zoom presentation in background

IT Teaching Resources

Classroom resources, how to use the slides as virtual background zoom feature, the new zoom presentation share screening option allows your meeting to be better accessible to students as well as less distracting, what does this look like in a classroom.

In Zoom version 5.2, a new feature was introduced that allows you to share your slide decks professionally. Similar to the virtual background feature, the “Slides as a Virtual Background” feature will enable you to overlay your video (alongside readjusting the size window and moving it around) on top of your slides.

This allows presenters more flexibility when it comes to sharing slide decks and gives them the freedom to control the “screen real estate” and how much certain things can take up space compared to others. Using this feature is highly recommended as it allows students to see both you and your presentation better.

In addition, this also provides a smoother transition into share screening as you can still see the presenter without taking the emphasis away from them. This can be potentially less distracting as participants would still be seeing the presenter within the same window (and not in a separate one like in the regular share screening option).

Tools to make this happen:

To start using this feature, click on Share Screen (as you would normally) and then choose Advanced from the menu that pops up and then Slides as Virtual Background. You will then be prompted to select your presentation file. It’s also important to note that the only acceptable formats that work with this feature (as of now) are Keynote and PowerPoint presentations.

The below GIF shows the resize and move aspects of this feature in action!

External resources :

Present with PowerPoint as Virtual Background in Zoom Meeting (Video Tutorial)

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How to Change Background on Zoom

Hide a messy room from your next Zoom video conference

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What to Know

• Pre-meeting: Go to Settings > Virtual Background > select an image.
• Mid-meeting: Go to Stop Video > click the Up arrow > Choose Virtual Background > choose an image > close Settings .
• Add your own images: Settings > Virtual Background > click plus sign next to Choose Virtual Background > find your image and add it.

This article explains how to add or change a Zoom virtual background before or during meetings. Includes information for adding your own images to Zoom to use as a background.

You can enable Virtual Backgrounds for Zoom on PC, Mac, and iOS (iPhone 8 or later, iPad Pro and 5th and 6th generation of iPad 9.7-inch or later). Older devices can do this but you'll need a greenscreen to accomplish it. The Zoom.us support site offers full details on what's required of your system.

How to Add or Change Zoom's Virtual Background Feature

It's recommended that you use a reasonably high quality webcam and avoid wearing clothing that are the same color as the virtual background. Watch the video or follow the written instructions below to get your background set up.

Assuming your PC or Mac has the power to cope with the virtual background feature, it's easy to set up. Here's how to do it, and hide all that clutter behind you.

Open the Zoom desktop client.

You may need to log in at this stage.

Click the Settings cog.

Click Virtual Background .

Click on a virtual background of your choice.

If your PC/Mac is powerful enough, the virtual background will be immediately applied to your image. 

If you have a lower spec system, set up a green screen behind you and tick the I have a green screen box to see your virtual background correctly.

How to Use Zoom's Virtual Background Feature

How to add a zoom virtual background mid meeting.

If you're halfway through a meeting and you've realized you need to hide your background, there's a simple way of doing it. Here's what to do.

During the call, click the up arrow next to Stop Video.

Click Choose Virtual Background .

Select a Virtual Background from the list of available options.

Close Settings .

The virtual background should now be in place, hiding anything in the actual background of your call.

How to Add Your Own Images to Zoom Virtual Background

Zoom comes with its own supply of virtual backgrounds, but it's possible to add your own images. Here's how to do it.

On the Zoom app, click the Settings cog.

Click the plus sign next to Choose Virtual Background .

Browse to find the picture you want to add.

Click Open .

The picture is now your virtual background. 

To delete the background, click on the x on the image thumbnail. 

Why Won't My Virtual Background Work?

To use Zoom's video chat background feature, you need a fairly high spec PC or Mac to enable it. That means your Mac or PC will need a very recent version of its operating system and higher-end quad-core processor.

If you have an older, lower spec system then you'll require placing a physical green screen behind you for Zoom conference to be able to pick up on it and translate your background to a more aesthetically pleasing backdrop than what was there before. 

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How-To Geek

How to create a custom zoom background.

Even if you have zero Photoshop skills, it's simple to create your own custom Zoom background. Follow along while we do it!

Quick Links

Create a custom zoom background, use your custom zoom background.

People often use Zoom for work meetings and conference calls , but it doesn’t have to be all work and no play! You can create your own custom background image  and stand out from the crowd while remaining professional.

