How to Present PowerPoint Slides in Zoom
Got a presentation coming up? Here's how to share your PowerPoint slides in Zoom and engage your audience.
Preparing to present PowerPoint slides in Zoom for the first time can feel overwhelming. It's a different experience than face-to-face presentations, and naturally, you want to get it right. But don't worry, we've all been there, and we're here to help.
In this article, we’ll guide you through the process step-by-step, so you can deliver your presentation with confidence and avoid awkward pitfalls. Let’s dive in.
Present PowerPoint Slides in Zoom by Sharing Your Entire Screen
One of the easiest ways to share your PowerPoint slide deck is by sharing your entire screen. Here’s how to go about it.
- Open your PowerPoint presentation.
- Start or Join a Zoom meeting . Knowing how to use Zoom like an expert makes this step easy.
When you hide the toolbar, it may appear as a minimized window in your taskbar. Click the window icon to reveal it when you’re ready to stop sharing.
- Press the Esc key on your keyboard to exit the slideshow after your presentation.
- Click Stop sharing .
Sharing your entire screen lets you seamlessly switch between your PowerPoint window and other windows while bringing your audience along. However, it has a downside—your audience will see sensitive details or notifications if they pop up.
Present PowerPoint Slides in Zoom by Sharing a Window
With this method, you share only your PowerPoint window, so your audience won't see other areas of your desktop, including popup notifications. Here’s how to get it done.
- Join the Zoom meeting.
Ensure your PowerPoint window is maximized and running in the background, or it won't appear under the Window tab.
- Click Stop sharing or Stop share when you’re done presenting.
This method is perfect for multi-tasking—that is, sharing your PowerPoint window while viewing your notes (in a separate document) or seeing what’s happening in Zoom.
Rock Your PowerPoint Presentation in Zoom Like a Pro
And that's a wrap! You now know all the key steps to present PowerPoint slides effectively in Zoom. Remember, you have two main options: share your entire screen when you need to switch between different windows during the presentation or share a specific PowerPoint window if you're multitasking and want to keep the rest of your desktop private.
Practice using these features before your next presentation, so you're comfortable and ready. Alongside this, using a whiteboard in Zoom can make your presentations more interesting.
- help.unc.edu
- Alert Carolina
- ConnectCarolina
- Outlook Web Access
- Software & Web Applications
Zoom: Share PowerPoint Presentation Slides While Using Presenter View on the Presenter Device
Sharing your presentation, alternate method (windows or mac).
This guide provides step-by-step instructions for how to wirelessly share PowerPoint presentation slides within a Zoom meeting while using presenter view on your laptop to access presenter notes.
This guide assumes that you already are hosting an active Zoom meeting on your laptop, have a PowerPoint presentation open, and you have no external displays connected.
- Zoom Support: Screen sharing a PowerPoint presentation
Related Resources
Zoom: Signing In to Your UNC Zoom Account in the Zoom App on Your Device
Technical Help EdIT
- Proceed based on your computer operating system:
- Go to Slide Show tab and click From Beginning or From Current Slide . The presentation slide will display full screen.
- Right-click on anywhere on the presentation slide and choose Show Presenter View . The presenter view for the presentation will display on your laptop screen and the full slide view will persist in the Zoom meeting room.
NOTE: This feature works inconsistently on the Mac. If you are unable to achieve the desired results following these steps, use the alternate method outlined below.
How-To Geek
How to screen share a powerpoint presentation in zoom.
Giving a presentation over Zoom? No biggie. You can easily present your slideshow by using the screen share feature. Here's how.
Quick Links
Grant access to share screens in zoom, screen share a powerpoint presentation in zoom.
No matter where you work, meetings all have one thing in common: PowerPoint presentations. If you use Zoom, you can easily present your slideshow to the participants by sharing your screen . Here's how it's done.
If you're the host of the Zoom meeting , you'll be able to share your screen without issue. However, if you're joining a meeting that you aren't the host of, you may need to request permission from the host to be able to share your screen.
As a general rule, we recommend that hosts disable the screen-share feature for participants by default for security reasons . If you aren't the host of the meeting, be sure to reach out to the host in advance to request permission to share your screen during the Zoom call. Hosts can always enable the feature during the call, but it's always good to be a step ahead.
If you're the host of the meeting and someone is requesting permission to share their screen during the meeting, click the up arrow next to "Share Screen" at the bottom of the window.
In the menu that appears, click "Advanced Sharing Options."
The "Advanced Sharing Options" window will appear. In the "Who Can Share" section, click the bubble next to "All Participants."
All participants in the meeting can now share their screen.
To screen share your PowerPoint presentation, go ahead and open the PowerPoint presentation that you would like to present. However, before you put the presentation in Slide Show view, you'll want to share your screen. At the bottom of the Zoom meeting window, click "Share Screen."
If you're using a single monitor, you will immediately start sharing your screen. If you're using dual monitors , you'll need to click the screen that your presentation will be shared on. In our case, that will be "Screen 2."
To begin sharing that screen, click "Share" at the bottom-right corner of the screen select window.
You're now sharing your screen. Now, in Microsoft PowerPoint, select the "Slide Show View" icon in the bottom-right corner of the application.
From here, deliver your presentation as though you were standing in front of a live audience.
If you are giving a big presentation through Zoom, you're not going to just jump straight into it. You may need to speak to the audience a bit before sharing your screen. If so, here are a few tips on how to look better on your Zoom call .
Adjusting your video layout during a virtual meeting
Customize your video layout preferences during your Zoom meetings—see everyone, hide participants, and much more. There are 4 available video layouts when no one in the meeting is screen sharing: Speaker view, Gallery view, Immersive view , and floating thumbnail window. When someone is screen sharing, you can use Side-by-side mode or view the screen share with Speaker view. Any of these layouts can be used in fullscreen or windowed mode, with the exception of the floating thumbnail view.
Other video layout controls include rearranging the gallery view order , pinning or spotlighting up to 9 participants' videos, hiding non-video participants , or stopping all incoming video .
This article covers:
Speaker view
Gallery view, full-screen meeting window, floating thumbnail window.
- Layout when screen sharing
How to hide participants who have their video turned off
How to hide the smart gallery full room view, how to switch between gallery view and speaker view during a meeting, prerequisites for changing meeting view settings.
Gallery View (mobile app):
- 3 or more participants in the meeting (only 2 participants required for iPad)
Displaying up to 49 thumbnails per page in Gallery View:
- Zoom desktop client for Windows or macOS, version 5.2.0 or higher
- The Maximum participants displayed per screen in Gallery View is set to 49 participants in the desktop client video settings Note : If your computer does not meet the CPU requirements, this option is unavailable.
- 4 cores or higher
- 4th generation or higher
- 2 cores or higher
- 6 cores or higher
- 3.0GHz or higher
- AMD Ryzen 5 series
- 6th generation or higher
- 2.0GHz or higher
- 1.6GHz frequency of higher; OR
- 8 cores or higher
- 3.0GHz or higher; OR
- 12 cores or higher
- AMD Ryzen 7/9 series Note : While using dual monitors in the desktop client gallery view will still only be shown on one monitor.
- Zoom mobile app for iOS (iPad only), version 5.6.6 (423) or higher
Zoom Web App
- iPad Pro 12.9" 5th generation
Speaker view will switch the large video window between who is speaking with 3 or more participants in the meeting. If it is just you and one other participant, your video will be smaller at the top and their video will appear below.
Pinning a participant will keep them as the largest video for your view of the meeting, while spotlighting will do the same but for everyone in the meeting.
Gallery view lets you see thumbnail displays of participants, in a grid pattern, which expands and contracts as participants join and leave the meeting. Depending on your CPU, the desktop client can display up to 25 or 49 participants in a single screen of the Gallery view. If more attendees than are allowed to be displayed are in the meeting, additional pages are created with your max number of thumbnails on each page. Cycle through the pages and view up to 1,000 thumbnails by clicking the right or left arrows in gallery view to display the next page of participants.
The order of the videos in Gallery view can also be rearranged to suit your needs , as well as saved for use in later sessions.
When in Gallery view and a participant begins speaking, that active speaker is relocated to the current page you are viewing and highlighted, making it easier to recognize who is speaking. This functionality is not possible when using a custom gallery order, as the order will remain in place.
