How to make an interactive Google Slides presentation

The Google Slides presentation tool is part of Google’s free office suite. Available to everyone in just a few clicks through your Google account, it’s hard to find a more accessible option! Being easy to use is a true advantage: anyone can learn to use this digital presentation tool. But this simplicity comes at a price: there’s only so much you can do with Google Slides.

The question is: can one really make an interactive presentation with Google Slides? Continue reading this article to discover all our tips on how to get started!

Google Slides Interactivity: pros and cons

Compared to other presentation tools, Google Slides lacks customization features. Slide animations, for example, are quite limited. The choice of themes or fonts available is also limited. This makes creating truly personalized and original presentations very hard.

However, Google Slides has certain unique advantages in terms of interactivity. The main one is that, because it belongs to the Google suite –which is free and easy to access– a presentation can include links to other types of documents and be shared with your coworkers (or classroom), who’ll be able to access it from their own device, view it or modify it.

Here are a few tips to make your presentation more interactive.

Tips to make an interactive presentation with Google Slides

Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are an effective tool to quickly navigate your presentation and avoid wasting time. With just one click, you can display relevant content depending on the situation: a web page, a video, or another slide, for example. This is especially true for Google Slides, which is a web-based tool. So, insert links to make your presentation more dynamic and fun!

To add a hyperlink to your presentation, the first step is to select the element (text, image, etc.) where you want to place it, then click on Insert > Link, or simply right-click and choose Link. You can then choose to link the text to a web page, another Google document, or even select a slide within your own presentation.

Hyperlinks are particularly useful when sharing your Google Slides presentation: those with access to your slides will be able to navigate the presentation themselves by clicking on the links you’ve carefully created!

Video or audio files

The Insert menu offers many other elements you can add, including videos and audio files. This is the best way to bring variety to a presentation, provide your students or team with different kinds of activities  and capture the audience's attention.

In the Insert menu, select Video or Audio. You will then need to choose the file you want to add to your slide. Typically, you’ll need to upload the file to Google Drive beforehand, but you can also directly insert a YouTube video.

Google Polls

One other type of content you can insert links to is Google Forms. This survey tool allows you to directly collect your audience’s opinion, send quizzes or collect reviews. Since Google Slides doesn’t have a built-in quiz option (you’d need an external tool like Wooclap for that), this feature could be particularly useful!

Follow the same process as the one to add hyperlinks: select Link in the Insert menu or the context menu, and paste the link to your form. While it won’t be directly embedded in the slide, users of the document can easily access your form. That’s the advantage of the Google suite!

Even more interactive presentations thanks to Wooclap

If Google Slides no longer satisfies all your needs, why not give Wooclap a try? Designed to make presentations more attractive, interactive and engaging, Wooclap offers a wide range of features and templates to help you up your presentation game: over 20 types of questions to create quiz tests and polls, collaborative tools for teamwork, or AI-based aids for more efficient work! Several templates and features are included in its free plan (click here to learn more about our plans).

What’s even better: it offers an integration to Google Slides as well as other interactive presentation tools such as PowerPoint. This will allow you to use all these programs’ features directly in your Wooclap presentation! Further details about the Google Slides integration here.

Interactive presentation must-haves

Now you know everything there is to know to start creating your interactive presentations with Google Slides. In  general, bear these aspects in mind when you begin:

• Your public’s engagement is directly linked to your presentation’s interactivity. By encouraging reflection and active participation, you will create a positive learning environment for your students and make a lasting impression on your audience (students, colleagues, etc.).
• Variety is key. Animated content, interactive activities and quizzes will set the pace for your presentation, especially if your presentation is packed with information (plus, it is time to say goodbye to text-heavy slides)!
• Go easy! Excessive visual elements, multimedia content or animated slides could confuse your audience –and that would be counterproductive. Moderation and the perfect balance are key!

For further details on creating interactive presentations, check out our article on the topic!