Professional designers can, of course, create their own Zoom backgrounds in software like Photoshop, but not all of us have that kind of talent. Luckily, there are online applications at your disposal that require little-to-no experience to use. Plus, a majority of them are free.

Related: How to Set Up a Zoom Meeting

We’ll be using Canva. It’s extremely easy to use, has a free plan, provides a large library of images, and offers a ton of editing tools. Before you can use it, though, you’ll have to create an account .

After you set that up, head over to Canva's Zoom Virtual Background Maker  and click "Create a Zoom Virtual Background."

You’ll now be in the "Templates" tab of the console. Here, you’ll find some custom images with text and special effects. You can also browse under the "Photos" tab to find an image you like and edit it. Most of these are free; if not, you’ll see the "Pro" label.

If you want to upload and use your own photo, just click the "Uploads" tab.

Next, click "Upload an Image or Video," and then drag one over from your desktop.

It only takes a few seconds for your photo to upload. When it appears, click your image.

Your image will appear on the canvas at the right and you can now freely edit it. If you click the "Elements" tab, you'll see stickers, charts, lines, gradients, and a bunch of other stuff you can use in your image. We’re adding a gradient element to our image.

To resize an element, select it on the canvas, and then click and drag the corners. To move it, click and drag the entire element to the appropriate location.

You can also add content to your image under the "Text" tab. Here, you can explore different fonts, and add a heading, subheading, or some text to your image.

We’re adding a little bit of everything to our image.

When you’re finished editing your image, click the Download icon at the top right.

In the drop-down menu, select the file type you want to save your image as, and then choose a resolution. Click "Download" when you're ready to save your background image.

After your image downloads, you can use it as your Zoom background.

Related: How to Use a Custom Background in Gmail

Now that you’ve created your custom background, let’s see what it looks like in Zoom . To do this, open the Zoom client on your Windows 10 PC or Mac . Click the Settings gear icon at the top right.

In the settings window, click "Virtual Background."

In the "Choose Virtual Background" section, click the plus sign (+) to open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac).

Navigate to your custom image on your computer and select it. Once it's added to Zoom, it will appear in the background of all your video calls.

You'll now stand out from the crowd!

Related: How to Hide Your Background During Video Calls in Zoom

Sharing your screen or desktop on Zoom

With Zoom, share your screen, desktop, or other content during a meeting, even while your video is on. 

Screen sharing during Zoom meetings is designed with a collaborative environment in mind. This feature gives only the users, who choose to share their screen, full control over their own screen and what other meeting participants can or cannot see. Additionally, meeting hosts cannot monitor your screen activities unless you choose to share your screen.

Zoom video conferences allow you to share content including:

• E ntire desktop or phone screen
• O ne or more specific applications
• A portion of your screen
• Content from a second camera
• A locally stored video
• Audio played from device
• iPhone/iPad screen
• The host can enable or disable participants' ability to share their screen .
• For Basic accounts, screen sharing is set to Only Host by default.
• In a webinar, only the host, co-hosts, and panelists can share their screen.
• If you're using the desktop client, you can show Zoom windows during screen share.
• For larger meetings and webinars, Zoom recommends starting your event and then beginning to share your screen. 

Prerequisites for video conference sharing

• Screen sharing enabled
• Zoom desktop client for Windows, macOS, or Linux:  Global minimum version  or higher
• Zoom mobile app for Android or iOS:  Global minimum version  or higher
• Zoom Web App
• Linux sessions utilizing Wayland can only share an entire desktop or whiteboard. To share just a specific application, you need to launch your Linux session with Xorg instead.
• Ensure that you have Android 10.0 or higher.

How to use desktop screen sharing

Windows | macos, sharing your desktop, screen, or content.

To share your screen or content:

• Basic : Share your entire desktop, specific application windows, whiteboard , or iPhone/iPad screen. Hold the Shift key (macOS) or the Ctrl key (Windows) to select more than one application. Note : Users can select multiple desktop programs at once instead of sharing their entire desktop, but all selected programs must be on the same screen to be visible. 

• These options may be disabled by account Admins, so available options may vary.
• Alternatively, you can open the file in a web browser then share the browser window. For example, to share a Google Doc, open the Doc in Chrome, then share the Chrome window. The end result is the same as using the sharing options in the Files tab.

• Optimize for video clip : Check this if you will be sharing a video clip in full screen mode. Do not check this otherwise, as it may cause the shared screen to be blurry.
• Share to breakout rooms : Allows the host or co-host to share their screen from the main session directly into all open breakout rooms .
• Click Share . When the sharing process is started and 80% of devices acknowledge receiving the shared screen, you will see a notification banner stating Participants can now see your shared screen , or whatever you have chosen to share.