You can switch any of the layouts (except floating the thumbnail window) to full screen mode by double-clicking your Zoom window.
You can exit full screen by double-clicking again or using the Esc key on your keyboard.
Note : In older versions of macOS, click Meeting and Enter Fullscreen in the Top Menu bar.
The floating thumbnail window allows you to minimize the main Zoom window, but keep the video on top of other applications you have open. You can move the window around your screen as needed, or hide the video entirely.
To switch to floating thumbnail view:
- Click on the minimize icon, located at the top-right corner for Windows, or top-left corner for macOS.
Layout during screen sharing
When viewing shared content, you will have the 3 following view options:
- Standard : Similar to Speaker view, where the shared content is below and other videos tiles are along the top. When in fullscreen, the shared content will fill the screen and video tiles will become smaller, movable thumbnails.
- Side-by-side: Speaker : When in side-by-side mode , the meeting window is split between the shared content and video thumbnails, with the ability to adjust the proportions of the split between the two. Side-by-side: Speaker will only show the active speaker in the portion containing video thumbnails.
- Side-by-side: Gallery : When in side-by-side mode , the meeting window is split between the shared content and video thumbnails, with the ability to adjust the proportions of the split between the two. Side-by-side: Gallery will display a maximum of 6 (when the shared content is given the most space) or 49 video thumbnails (when the shared content is given the least space) in the portion containing video thumbnails.
Any of these views can be used when the meeting window is maximized as well.
Hiding non-video participants can reduce the number of participants displayed on the screen and draw more attention to those with video on. While this can be controlled through the out-of-meeting client settings , this can also be adjusting during a live session as well.
- Click Hide Non-video Participants to hide all participants without video.
You can also stop all incoming video to preserve bandwidth or avoid mental fatigue.
How to hide your view of your own video
When presenting while on video, seeing your own video can be distracting for some. While this can be controlled through the out-of-meeting client settings , this can also be adjusting during a live session as well.
- Click Hide Self View to hide all participants without video enabled.
If a Zoom Room is participating in your meeting with smart gallery enabled, a camera view of the entire room will accompany the other smart gallery video streams by default. If you want to hide this view and see only the individual video streams, follow these steps:
- Start a meeting and wait for the Zoom Room participant to join and enable smart gallery.
- Click More next to the entry for the Zoom Room participant.
- Click Hide Room View .
- (Optional) If you want to change the setting again, follow steps 2-4 and click Show Room View .
Windows | macOS | Linux
- Start or join a meeting.
Android | iOS
Note : Gallery View allows you to see up to 16 participants at once, up to 30 participants at once when viewing on 11" and 12.9" iPad Pros (2nd, 3rd, and 4th generations), and up to 49 participants at once when viewing on a 5th generation 12.9" iPad Pro.
- Start or join a meeting with the Zoom Web App .
The Ultimate Guide to Giving Virtual Presentations on Zoom
Part 1: an introduction to giving virtual presentations on zoom.
PART I Introduction 1 – Cool Zoom Features 2 – Virtual Presentation Do’s 3 – Virtual Presentation Don’ts PART II 4 – Presentation Purpose 5 – Structure & Flow 6 – Slide Design PART III 7 – Connect with the audience 8 – Audience Participation 9 – Sharing Content PART IV 10 – Video & Audio Recordings 11 – Post-production 12 – Your Phone as a Webcam PART V 13 – When Things Go Wrong 14 – How to Ground Yourself PART VI 15 – Advanced Techniques 16 – Zoom Webinars vs Meetings 17 – 23 Essential Settings
There are three things I hate about Zoom…
#1 the super awkward must-click-two-buttons-to-leave-the-meeting debacle.
You say goodbye, search the bottom-right corner of the screen for the red button, click the red button, continue to stare awkwardly at the corner of the screen because the call is still open and you need to click a second red button.
Never fear, this can be turned off. In General Preferences simply uncheck the “Ask me to confirm when I leave a meeting” setting and poof! One-click exits. You’re welcome.
#2 Inviting someone and never knowing what the difference is between these two options: “Copy invite link” and “Copy invitation”.
I can sense you nodding along with me.
Just remember that it’s “invite link” you want 99% of the time vs “invitation”, and you can set an option that copies the link to your clipboard as soon as you start a meeting.
#3 The dropdown to change video settings is part of the “Stop Video” button. What the actual?!
Are you trying to make me screw up my presentation?
I also love Zoom.
Why? Because it works.
A year into our forced isolation, Zoom fatigue has set in. We’re avoiding calls and talking about concepts like Zoom holidays, just to get a break.
But the answer isn’t fewer Zoom calls, it’s better Zoom calls. Almost every Zoom presentation is boring, ugly, terribly structured, poorly executed, and designed to make you fall asleep.
In this guide I’ll show you
- How to create beautiful slides that communicate with clarity and class
- Unknown and awesome features of Zoom that you can use to your advantage
- How to overcome your nerves and survive technical problems
- And how to look like a total pro every time you give a presentation—or run a meeting—on the platform we all love to hate.
Note: for the sake of brevity, unless I’m talking about Zoom-specific functionality, these tips are applicable to any platform that offers meeting and presentation software such as GotoMeeting, Google Meet, Webinar Jam etc.
There are instructional videos throughout the guide to demonstrate the best parts in more depth. You can binge watch the videos on the “Presenting on Zoom” video channel here , or read on for the word and pictures.
If you want to stand out from your peers it’s good to understand the full power of the platform and know the features most people don’t know about.
#1 Set up your own configurable ‘personal meeting room’
It can be really distracting to hear a bunch of people talking over one another when you kick off a meeting. A good solution is to use what’s called a Personal Meeting ID (PID) which gives you control of the Zoom environment right from the start.
Features of your PID include:
- Using the same invite ID and URL whenever you start a meeting, bypassing the need to repeatedly check the settings. Note: because it’s a permanent URL,you should uncheck the “Allow participants to join anytime” setting to prevent randoms dropping in unannounced.
- Placing participants into a “waiting room” which lets them in when you are ready to begin– either individually or all at once.
- Automatically recording your meetings on your computer. Having a video of your presentation is always a good idea so you can re-use your content.
#2 Press the ‘spacebar to temporarily un-mute yourself’
You can help to ensure a quality audio recording by placing everyone on mute by default. And while this feature is more appropriate for meetings vs. presentations, it’s a great thing to know about – and to tell your audience about. It’s easy to use, hold down the spacebar to un-mute yourself and let it go to turn your audio off again. It prevents people from forgetting to re-mute when they walk off to do something else forcing you to listen to their snoring dog or screaming baby.
Even if it doesn’t get used during your presentation (unless it’s a workshop you won’t want people to randomly chime in), many of your audience will thank you for learning this tip.
Note: You may need to enable it in your Zoom Preferences.
#3 Record ‘separate audio files’ for each speaker, host, or panelist in the presentation
If you have a host or a co-presenter there will be content in the session that’s not yours. Having separate audio recordings lets you use only the audio that was from your part of the presentation.
You can enable this in Preferences > Recording.
#4 Enable the ‘non-verbal feedback’ feature to allow audience interactions
Cool zoom feature #4 – enable non-verbal feedback.
To make your presentations interactive you can enable the non-verbal feedback feature. This allows participants to express reactions to your presentation.
This is not to be confused with ‘meeting reaction emojis’ which are temporary reactions that disappear after 5 seconds. To be honest, it’s hard not to be confused when there are two sets of interactions with different names.
Non-verbal feedback is for direct feedback to the speaker or host that others can agree with by clicking the same icon. The result is that the speaker can see how many people are expressing the feedback.
The options for non-verbal feedback are shown in the image below:
An example of how this would be used in a presentation is to ask the speaker to speed up or slow down. This might seem like a weird thing to be told during your talk, and if it’s just one person asking you’d most likely ignore it. But if 50 people are saying to slow down, that’s a pretty good indication that your current presentation style isn’t working for them.
It provides a pretty amazing insight – something I wish I’d had that feedback during an on-stage talk.
You can also use it to ask binary questions to the audience that they can respond yes or no to – a great way to segment the audience so you can tailor your content based on their responses.
Combine this feature with a QTINTA audience participation question for a really engaging experience. You’ll have to watch the video to know what QTINTA means.
