. Plan and Practice Your Google Slides Presentation

Planning and practicing are key elements to successfully presenting a Google Slides presentation. Your presentation won't be as strong if you try to skip these steps. So, don't skimp on putting time into planning and practicing.

The following questions should be part of your presentation planning process—especially if you're going to be giving your presentation live:

• Who is my audience for this presentation?


• What do they already know?


• Where will I give my presentation and what's the facility like?


• How long will I have to make my presentation?

The answers to these and other planning questions determines the nature of your presentation.

Once you've answered your planning questions, it's time to practice your presentation. There's really no substitution for making a trial run of your presentation—more than once if you can.

The more familiar you are with your presentation, the better it'll be.

3. Make Your Presentation

After you've completed all the previous steps to your satisfaction, you're ready to make your presentation.

There are basically three ways you can make your presentation:

1. 
   In-person. This is where you present your presentation to a live audience.


2. 
   Streaming. Use your Android or IOS device to stream your Google Slides presentation on a monitor. 


3. 
   Online. You can publish your Google Slides presentation.

Let's focus briefly on how to make an in-person presentation. Giving a presentation in front of a live audience often makes a presenter nervous. In fact, fear of public speaking has consistently ranked as one of the most common fears in many studies.

But you don't have to be afraid of public speaking. There are steps you can take to reduce your fear of public speaking and make the whole experience more comfortable. I've put together the following list of Envato Tuts+ tutorials to help you feel better about giving a live presentation:

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  How to Give a Good Presentation—Without Anxiety or Being Nervous

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

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  How to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

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  How to Start a Presentation Strong and End Powerfully (Make an Impact in 2021)

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

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  15 Bad Business Presentation Mistakes (And How to Avoid Poor Results)

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

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  How to Make Short 5-Minute Presentations With Quick Ideas & Tips (+Video)

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

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Top Source for Google Slides Presentation Templates

If you often use Google Slides, you could benefit from premium templates. There are many benefits of using premium templates. The first benefit is that you save time. You save time because you're starting with a well-made base.

After downloading a template, you only need to add any text or images you want. If you want to customize your presentation, you still can with a good premium template.

To gain access to premium templates, you need to pay a low monthly fee and become an Envato Elements subscriber. After you become a subscriber, you gain access to premium presentation templates, fonts, images, and more.

Grab Our Presentations Free eBook!!

To learn more about how to get ready to present a great presentation, grab our presentation eBook for FREE: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations. It covers the complete presentation process of how to plan, design, and deliver your presentation right. 

Get Ready for Your Next Presentation. Download a Premium Google Slides Template Today!

You've just learned about how to give a Google slideshow. You've learned all about Google's slideshow presenter tool, the Presenter view, in Google Slides.

You've also explored other tools like Speaker Notes that can help you during your presentation. You've learned how to set a presentation to auto-advance and loop. Finally, you've also discovered how to publish your presentation online.

You're ready to present your presentation. Why not use a professional presentation template to make sure it looks good?

Whether you're presenting your Google slideshow in-person, streaming it, or publishing it online—use the information in this tutorial to give the best Google Slides presentation you can give. 

Editorial Note: This tutorial was last published by Laura Spencer in September of 2017. It's been completely updated for accuracy and relevancy by Sarah Joy.