• Zoom will automatically switch to full screen to optimize the shared screen view. To exit full screen, click Exit Full Screen in the top-right corner or press the Esc key.
• To disable automatic full screen when viewing a shared screen, adjust the Window size when screen sharing behavior in your desktop client settings .
• If you selected Content from 2nd Camera , click Switch Camera in the top-left corner to switch the shared camera.
• The preview of your shared screen is available when doing a simultaneous screen share, and sharing a video .
• Advanced screen sharing settings , controlling who and how many can share, as well as who can interrupt someone else's share, are also available for the host. 

Controls when screen sharing

When you start sharing your screen, the meeting controls will move into a menu that you can drag around your screen. Note : Some of the options detailed below may not be visible due to account admin restrictions or the feature is only visible to the meeting host or co-host .

• Mute/Unmute : Mute or unmute your microphone.
• Start/Stop Video : Start or stop your in-meeting video.
• Security : Access in-meeting security options .

• Polling : Allows you to create, edit, and launch your polls . The options to create or launch polls will open up the Zoom web portal in your default browser. When the poll closes, you can view the results and can download the full poll report. If a poll has already been created, both host and co-host can launch the poll, but only the host can edit or add polls to the meeting.
• New Share : Start a new screen share. You will be prompted to select which screen you want to share again.
• Pause Share : Pause your current shared screen.
• Annotate : Display annotation tools for drawing, adding text, and so on.
• Chat : Open the chat window .
• Record : Start recording locally or to the cloud .
• Meeting Info : Shows the current meeting's ID , host, passcode , invite link, your participant ID, and encryption status.
• Closed Captio n / Live Transcript (only available to the host): If you have enabled closed captioning and live transcription for your account, click here to access those options.
• Breakout Rooms : Start breakout rooms .
• Enable annotation for others : Allow or prevent the participants from annotating on your shared screen .
• Show/Hide Names of Annotators : Show or hide the participants' name when they are annotating on a screen share. If set to show, the participant's name will briefly display beside their annotation.
• Hide / Show video panel
• Hide / Show Floating Meeting Control
• Share Sound
• Optimize for video clip Note : Do not enable this setting if you are not sharing a full screen video clip, as it will blur your screen share. This should be enabled/disabled before and after the video you wish to play.
• Live on Facebook : Broadcast your meeting live on Facebook .
• Live on Workplace by Facebook : Broadcast your meeting live on Workplace by Facebook .
• Live on Youtube : Broadcast your meeting live on Youtube .
• Live on Custom Live Streaming Service : Broadcast your meeting live on a custom streaming platform .
• End Meeting: Leave the meeting or end the meeting for all participants.

How to show Zoom windows during screen share

By default, the Zoom window is not shared while sharing your screen. Showing the Zoom window during screen share can be useful if a participant is helping you use Zoom.

To show Zoom windows during screen share:

• Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
• In the navigation menu, click Settings .
• In the In Meeting (Basic) section, make sure Show Zoom windows during screen share is enabled. This setting will allow the setting to appear in the desktop client.
• Sign out of the Zoom desktop client and sign back in. Alternatively, you can exit the client and re-open it.
• Click your profile picture then click Settings .
• Click the Share Screen tab and make sure Show Zoom windows during screen share is enabled.

When using dual monitors

If you are using a dual-monitor setup, you can turn on the dual monitors feature to see the screen sharing on one monitor and participants on the second.

Note : On macOS 10.15 Catalina, you need to allow Zoom access to screen recording to share your screen. You can do this in your System Preferences . Select the Security & Privacy option, click the Privacy tab, scroll down to Screen Recording , and finally check the option for zoom.us .

Share your desktop, screen or content

• Sharing from an iPhone/iPad is not supported on Linux.
• Linux sessions utilizing Wayland can only share an entire desktop or whiteboard. In order to share just a specific application, you will need to launch your Linux session with Xorg instead.
• Optimize Screen Sharing for Video Clip : Check this if you will be sharing a video clip in full screen mode. Do not check this otherwise, as it may cause the shared screen to be blurry.
• Click Share . When the sharing process is started, you will see a notification banner stating Participants can now see your shared screen , or whatever you have chosen to share.
• Zoom will automatically switch to full screen to optimize the shared screen view. To exit full-screen, click Exit Full Screen in the top-right corner or press the Esc key.