#5 Use the Zoom ‘beauty mode’ to soften your appearance
Zoom includes a “Touch up my appearance” filter in the “Preferences > Video” settings, which gives your skin a softer appearance. There’s a slider that lets you control how much it applies the effect. It can look weird if you crank it too much, but having just a little can really help – especially if you’re looking a big bedraggled.
Settings are maintained when you quit so you can expect to look the same way every time.
#6 Use Zoom ‘video filters’ to add a cinematic high-contrast appearance
We’re all familiar with Zoom backgrounds, but a more impressive feature in my mind are the video filters. You can access them via the “Stop Video” dropdown arrow. Yes, there are some silly ones which can be funny when in a meeting, but for presenting stick to the non-silly ones. They can help improve the quality of your on-camera look. I particularly like the first option “Boost” which kicks your contrast up a notch removing any bland washed out lighting, it also removed some warmer tones which I like as it reduces the redness I often have in my skin.
You can see that it increases the contrast but also cuts down on the redness in my face.
Unlike the “Touch up my appearance” feature, your video filter settings are not maintained between sessions, which is a frustrating extra step each time if you found a setting you like.
#7 Encourage attendees to use ‘side-by-side mode’ to view you and your slides
This can be a good setting if you want to make your talk feel more personal. It shows your camera video beside your slides, and viewers can resize the videos as they see fit.
It can be a good idea to point this out as not everyone will know.
E.g. “You should be viewing this presentation in side by side mode so you see me and the slides. If you want to make the slides bigger (or smaller) you can resize them by dragging the slider between my video and the slides.”
#8 Use Zoom ‘annotations’ to mark up your slides live, or a ‘whiteboard’ for a blank canvas
A really cool feature of Zoom is Annotations. This lets you write or draw on top of the screen you are sharing. Once the feature is activated , you can access it from the menu at the top when you are sharing your screen.
This is really helpful when you have a complex slide and you want to focus people’s attention on different areas of the screen as you talk. When presenting live on a stage you can gesture towards a particular area, but it’s not as easy in a virtual presentation which is why it’s handy.
There is also a Whiteboard feature that gives you, well, a whiteboard. This could be useful if you find that you need to dig into a point you’re making in a more detailed way or discover during your talk that you need a different way to explain it.
You might want to take a quick screenshot when you’re done if you happened to get some interesting ideas marked up.
Rock open a whiteboard and sketch a diagram. Having a tablet and pen would be very helpful for this, versus trying to draw with a mouse. It might be wise to use the non-verbal feedback feature to get folks to say “Yes” to a “Let me know if you’re ready to move on” question.
Note, this is a screen sharing feature, so in order to get to the whiteboard, you need to stop sharing your screen, then share once more but choose Whiteboard as the option. Then you’ll have to stop sharing and share your slides again. Make sure you’ve practiced this if you think you’ll be using it.
#9 Use ‘closed captions’ to increase the accessibility of your virtual presentation and video recording
Zoom has transcription features that let you add closed captions to your session. You can do it manually for free, but that means someone will have to type them live, which is a pretty specific skill to have, and requires someone to do it for you.
If you have a paid Zoom account (roughly $20/month) live transcriptions are included. An alternative is to integrate with a platform like Otter.ai, to add closed captions in real time. You can also use Otter for transcribing any other audio or video files you have which makes it a much better value.
There are several reasons why closed captions are a good thing to do.
- No headphones: if an attendee doesn’t have or forgot their headphones and they’re in an environment where they can’t have the volume on, closed captions are a life saver that could be the difference between them staying or leaving.
- Accessibility: Captions allow meetings to be accessible to all. For the deaf, hard of hearing, or non-native speakers, they are an absolute necessity to understand what’s going on.
- Attention and recall: closed captioning can increase the amount of your content that an attendee comprehends and remembers. This is because they are getting it using two senses, and you have to focus more intently when you are reading.
You can check out Otter here to set up live captions.
#10 Use Zoom ‘breakout rooms’ to split workshop participants into groups
Without question, one of the most popular Zoom features is Breakout Rooms. They are exactly as they sound, allowing you to break out attendees into separate rooms. This could be for hosting a multi-track event where there is a speaker in each breakout room, or more commonly it is to allow groups to work together away from the “Main Room” and then come back in to rejoin you as the speaker.
This is a wonderful feature if you are running workshops that require groups to work through some of your worksheets or tasks for example.
There’s a good demo of how to use Zoom breakout rooms here.
#11 Use a Zoom ‘waiting room’ to hold attendees before you let them in at the same time
Nobody shows up at the same time to a presentation, and you don’t always want to start until an acceptable threshold of attendees have arrived. Particularly if the beginning of your talk is fundamental to your big idea.
The waiting room is basically a holding area where attendees are listed as they show up. They get to see a simple welcome screen (annoyingly simple really – I’d much prefer to have the options to have a fully custom slide in there), and you can admit them one by one, or all at once, when you are ready to begin.
It also allows you to block people from entering, although for the most part there’s not much reason to do this when you are presenting to a large audience. Useful if someone becomes disruptive for any reason.
Caution: it’s very easy to forget about the waiting room and have people sitting around unable to get in after you’ve started. I recommend assigning this task to your co-host.
Cool Zoom Feature to Avoid – ‘Present with your PowerPoint or Keynote slides as a virtual background’.
This is an interesting feature that’s worth discussing both for why it’s cool and why it’s uncool.
What it does
Instead of a regular screen share, it takes your slide deck and sets it as the background much like any other Zoom background. As such it places a ‘mini you’ floating on top of the slides in cutout mode which is kinda fun. Kinda.
To access the feature (beta at time of writing) click the “Advanced” tab in the “Share Screen” popup, and select “Slides as Virtual Background”.
This is what it looks like from the attendee’s perspective. And yes, you appear twice on the screen. Once on top of your slides, and again beside them. Silly.
Note: you must download a local copy of your slide deck to your computer as it doesn’t connect to cloud-based slides.
If you have audio and video in your slides, checking the “Share Sound” option at the bottom-left of the share popup should make that transmit to the audience. However, it doesn’t. In fact I couldn’t get any video or audio to play at all.
There’s also a second “Split Video from Slides” option which kinda defeats the purpose. As you can see below, you are back with your regular background in a separate window, and you are only on the screen once.
With the split setting in place, it would be a fair to wonder why you’d use this feature as it looks just the same as the regular view.
There are however, a few key differences.
The major difference is that you don’t need to have your slides in fullscreen mode on your computer. In the screenshot below you’ll see that I’m looking at a Zoom window with my slides inside it. I can now move through my slides while having other windows open such as the chat and participant windows. This is actually pretty great as the audience doesn’t see your layout, they see what they would normally see.
A nice side effect of this setting is the audience won’t see the awkward moment at the start of your talk where your whole screen is visible until you start the slides.
Looking at the main window, you can clean up the view a bit by having attendee video off by un-checking “More > Allow Participants to Start Video” in the Participants panel, and then selecting “Hide non-video participants” from the “…” menu on one of the participant video boxes.
You can take it a step further if you select “Hide self view” from the … on your video thumbnail. This will give you a view of just your slides. As much as the layout annoys me (I’d rather pop the self view out to the side with the chat), it can be important to see yourself to make sure you’re not moving out of frame – particularly if you are speaking standing up.
However, at this point in the beta it’s just not usable enough to be a serious and professional solution because of a few technical failings:
- It’s buggy like most beta features are
- It doesn’t show any animations or slide transitions
- If you are recording the screen, the merge view while fun, is a little unprofessional looking
- Audio and video didn’t work at all for me, despite there being a setting to allow slide audio to work. I think this might be because the videos didn’t play.
- When you start the share it has to process the slides before it starts which causes a delay if you aren’t expecting it.
Overall, it’s a feature with some exciting elements, although to be perfectly honest, the good aspects are nothing to do with the feature itself, but are side effects. I’d prefer to see a new feature that allows you to avoid presenting in fullscreen to allow a much greater degree of presenter screen setup.
The chapter title says it all. Do these things and your virtual presentations will be better. If you don’t, your presentation won’t be better than the last one you did, missing an important opportunity grow your skills as a virtual presenter.
Seriously. Do these things.
