PowerPoint online: A few more willing recruits line up for the anti-PowerPoint brigade. But as new fronts continue to come together in a coalition of PowerPoint alternatives.
10 Tips for Using PowerPoint Online
Poor presentation skills decrease as the software takes over. If you don’t know how to display and tell, any presentation tool would share the same cemetery. Microsoft PowerPoint is the most popular conferencing software in the world and if you know how to use it, you can take advantage of it.
It is not as complete as the desktop version (see all the key differences). You might miss most of the advanced tools, but you can still use SmartArt text, images, and graphics to create professional presentations.
All of your PowerPoint presentations are stored in OneDrive. Microsoft Office 365 customers with Office Online can view, create, and edit files while on the go. Cloud users can also open presentation files with the PowerPoint desktop and perform advanced customizations.
After consulting the best tips for PowerPoint 2016 on the desktop, PowerPoint Online offers you several other ways to do things with your slides.
1. Easy online viewing
It is reasonable to assume that you will be using PowerPoint Online in a range of mobile devices. Instead of using the zoom in your mobile browser, you can use the native zoom function, which has been touted as an improvement.
Go to View> Zoom.
The same toolbar gives you a new full screen reading view for a more comfortable experience on small devices. I just want them to have the same zoom function in the playback view.
2. Save your presentation locally
PowerPoint Online automatically saves all open presentations in the cloud. There is no Save button, but you can use the Save As option to keep an offline copy on your desktop or other location.
Go to the File tab> click Save As
Click Download a copy.
You can also save the copy in a format different from the ODP (Open Document Presentation) format and port it to any other presentation tool that supports the ODP format. PowerPoint also allows you to edit ODP files. Note that not all PowerPoint features are supported in ODP format.
3. Use the spell checker
Few things are as embarrassing as a typo on a big screen. PowerPoint Online has a powerful spell checker that you need to activate immediately. PowerPoint Online has moved from the browser spell checker to the robust Microsoft Office spell checker. Before finishing your presentation, correct the misspelled words marked with a red line.
When you use PowerPoint Online for the first time, select a word with a right click. Choose Set Verification Language, then choose your preferred language from the list.
PowerPoint Online catches the misspelled word and offers suggestions for correct spelling. Right click on the word and choose the correct spelling from the list.
I find it a bit slow, but it could also be due to my own broadband connection.
4. Take full advantage of Skype instant messaging
Collaboration is sometimes the key when working online and co-writing documents in real time. PowerPoint Online introduced group chats on Skype a few years ago. When you are co-creating documents with another person, click the chat button at the top right to start chatting with other members of your team.
Remember – you must be in the edit view to see the bubble icon.
The cat gets its name from the document everyone is working on. So if you are working on a PowerPoint presentation called “World Domination Report”, the chat has the same name and you can refer to it in your list of recent conversations in Skype. You can of course rename this conversation and share it with anyone not involved in the chat.
Click the Call or Video icon to add a phone call or video conference to your conversation.
You can continue group chat with Skype or Skype Desktop mobile apps, even if you close the document. Likewise, just like Google Drive, you can chat with anyone in an online Office document, even if they don’t have an Office 365 account.
5. Broadcast an online presentation
PowerPoint on the desktop gives the presenter more tools for better presentations compared to PowerPoint Online. The Presenter view and the laser pointer are just two of the tools for stylized presentations. You can delete both and start a standalone presentation. With the ability to broadcast rich presentations online to a remote audience, your audience can follow in any part of the world in their browser without PowerPoint. PowerPoint Online is the interface for them.
Launch the PowerPoint 2016 desktop. As a presenter, you need a Microsoft account (free).
On the ribbon, go to File> Share> Submit Online. In the screen below, click the Submit online button again.
Log in to your Microsoft account if you have not already done so. Once connected, the Present Online dialog box appears.
Invite your audience by emailing the presentation link or copying it to any other instant messenger. Members of the public click on the link to join the presentation in their browsers.
Note: If you need to send more invitations in the middle of a presentation, click ESC to stop the presentation. On the Present online tab, select Send invitations. Then click on From Beginning to restart the slideshow.
Click on Start Presentation.
When the slideshow ends, click End Online Presentation.
6. Learn keyboard shortcuts
Since PowerPoint Online runs in the browser, some of the keyboard shortcuts are different from its desktop counterpart.
Example: Familiar shortcuts like Ctrl + P (Print) and F1 (Help) will execute browser commands, not PowerPoint Online commands.
To use the new Tell Me help in Office 2016, press CTRL + (apostrophe) to access the Tell Me box. Type the desired command and use the Up and Down arrows to select the command. Press enter.
7. Use the Clipboard Online
When you use PowerPoint Online, you can also cut, copy, and paste content into a presentation and between Office Online programs. In addition, you can do the same thing between Office Online and Microsoft Office desktop applications on the computer. Text formatting is preserved from source to destination.
Although you can copy and paste website images into your PowerPoint Online slides, you can’t do it from another presentation or application on your desktop. Save the image locally and use the Insert> Image option instead.
8. Share with an Embed
You can also extend your sharing by embedding it on websites and any other page that supports embedded quotes. This is one of the main advantages of using PowerPoint Online on the desktop version. It’s one of the easiest ways to give readers an interactive experience without coding.
The PowerPoint package can be an educational guide, an interactive banner or even an activity report enriched with graphics and animated graphics.
To retrieve the embed code, select File> Share> Embed. Click the blue Generate button.
A preview screen gives you a box with the integration code to copy. You can also choose the size and an automatic advance option for your presentation. Automatic advance will only work if you activate the setting when creating your presentation. If you don’t want your presentation to start playing when someone loads the web page, leave it automatically turned off.
Visitors to your site can then browse and interact with the presentation on your web page, from the browser, without having to install PowerPoint. As you can see, using an embedding code can be more effective than downloading a presentation and its link.
9. Print your documents
PowerPoint Online has an option to print to PDF. You can use any PDF viewer for work (example: Save as PDF option from Chrome). Print your slides and use them as handouts or add your speaker notes and use them as a visual aid when presenting.
Go to the File tab> Print> Print to PDF format.
The presentation is converted to PDF and you can download it to the desktop.
10. When PowerPoint is too much… Use Sway
When you are more of a storyteller than graphs and statistics, use the fastest Sway. PowerPoint could be a stumbling block for the contested design (or when you’re on a tight schedule) … and it’s not fun to just show up for fun. You can do much better with Sway instead.
- With PowerPoint, you have practical control over every part of the presentation design.
- With Sway, you transfer design decisions to the tool by providing it with pre-created content and allowing it to create a presentation for an online / mobile presentation.
And yes, you can also collaborate on Sway.
The PowerPoint experience online?
Did you answer this question for yourself – PowerPoint Online or Google Slides?
So far, it is clear that PowerPoint Online is competing with Google Slides and that it is not yet intended to completely replace its desktop computer.
PowerPoint 2016 on the desktop has a steeper learning curve compared to what Google offers, but PowerPoint Online is a simpler alternative for you. PowerPoint Online is in harmony with the desktop version and you can use this advantage to create more advanced slides.
Do you like speed? Are you comfortable with the viewing experience? How do you use PowerPoint Online at your workplace?