When you start sharing your screen, the meeting controls will move into a menu that you can drag around your screen.

Note : Some of the options detailed below may not be visible due to account admin restrictions or the feature is only visible to the meeting host or co-host .

• Annotate : Display annotation tools for drawing, adding text, etc.
• Chat : Open the chat window.
• Record on this Computer : Start a local recording .
• Record to the Cloud : Start a cloud recording .
• Meeting Info : Shows the current meeting's ID, host, passcode, invite link, your participant ID, and encryption status.
• Allow/Disable participants annotation : Allow or prevent the participants from annotating on your shared screen .

• Audio Settings : Open the audio settings in the client .
• Video Settings : Open the video options in the client .
• Share Computer Sound
• Optimize Share for Full-screen Video Clip Note : Do not enable this setting if you are not sharing a video clip, as it will blur your screen share. This should be enabled/disabled before and after the video you wish to play.
• End Meeting : Leave the meeting or end the meeting for all participants.
• Select the browser tab, app window, or entire desktop.  Note : The process and window for choosing what to share varies slightly by web browser.  Follow your browser's on-screen prompts to choose what to share. 
• (Optional) In the bottom of the share window, click the Also share tab audio toggle to include any sound played by this browser tab in the meeting.  Note : This option is currently only available with the Chrome web browser. 
• When sharing an application, live changes made to a document may not appear for others. If you experience this issue, stop sharing and restart the share or share your entire screen to avoid this issue. 
• For Windows 10 users, if several applications are open, a limited number will be listed as an option to share. If the application you want to share is not listed, close unnecessary applications and try again.  

Note : Some of these options can be disabled in your account settings, under Integrations .

How to share content

To share content:

• Tap the type of content that you want to share.
• Photos : Share a photo from your file manager or photo apps (e.g. Google Photos). Depending on the apps installed on your Android device, you may see different share options.
• Documents : Select a locally stored PDF or image to share it.
• Box , Dropbox , Google Drive , Microsoft OneDrive , or Microsoft OneDrive for Business : Select a file to share from the selected file sharing service. You will need to grant Zoom access to your account. Note : Only PDFs and images are supported.
• Website URL : Enter a URL to open a browser and share the website.
• Bookmark : Share bookmarks stored in the Zoom app. Note : Bookmarks are not synced with your account and are deleted when you sign-out of the mobile app. 
• Screen : Share a view of your phone's entire screen.
• Camera : Allows sharing of your video camera or an attached webcam.
• Share Whiteboard : Share a whiteboard you can annotate on.

How to share your screen

To share your entire screen, including any application on your Android device:

• Tap Screen. The Android system will display a notification informing you of what the screen share will have access to.
• Tap Start Now to confirm. The screen share will start and Zoom will continue to run in the background. You can now choose the app that you would like to share.
• At the bottom of your screen, tap Annotate to open the annotation tools or tap Stop Share to stop sharing and go back to meeting controls.

How to share device audio

Note : Ensure that the sound generated by the app you are sharing is allowed to be captured by non-system applications. Some apps may block sound from being shared for security and privacy reasons.

To share device audio:

• Follow the instructions to begin sharing your screen .
• Tap the Share Audio option, found between the options to Annotate and Stop Share .
• Tap again to disable or tap Stop Share to end the share completely.

On iOS, you can share the following options:

• Screen (requires iOS 11 or higher)
• iCloud Drive
• Box , Dropbox , Google Drive , Microsoft OneDrive , or Microsoft OneDrive for Business : Select a file to share from the selected file sharing service. You will need to grant Zoom access to your account. Only PDFs and images are supported.
• Website URLs
• Bookmark Note : Bookmarks are not synced with your account and are deleted when you sign-out of the mobile app. 
• Whiteboard (iPad only)

Note : Some of these options can be disabled in your Account settings, under Integrations . If you need to share your entire screen on an older version of Zoom, see sharing iOS Applications .

• Tap the type of content that you want to share. For example, if you select Google Drive, this will bring up a series of documents that can be shared.
• Select the document you want to share and then Share in the top right corner.
• The content is now shared into the meeting.
• You cannot annotate when sharing your entire screen into the meeting through an iOS device. If you need to annotate when sharing an entire iOS screen, see sharing iOS Applications .
• While sharing your screen, you can hide your self-view of your video by swiping the video preview window towards the edge of the screen. 

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

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 .

An item for each slide you selected in step 3 is added to the slide. Select each item in turn and drag to arrange them on the slide. 

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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‎2024-04-26 06:11 AM

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