#1 Test your slides from the ‘attendee perspective’ using another laptop or tablet
Your slides might look amazing on your retina laptop or 5K monitor, but not all screens are alike, and your super-detailed tiny-text “revolutionary new marketing method” process diagram might look more like a dot-matrix printout to someone with a lesser screen.
Viewing your slides on a smaller or alternative screen isn’t enough. You also need to view them on Zoom on that screen, because virtual presentation software tends to change things you wouldn’t expect.
The golden rule of presentation QA is to run through every slide on the platform you’re going to be delivering on (Zoom, GotoWebinar, etc.) watching out for the things below:
- Any virtual presentation platform will add small visual artifacts to the video stream—they’re imperfect degenerative medium where some quality will be lost in transmission. As a result, your slides will never be quite as sharp as directly viewing your slides.
- If you have audio in your slides, check that the audio levels are balanced and not too loud or quiet. Remember to also test it with headphones on as that’s a common listening scenario for your audience.
- If you have video in your slides it may not come across well when presenting virtually. There’s usually some lag or choppiness that makes it skip frames. This can make the audio look out of sync.
- If you have multiple slides with audio, set them at the exact same level so people don’t get deafened. A common problem in that scenario is that the attendees will turn down their audio if you blast them, and then the next time you have audio it’s too quiet to hear properly. Your presentation software will have a setting for the audio or video volume. The best way to make sure they are the same is to move your slides to be one after the other (you can reorder them afterwards), then step through them to gauge the balance.
- If you have complex animations or transitions, they may render more slowly or less smoothly when piped through Zoom and a wifi connection. If they don’t work the way you want them to, consider simplifying them (fewer animations) or removing them altogether – replacing them with static slides. You can still use a technique like the Progressive Reveal to create a pseudo animation effect.
To prevent an audio feedback loop when testing your audio and video slides, have your partner/friend/colleague be on the viewer/attendee side in another room.
Whatever your specific case is, there’s a good chance that on the viewer’s side it’s not as perfect. So double, triple, and quadruple check.
I guess you should also single check. Why does nobody say that?
“You should single check your work to make sure it’s awesome.”
The best way to QA is to record some video of it from the viewer’s perspective. Have your QA buddy record their screen (with audio). If you don’t have anyone to help you, just set up your extra laptop (hopefully you have one somewhere) in another room and record the screen from there. If you’re using a Mac, Quicktime is an easy way to get a recording. On a PC, you can use PowerPoint to do a screen recording (more on that later), or find some free screen recording software for a test.
If you do have a helper, you can also reverse roles where they present and you observe on their machine. This will give you the truest sense of what might need to be fixed. It’ll no doubt be quite hilarious to watch, unless they turn out to be better at it than you.
#2 Remove all hashtags from your slides
My typical advice regarding hashtags is to make sure you update them to use the current event’s hashtag if you’ve used this slide deck before. If you don’t it looks awful to the audience and makes them feel like you didn’t put in the effort to make a presentation just for them.
However, the main goal of this entire guide —primarily covered in chapters 10 and 11— is to ensure you create a professional-grade recording of your virtual presentation that you can repurpose over and over for multiple virtual events.
If you leave event hashtags in your slides they will be forever embedded in your recording, rendering it useless for re-use. And trust me, once you’ve created a high-resolution awesomely edited recording of your talk, you will feel amazing about it.
It may feel counterintuitive, but you should delete all the hashtags from your slides.
If the event mentions it and asks you why or asks you to include them, just politely let them know your rationale. I’ve found that many virtual events have interactive chat in the interface they use which tends to dilute the number of people hanging out on a Twitter hashtag anyway.
#3 Have a wired Internet connection
If attendees have a poor connection they can always leave and download the video and slides later on.
But the presenter is the one person who absolutely must have a great Internet connection, and the best way to do that is to have directly wired Ethernet.
A side benefit of this is that it will help you end the endless debate over who’s connection is causing the problem. I’m sure you’ve been in a meeting where someone suggests your Internet is slow, and you say yours is fine, and they say that theirs has been working brilliantly all week.
Just say “Yeah, but I have a hardwired Ethernet connection.” End of conversation.
If you don’t have a wired connection, work on getting one set up, and in the meantime tell your eager tech wannabe roommates NOT to reset the ******* wifi while you’re presenting.
#4 Have a backup audio input device
“Is this mic on? Can you hear me at the back?”
Sometimes your mic will stop working, and it’s one of the most uncomfortable panic-ridden things that can happen to a speaker (see When Things Go Wrong ). It could be a dead battery issue, or your headphone cable could be old and the internal wiring failed.
Whatever the cause, you need to have a way to deal with the problem.
If you are using a posh external mic that stops working, ditching it for the internal microphone of your laptop will likely degrade the audio quality significantly, but it’s better than nothing.
In a later chapter I do a deep dive comparison video about microphone options for virtual presenting .
Probably the simplest backup is another set of headphones. The classic Apple headphones are only $25 now. Make sure you get the ones with the 3.5mm jack, and not the lightning cable, (especially if you’re not an Apple person) as that’s only useful for your iPhone. And if you aren’t an Apple person, there are a million other options on Amazon.
However, be warned that these headphones are rife with audio problems such as noisy cables (you’ll need to sit still which sucks), and they should only be used on Zoom. When using them with any other audio recording software they have a horrific background hiss that destroys your audio, but Zoom’s noise removal feature (on by default) actually does a fantastic job of removing it, making them a viable last minute solution. Hopefully, you’ll never need to use them.
#5 Have a slide dedicated to encouraging non-verbal feedback
The non-verbal feedback feature of Zoom is a great way to make your talk more dynamic. But you don’t want to try and explain it in the middle of your talk as it’ll break the flow and screw up the fluidity of your recording.
Instead, consider which aspects of the feature you want to use, and have a slide at the start of your presentation (slide 2 for example) that focuses on this. You can quickly walk people through how it works, and tell them how you’ll be using it throughout.
#6 Have everyone muted by default
It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. You don’t want attendees, whether it’s 5 or 500, to be chatting before or during your presentation. So this one is simple. Make sure you mute everyone. If you’re using your Personal Meeting ID you might have this already set up.
You can mute everyone in the Participants sidebar, or as a global default setting in the web portal administration settings “Settings > Schedule Meeting > Mute all participants when they join a meeting”.
#7 Wear confidence clothes
Just because you can present in your PJs it doesn’t mean you should present in your PJs. Treat it like an on-stage talk and get ready in your mojo outfit. You’ll gain confidence and look more professional.
Something I like to do when I’m on the road presenting, is lay out my clothes the night before. It helps me get in the right mindset and also saves time the next day when you might be stressing out.
#8 Close all of your other software to prevent your machine slowing down
Take a look at your computer right now and count A) how many different apps are running, and B) how many tabs you have open in your browser.
Here’s a screenshot of mine, for reference.
Tabs open in Chrome? 39. Apps open? 20
You need to be concerned about two things, the amount of memory and processing power being hogged by all the apps you have open, and the number of ways you might receive a notification during your talk.
For PCs running Windows 10, there’s a built-in function to silence notifications when presenting . But if you’re a Mac user the settings for this are horrendous (slightly better in Big Sur). Fortunately there’s a free app called Muzzle that silences all of your notifications as soon as you share your screen.
#9 Have two pre-made slides ready for Q&A at the end of your virtual presentation
It’s common for your host to ask questions that the audience has submitted in the chat window (or the Q&A window for Zoom Webinars) at the end of your session. The best way to utilize this opportunity—if you’re still in control of the screen—is to have two slides prepared.
The first slide should simply have Q&A written on it, really big.
The second slide should be a promo slide with a special offer you have.
I like to leave up the Q&A slide until the questions start, then flip it to the promo slide so it can sit there for the next 5-10 minutes. It’s a great way to have it visible for a long period of time without actually having to be salesy in your presentation.
It’s fairly common that an event organizer will ask you if you have something to promote, but if they don’t, ask them if it’s okay that you use a slide at the end like this.
#10 Build a background set to make your virtual presentations look professional
If you spend a lot of time on Zoom, instead of using a Zoom background, start thinking about how you can built a bit of a set where you do your presentations. Not only will it look more professional, but it will fill you with confidence and make you feel like you’re in presentation mode when you’re there.
I’m fortunate to have a space for my office/studio, and I’ve seen and felt the difference a well-designed environment makes when I show up to work. It took me months to get it right, so don’t think you have to suddenly have something perfect. Just chip away at it over time, turning on your webcam every day and giving a little thought as to how you can make the space more special. Small shelves with plants or books can work great, and Pinterest is definitely your friend for this type of thing.
Many folks won’t have a dedicated workspace to claim as your “stage”, but I’m pretty sure your significant other won’t complain if you make your home that little bit nicer.
Speaking of “stages”, I actually built a stage in my studio—almost burning down the house in the process —but that’s a story for another time. Like I said, it took months to get to this stage. I keep saying stage.
#11 Reboot your computer the night before your virtual presentation
Restarting your computer can help speed it up a bit, especially if you haven’t done it in ages. Any little performance advantage you can get is valuable for a live presentation. It will help clear out any processes that are stuck or hogging the CPU.
However, it’s best not to do this right before your talk, as you risk it doing some weird software updates that take hours to complete.
#12 Do a test Zoom meeting to check your camera angles and lighting
As Springsteen said in Dancing in the Dark—”I check my look in the mirror, I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face.”—you should always check how you look on camera before the presentation starts. Adjust the angle of the camera for your most flattering look and the best view of your background, which of course is a well-decorated wall, and not a zoom background of a beach or mountaintop.
Make sure to turn on the lights you’ll be using to light your lovely face, wick away any sweat using blotting wipes, and apply some simple makeup to remove shiny reflections from your head. More details on those techniques in the lighting section .
Here’s the smart part, record your test meeting and play it back to make sure there are no weird things in the background, it’s often easier to analyze a recording as opposed to your webcam view.
#13 Double-check your audio for background noise
At the same time as your camera check, watch your test recording and listen very carefully for any noise in the background. You’ll be surprised at how oblivious you can be to background noise when you’re busy and/or nervous.
Sounds to watch out for:
- Laundry sounds: Depending on where your washer/dryer are it may not be an issue, but the low hum can travel far. Start a Zoom recording, making sure to use which ever audio (mic) input you plan on using, go turn on your washer or dryer or dishwasher, then come back and replay the recording to see if it’s discernible. Crank the volume to make sure. There is NOTHING worse than doing a badass presentation then finding out the recording is ruined by a persistent hum in the background, or the sound of someone’s hoody zip clattering round and round in the dryer.
- Tube lights: If you have any tube lights where you are recording, or even in a nearby room, turn them off. They can be soooo noisy. Then put in the effort to replace them with silent LED tube bulbs when you have time. It does require some rewiring, but it’s not that hard—I did it recently and I made sure to choose bulbs with the same colour temperature as the lights I’ll be using to light me up in the video–more on that in the A/V chapter .
- Ceiling fans: Another subtle and repetitive sound. Turn ’em off unless the resulting heat will make you sweat to the point of scaring the audience.
- Heating: Not all heating is noisy, but many houses in North America use what’s called forced air. It’s noisy. A low hum, yes, but it’s an audio killer.
- Noisy clothes: Your clothes can cause bad scratching sounds—even if you use a shotgun microphone that’s not attached to your clothes—which is an audio killer. What happens is that any loose clothing rubs against you when you gesticulate with your arms. Tighter clothes like a t-shirt are the solution to this. I go into more depth including a comparison video in What to do When Noisy Clothes Ruin Your Audio .
- Noisy shoes: if you’re wearing any kind of heels, they will cause irritating sounds if you shuffle your feet (while presenting standing up, which you should do). The simplest solution is to take them off and present in your socks (or bare feet).
- Analog watches: I’m kidding.
And make sure everyone in the house knows not to bother you while you’re presenting. If you are in a room with a door, hang a sign on it with the time of your event, and say not to disturb you until you take the sign off the door.
Guess what? Not every thing you can do as a virtual presenter is something you should be doing—I’m talking about you, speaker who likes to take a bathroom break while mic’d up, two minutes before the session starts.
Similarly, not every feature of Zoom has a positive impact on the audience or speaker experience. In this short and not-so-sweet chapter I’ll give you some tips about things to avoid so your talks go more smoothly.
#1 Don’t use a free Zoom account for your presentation
If you’re running the show yourself this is an important one. The free Zoom plan allows up to 100 attendees which is great, and more than enough for a small event, however there is also a 40-minute time limit, which would be very embarrassing if you didn’t know that and all of a sudden everyone gets kicked out of your virtual event.
#2 Try to avoid saying “Can you hear me?”
This is a classic intro statement that nervous presenters ask, but it makes you sound unprofessional. Instead, make a subtle change to how you position it, like this:
“Thanks {host name}, let’s get started, and let us know in the chat window if you have any issues hearing my audio.”
#3 Don’t use your laptop’s microphone if your webcam is sitting on an external monitor
When you do this, the laptop will be off to one side and your audio will be really quiet and sound like you’re in a different room.
#4 Don’t use stock photos in your slides
Just as you shouldn’t use a stock photo as the header background on your website, you shouldn’t use them in your presentations. To illustrate my point, it’s way too common for software companies to think it’s cool to use an overhead shot of a laptop and a coffee cup. It’s actually hilarious how prevalent it is. I recommend entering the URL of any image you’re considering using into tineye.com which will tell you how many times it’s been used.
If you absolutely have to use one, try hard to find one that’s not so widely used. Unsplash.com is a good resource for free photography that’s typically got less of a stock feel to it.
But all in all, the best way to avoid using stock photos is to develop an original content mindset (in chapter 6) .
#5 Don’t use a Zoom background. You heard me.
Zoom backgrounds can be fun in meetings, but when you’re presenting it can look unprofessional and can be really distracting. It can also make some of your head/hair disappear and speaking for myself, I need all the hair I can get.
#6 Don’t record the call without permission
This is a big no-no on certain types of call. For a presentation you can make a statement that it’s being recorded, as this is always helpful information for attendees to know (no permission needed) but if it’s a meeting with a client, customer, or coworker, you should be explicit that you are recording and why: “If it’s okay with you I’d like to record the call so I don’t miss any of the details.” This is important when you are a guest in an interview too. Asking for permission will add a level of trust and respect in the eyes of who you are asking – and in the very rare occasion that they say no, be graceful and say okay no worries. Then follow up with,”I may be taking notes throughout so bare with me if I’m scribbling”.
Also be aware, that if you are recording the session, everyone on the other side will see a blinking “recording” signal in the top-left corner, so there’s no creeping allowed.
To recap, remember these rules when it comes to recordings:
- Meetings: Ask for permission, and don’t record if your guest is uncomfortable with it.
- Presentations: Let people know that it’s being recorded and that you will be making it available after. Ideally after some post-production enhancements in chapter 11.
#7 Don’t be the host if you might leave early
This is a nightmare as the other participants are suddenly without a meeting and they might not know why. Then they have to re-coordinate to set up a new meeting, which is always a chore and often involves Slack or text messages or even worse, emails.
Intro Introduction to Virtual Presentations on Zoom
Chapter 1 18 Cool Zoom Features You Should Know About
Chapter 2 12 Things You Should Do in Your Zoom Presentation
Chapter 3 8 Things You Shouldn’t Do in Your Zoom Presentation
Chapter 4 Defining Your Presentation’s Purpose
Chapter 5 How to Define Your Talk’s Structure, Story, & Flow
Chapter 6 41 Slide Design Tips for Virtual Presentations
Chapter 7 6 Ways to Make Eye Contact With an Invisible Audience
Chapter 8 How to do Audience Participation in a Virtual Presentation
Chapter 9 How to Share Content during a Zoom Presentation
Chapter 10 How to Create a Stunning Video and Audio Recording
Chapter 11 Using Post-Production to Add Value to Your Zoom Recording
Chapter 12 How to Use Your Phone as a Beautiful Webcam
Chapter 13 What to Do When Things go Wrong in Your Presentation
Chapter 14 How to Ground Yourself and Get Ready to Present
Chapter 15 Advanced & Creative Zoom Presentation Techniques
Chapter 16 The Difference Between Zoom Meetings and Zoom Webinars
Chapter 17 23 Zoom Settings to Enable or Disable for a Smooth Presentation
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PowerPoint presenter view in Zoom—with one monitor
Are you teaching remotely using Zoom? And you only have one monitor? Do you miss using PowerPoint presenter view in your classroom?
PowerPoint presenter view
This is what presenter view looks like. When you have a computer screen and a projector (or a second monitor), this is the view on your computer screen, and the slide alone shows on the projector (or second monitor). In this presenter view screen, you can see your next slide on the right, and right below that are any notes you’ve entered for the slide your audience is currently viewing. Under the currently-viewing slide are a few tools: pen/pointer, see all of the slides in your presentation (handy for jumping around your slides), magnifying glass for zooming in on a part of your slide, and black out the slide you are showing. Click the 3-dot icon for a few more options.
While you have all of those nifty tools at your disposable, this is what your audience sees projected on the screen.
To get presenter view, edit your PowerPoint, click the Slide Show tab, then check the “Use Presenter View” box.
If you have one monitor, however, and run your slide show, you will just see the slide like your audience would. To get the presenter view, right-click on the slide and select presenter view.
Using single-monitor PowerPoint presenter view with Zoom
To use presenter view with Zoom, it’s easy with two monitors. All you need to do is share the screen with the slide on it.
However, if you only have one monitor, you probably don’t want to share your entire presenter view screen. Good news. You don’t have to. You can choose to share only the slide portion of your presenter view screen.
In Zoom, click on Share Screen, then select the Advanced tab.
Then click Portion of Screen, and click the Share button.
A green box will appear. Whatever is in the green box is what your Zoom audience will see. Click and drag the bar at the top of the box to move it. Click and drag the sides/bottom/corners to resize it.
Zoom will remember the box size and location from session to session.
Before closing your PowerPoint presentation, stop sharing. If you don’t, when you close your PowerPoint, whatever is inside that green box will appear to your Zoom audience. When I closed my PowerPoint just now without stopping my Zoom screen share, my email was inside the green box – viewable to everyone who was in my Zoom room. Fortunately, I was the only one in my Zoom room, so no harm done. When you are done sharing, always stop sharing before doing anything else. As an added precaution, close all programs you are not going to be using before starting your Zoom session.
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
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- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to print (Opens in new window)
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
1 thought on “ PowerPoint presenter view in Zoom—with one monitor ”
Perfect timing, Sue. I was JUST struggling with this trying to manage my single screen (eg, propping my cell on a soup can to record ppt on my monitor) and your step-by-step instructions streamlined the process. Thanks!
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3 Ways to Zoom a PowerPoint Slide in Presentation Mode
Sometimes you have to address huge crowds when you are presenting things. And when the number is really big, it becomes difficult for the audience at the back or the corners to follow the slide contents. Besides, if a detailed picture or some dense stuff is packed in, it gets too difficult for the presenter to
grab everyone’s attention
Now, what do you do under such circumstances? If I am correct, you create hidden slides to highlight certain portions of a slide and bring them up as zoomed in slides of specific portions. Many people choose to use zoomed animations.
Somehow, this does not appeal to me because it takes a lot of time and effort. So, I rely on dynamic zooming. I zoom in and zoom out the slides while the presentation is on. Yes, I am talking about Microsoft PowerPoint and I am sure you are thinking that there is no option to do such a thing. Indeed, there isn’t.
So, I will show you three external ways to do it. However, if you have already started using MS Office 2013 Suite, you will find a zooming option in it. If you haven’t yet, read on.
Using Windows Magnifier
Step 1: Click on the Start menu icon and search for magnifier . Hit Enter on the Magnifier option.
Step 2: Open the PowerPoint file in question and start the slide show (you can hit F5 to do that).
Step 3: Using the Alt + Tab combination to toggle among open applications, select the magnifier.
When you do that the magnifier will be placed right on top of the slide that is open in the presentation mode (see the image below).
Step 4: Now, you may use the magnifier to zoom in the contents. And then you may move the slide using you mouse like you would do in a normal case.
Using ZoomIt
ZoomIt is a wonderful third party application that can be used as a screen zoom and annotation tool for technical presentations. We will use it on PowerPoint.
Step 1: Download the tool, install it and have it up and running. It resides in the system tray when it is running.
Step 2: Run the PowerPoint presentation.
Step 3: Press Ctrl + 1 to enter zoom mode on ZoomIt. Then, you may use Ctrl + [Up/Down] arrow keys or mouse scroll to control the zoom levels. Press Ctrl + 1 or Esc to exit the zoom mode.
There’s lot more you can do and customize with the tool. To do that right-click on its system tray icon and choose Options.
Using Microsoft PowerPoint Helper
This tool is specially built for MS PowerPoint. You can download the tool here or visit its homepage .
Step 1: Keep the tool running and start the PowerPoint presentation.
Step 2: For zoom options press Ctrl + F11 and then use the mouse scroll. You may also take the right-click menu and choose any option as shown in the image below.
There is another interesting thing in this tool. You can shift the lower half of the contents of the screen upwards for the audience sitting at the back. To do that use keys Ctrl + F12 .
You may also change the hotkey combinations. The defaults are shown here (check the image below).
I hope you will find at least one of the above methods helpful. Tell us which one. If you are using some other trick, let us know in the comments section.
Last updated on 02 February, 2022
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
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Sandeep Agarwal
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Use zoom for PowerPoint to bring your presentation to life
If you would like to make your presentations more dynamic and exciting, try using zoom for PowerPoint .
To add a zoom, go to Insert > Zoom .
To summarize the entire presentation on one slide, choose Summary Zoom
To show selected slides only, choose Slide Zoom
To show a single section only, choose Section Zoom
When you create a zoom in PowerPoint, you can jump to and from specific slides, sections, and portions of your presentation in an order you decide while you're presenting.
Note: See the Requirements table below regarding which versions of PowerPoint support the features described in this article.
Summary zoom
A summary zoom is like a landing page where you can see the pieces of your presentation all at once. When you're presenting, you can use the zoom to go from one place in your presentation to another in any order you like. You can get creative, skip ahead, or revisit pieces of your slide show without interrupting the flow of your presentation.
Create a summary zoom
Go to Insert > Zoom .
Select Summary Zoom .
The Insert Summary Zoom dialog box opens.
Select slides you want to include in your summary zoom. These become the first slides of your summary zoom sections . To learn more about using sections in PowerPoint, see Organize your PowerPoint slides into sections .
If you already have sections in your presentation, the first slide of each section is preselected by default. If you don't want to include certain sections in your zoom, deselect them. Then, if you want PowerPoint to get rid of any sections you didn't include in your summary zoom, clear the check box next to Keep unused sections in your presentation . Don't worry—the slides in the sections you're discarding will still be part of your presentation.
Once you've selected all the slides you want to use for your summary zoom, select Insert . Your summary zoom is created, and it appears as a new slide just before the first slide you included in your summary zoom.
Add or remove sections from your summary zoom
Once you've created a summary zoom, you might still want to add or remove sections of your presentation. If you've made changes since first making your summary zoom that you want to capture, you don't have to start from scratch—just update your summary zoom.
Select your zoom, and then select the Format tab on the ribbon.
Select Edit Summary , choose the sections you want to have in your summary zoom, and then select Update .
Note: You won't be able to add or remove sections from your presentation in this view, just from your summary zoom.
A slide zoom can help you make your presentation more dynamic, allowing you to navigate freely between slides in any order you choose without interrupting the flow of your presentation. They're a good option for shorter presentations without lots of sections, but you can use slide zooms for lots of different presentation scenarios.
Slide zooms help you drill down into multiple pieces of information while feeling as though you're staying on the same canvas.
Create a slide zoom
Select Slide Zoom .
The Slide Zoom dialog box opens. Select the slides you want to use in your slide zoom.
Once you've selected all the slides you want to use, select Insert . Your slide zoom is created.
Tip: If you want to, you can create a slide zoom quickly by simply selecting the slide you want from the thumbnail pane and dragging it onto the slide you'd like to have your slide zoom on. This way, you can create slide zooms and change them quickly, and arrange them however you like simply by clicking and dragging.
Change the preview image of your slide zoom
Your slide zoom by default will be a preview thumbnail image of the slide, but you can choose a new image from your PC or the web to represent the section or slide you'll be going to.
Select Change Image to choose a new picture from the web or your PC to use instead of the thumbnail.
Choose or search the web for the image you want. When you've selected the image you want, select Insert .
You can also choose various looks for your zooms from Zoom Styles —you can change the border, add visual effects, or pick from any of the border and effect combinations in the gallery.
Section zoom
A section zoom is a link to a section already in your presentation. You can use them to go back to sections you want to really emphasize, or to highlight how certain pieces of your presentation connect. To learn more about using sections in PowerPoint, see Organize your PowerPoint slides into sections .
Create a section zoom
Select Section Zoom .
Select the section you want to use as a section zoom.
Select Insert . Your section zoom will be created.
Tip: If you want to, you can create a section zoom quickly by simply selecting the section name you want in the thumbnail pane and dragging it onto the slide you'd like to have a section zoom on.
Change the preview image of your section zoom
Your section zoom by default will be a preview thumbnail image of the slide, but you can choose a new image from your PC or the web to represent the section or slide you'll be going to.
More zoom options
Zoom for PowerPoint truly lights up when you make it your own. Select the Format tab of the ribbon to get to the Zoom Tools , which you can choose to create just the look and feel you're going for when you present.
Choose to return to the home page or continue through your presentation
If you want to return to the zoom slide after viewing sections or slides in your summary, slide, or section zoom, make sure the Return to Zoom check box is selected. If you want to move on to the next slide after viewing part of your zoom, uncheck it.
(If you're working with a summary zoom or a section zoom, you'll return to the zoom slide by default when you're presenting after going to the section. If you're using a slide zoom, you'll move on to the next slide by default after viewing your slide zoom.)
Make the background of your zoom transparent
Another way you can change the look of your zoom is by choosing to adopt the background of the slide where your zoom lives to make the zoom almost indistinguishable from the main canvas while you present. Select Zoom Background to make your summary, section, or slide zooms blend in to their home slide.
In the Zoom Styles group, select Zoom Background . The zoom will adopt the background of the home slide.
Change the transition options of your zoom
By default, your zooms will use the zoom transition when you present, which is what helps make the zooms feel so lively. However, if you don't want to use the zoom transition, or if you want to change the duration of the transition, you can do so.
In the Zoom Options group, make sure the box next to Zoom Transition is checked if you want to use the zoom transition when presenting your zoom.
If you don't want to use the zoom transition when presenting, uncheck the box next to Zoom Transition .
To change the timing of the zoom transition, use the up and down arrows next to the Duration indicator to change how long the zoom transition lasts.
Requirements
See the following table for details on the minimum version numbers required in PowerPoint to create or play zoom links.
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3 Ways to Zoom a PowerPoint Slide in Presentation Mode
Giving presentations with PowerPoint slides is common in business settings. However, small text and details on slides can sometimes be difficult for audiences to see. Fortunately, PowerPoint has easy zooming features to magnify parts of slides during presentations. Here are 3 simple methods to zoom in on PowerPoint slides while presenting.
1. Use the Magnifying Glass Icon
The easiest way to zoom in on PowerPoint slides is using the magnifying glass icon. When you start the slideshow, a magnifying glass icon appears in the bottom left corner.
- Click on the magnifying glass icon during slideshow mode. This zooms in the center of the slide by 200%.
- Click and drag the slide contents with your mouse or trackpad to move the zoomed area.
- Press the Esc key to exit zoom mode.
This magnifying glass zoom method allows precise control during presentations. You can fluidly zoom around important details as you speak about them.
2. Set the Zoom Level Beforehand
You can also preset zoom levels on slides before starting the presentation. This allows zooms to happen automatically.
To preset zoom levels:
- Select the slide you want to zoom in on.
- Go to the View tab.
- Click on Zoom and enter a percentage like 300%.
- Click on Fit to reset the zoom level later.
When presenting, the slide will start zoomed in at 300% so the audience immediately sees the details. You can also add multiple zooms on one slide to zoom in further.
3. Use Zoom Slides
For more advanced zooming, use the Zoom Slide feature. Zoom slides act like slide thumbnails that you can click to “zoom in” on.
To add Zoom Slides:
- Go to Insert > Zoom > Slide Zoom.
- Select the slides you want zoomed.
- Reorder the slides if desired.
- Click Insert to add the Zoom Slide.
Now when presenting, you can jump between slides in any order by clicking the zoomed slide thumbnails. This lets you dynamically zoom to important information.
Presentation Zoom Tips for Engaging Audiences
Utilizing PowerPoint’s zoom features grabs audience attention on key data. But bad zooms can ruin presentations. Here are 5 tips for effective zooming:
1. Zoom in Multiple Times – Zooming once often isn’t enough. Use multiple zooms on one slide to methodically reveal granular details.
2. Use Subtle Transitions – Harsh zoom transitions are distracting. Apply subtle PowerPoint transitions so zooms are smooth.
3. Focus on Key Points – Don’t zoom randomly. Deliberately highlight important figures, stats, or paragraphs.
4. Crop Content – Zoomed info can get cut off awkwardly. Pre-crop pictures and charts to neatly fit the zoomed layout.
5. Use a Remote – Remotes allow easy zoom navigation without having to return to your laptop.
Why Zooming Improves Presentation Delivery
Zooming strategically improves the delivery of your presentation in 3 key ways:
1. Engagement – Seamless zooming grabs and holds audience attention during key moments. This boosts information retention.
2. Clarity – Magnifying tiny chart labels, values, and notes makes details clearer for the audience. This prevents confusion.
3. Flexibility – Jumping between non-sequential slides lets you adapt the presentation flow on the fly. You can respond to audience reactions.
In summary, PowerPoint’s zoom capabilities make presenting data more engaging and impactful. With a bit of practice, anyone can utilize zooms to deliver slick, dynamic presentations. Test out these 3 simple zoom methods at your next talk!
About The Author
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Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts – Claim Your FREE Training Module and Get Your Time Back!
How to zoom in on PowerPoint slides (3 different techniques)
- PowerPoint Tutorials
- Shortcuts & Hacks
- December 27, 2017
How do you zoom in on something in PowerPoint without PowerPoint first centering in on your slide?
This was a great question we got from subscriber Derek (thanks Derek!).
And it’s not so intuitive…
For example, let’s say you want to zoom in on a specific icon or two to edit them, like in the picture below. How do you do it without scrolling around, driving yourself crazy?
In this tutorial, you’ll learn 3 different ways to zoom in PowerPoint, plus a few sneaky places you might never have thought of zooming in PowerPoint before.
Looking for the NEW Zoom Transition?
If you want to learn all about the brand new Zoom Transition in PowerPoint that was added in 2016, see our other guide here .
The problem with the standard PowerPoint zoom
The problem with the standard PowerPoint zoom, is that PowerPoint automatically goes to the center of your slide as you zoom in.
The center zoom is great if the object that you want to edit is in the center of your slide, but if it’s not, that means you have to use the scroll bars to find what you are looking for.
The problem with the scroll bars is that they are hard to control, often jumping you over to the next slide as you try to find the object that you want to edit.
So instead of making your life easier (which is what they were designed to do), they make it harder.
3 Ways to Zoom in on an Object
There are three different ways you can zoom in on a PowerPoint slide:
- The View tab Zoom command (zoom dialog box)
- The Zoom slider at the bottom of the screen
- The CTRL + mouse spin wheel shortcut (my personal favorite because it’s universal, as you’ll see in a second)
If you are looking for the new zoom transition, you can learn more about what that is on the Microsoft blog here .
Pro Tip: Use the ‘Fit to Window’ tools
After zooming in on something in PowerPoint, you can quickly refit your PowerPoint window in one of two ways:
- ‘Fit slide to current window’ in the lower right-hand corner your screen
- ‘Fit to Window’ in the View tab
Zoom in on a Picture in PowerPoint
To zoom in a on a specific picture (or object) in PowerPoint, all you need to do is first select the object before you zoom. Once you select an object, any of the 3 zoom methods described above will zoom you specifically in on the object:
- The zoom dialog box
- The zoom slider
- Using CTRL plus your mouse spin wheel
This zoom trick works on anything that you can select in PowerPoint, including zooming in on a table, zooming in on a chart, zooming in on a text box, etc.
Note: If you are trying to zoom in on a picture to show a specific part of it, you can also just crop your picture down to the desired piece.
To learn all about how to crop pictures in PowerPoint, read our step-by-step guide here .
If you have multiple objects that you want to zoom into and edit in PowerPoint, the fastest way to do that is to:
- Select and zoom in on your first object
- Edit or format your first object
- Hit Fit Slide to Current Window
- Select and zoom in on your second object
- Edit or format your second object
If you have more than two objects, you can continue zooming in and out of your slide in this way to make all of your adjustments.
PowerPoint Thumbnail Zoom
Besides zooming in on a slide while editing it, you can also use the CTRL + mouse spin wheel shortcut to zoom in on the thumbnail images of your PowerPoint slides on the left.
Zooming in on the thumbnail images allows you to control how much of your presentation you see, and how much slide editing space you give yourself on the right.
Zooming in allows you to get a big thumbnail image of each of the preceding and following slides, while zooming out gives you an idea of how many slides are in your presentation.
Slide Sorter View Zoom
Another place you can zoom in PowerPoint to see the overall flow of your presentation, is Slide Sorter View. To open the Slide Sorter View, simply click the slide Sorter command at the bottom of your screen.
All three zoom methods work in the Slide Sorter View:
Zooming in and out of the Slide Sorter View is useful when you want to see the overall flow of your slides within your presentation at varying levels of detail.
Slide Show View zoom
Two other places you can zoom in PowerPoint are the Slide Show Mode (F5) and Presenter View (SHIFT + F5) of your presentation. To see these PowerPoint shortcuts in action, check out the video below.
Start Slide Show PowerPoint Shortcuts
There are four keyboard shortcuts for starting slide show in PowerPoint:
Once you are in one of the presentation views of your slides, you can zoom in or zoom out by either using the CTRL + mouse spin wheel shortcut (if you have a mouse), or you can use the keyboard shortcuts listed below.
- Zooming in allows you to focus on a specific section of your slide (focusing your audience’s attention on that section).
- Zooming out allows you to see all the slides in your presentation as thumbnails.
This is often an easier way to navigate the slides in your presentation if someone wants to go back and see something, rather than trying to remember where it was in your presentation.
Knowing how to properly zoom in and out of the objects you want to edit in PowerPoint will save you a ton of time.
The key to remember is that PowerPoint will use the object you have selected as the focal point of your zoom.
If you enjoyed this tutorial and want to learn more about our other PowerPoint tutorials and free resources, visit us here .
What’s next?
Related articles, about the author.
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Using Powerpoint Presentation Mode with Zoom What it is If you are in the habit of accessing your notes from the Powerpoint presenter view, you may find it hard to do while Zooming because you end up displaying your notes along with the slideshow. Here's how to do that in Zoom. Note that these instructions are for folks wih just one screen.
In Zoom share the screen that has the slides on it Deliver your presentation Full detailed article I have an article with full details, including screen captures, on PowerPoint Presenter View with 2 screens in Windows. Video The steps are very similar to using 2 screens in Teams because sharing a screen is similar in Teams or Zoom.
How to Present on Zoom: Google Slides and Powerpoint Presentation Guide & Tips Sushan October 29, 2020 Presenting in front of your peers and superiors has to be one of the most daunting tasks ever. You're never quite sure about the feedback you'd be getting, which only adds to the tension.
Instructions for PowerPoints with presenter mode on zoom: Depending on the classroom, you may be using your own computer or a computer in the room (i.e. BSBE 115). For classrooms with no computer (Butler 103, 309, BSBW 025, 405, HELD 117), there will be a webcam present if needed.
Option 1: Share your entire screen/desktop This is the default method that most people choose because it is the closest to what we would do if we were in a meeting room with the participants sitting around the table. In Zoom, you choose the sharing option called Screen.
There are three methods you can use to screen share a PowerPoint presentation in a Zoom meeting. If you have dual monitors, you can share a slide show while viewing the presenter's notes on another monitor.
In PowerPoint, press Alt+F5 to start Presenter View preview at the beginning of your presentation. You will see Presenter View on your screen with the slide, your notes, and what the next slide/build will be. Presenter View takes up the whole screen, so you will not see the controls for your Zoom meeting. Presenter View Preview always starts at ...
Open your PowerPoint presentation. Start or Join a Zoom meeting. Knowing how to use Zoom like an expert makes this step easy. Click on the green Share Screen icon in the bottom toolbar. Under Entire Screen, select your screen, ensure Share system audio is enabled (if you plan to share audio on Zoom ), and click Share.
This will display the presentation in full screen presenter view on our computer and within the Zoom room. NOTE: On Windows you will need to selected Play from Start or Play from Current Slide. The presentation will display full screen. You will then right-click anywhere on the presentation slide and choose Show Presenter View.
At the bottom of the Zoom meeting window, click "Share Screen." If you're using a single monitor, you will immediately start sharing your screen. If you're using dual monitors, you'll need to click the screen that your presentation will be shared on. In our case, that will be "Screen 2." To begin sharing that screen, click "Share" at the bottom ...
There are 4 available video layouts when no one in the meeting is screen sharing: Speaker view, Gallery view, Immersive view, and floating thumbnail window. When someone is screen sharing, you can use Side-by-side mode or view the screen share with Speaker view.
Kinda. To access the feature (beta at time of writing) click the "Advanced" tab in the "Share Screen" popup, and select "Slides as Virtual Background". This is what it looks like from the attendee's perspective. And yes, you appear twice on the screen. Once on top of your slides, and again beside them.
In Zoom, click on Share Screen, then select the Advanced tab. Then click Portion of Screen, and click the Share button. A green box will appear. Whatever is in the green box is what your Zoom audience will see. Click and drag the bar at the top of the box to move it. Click and drag the sides/bottom/corners to resize it.
Hold Command and keep tapping Tab until the Zoom icon is highlighted. In Windows, try Windows-Tab to show all open windows. Click on the Zoom meeting window. In Zoom, Share Desktop/Screen 2.*. It should show your slide, full screen. If desired, click and drag any Zoom windows back to your laptop screen.
Zoom Products Meetings How to Share a PowerPoint Presenter mode screen so... How to Share a PowerPoint Presenter mode screen so attendees only see the slides Go to solution dukiebluedoc Listener 2024-01-09 09:04 AM I'm using the latest Ppt on a Mac (Sonoma) and have a paid Zoom account. I have a single large monitor.
Zoom allows you to share different screens with your meeting participants. You can use PowerPoint to present slides in a clean visual format; however, how to...
Zoom allows folks viewing a screen share to get out of Full Screen mode. Share this with your students. While you are in a meeting Pressing escape key gets you out of Full Screen mode. Settings for all meetings. Go to Zoom preferences menu; Go to the General tab at top and uncheck the box next do "Enter full screen automatically when viewing ...
It resides in the system tray when it is running. Step 2: Run the PowerPoint presentation. Step 3: Press Ctrl + 1 to enter zoom mode on ZoomIt. Then, you may use Ctrl + [Up/Down] arrow keys or ...
One of the most common questions that has been asked about presenting PowerPoint slides in a Zoom meeting is how to use Presenter View if you only have one screen. Presenters who use this mode have been accustomed to adding their speaking notes in the Notes section below the slides.
To add a zoom, go to Insert > Zoom. To summarize the entire presentation on one slide, choose Summary Zoom To show selected slides only, choose Slide Zoom To show a single section only, choose Section Zoom Overview
Giving presentations with PowerPoint slides is common in business settings. However, small text and details on slides can sometimes be difficult for audiences to see. Fortunately, PowerPoint has easy zooming features to magnify parts of slides during presentations. Here are 3 simple methods to zoom in on PowerPoint slides while presenting. 1.
For PowerPoint, you have to share the Slide Show window or the screen that is showing the slides full screen. You can use Slide Show mode or Presenter View to display the slides full screen. This feature does not work if you share the slides in Reading View in the PowerPoint window.
I have the same problem and use a powerful Mac computer. It worked fine until about 5 - 6 months ago. The transitions and animations are choppy and slides hang. I now use regular slideshow in zoom and it works, but loses the advantage of notes in the presentation. And yes, I do the advanced share with portion of screen.
Start Presenter View from the current slide. ALT + SHIFT + F5. Once you are in one of the presentation views of your slides, you can zoom in or zoom out by either using the CTRL + mouse spin wheel shortcut (if you have a mouse), or you can use the keyboard shortcuts listed below. Zoom in (Slide Show Mode) CTRL + =.