PowerPoint Live is a feature of the Web version of Microsoft PowerPoint that:
- Allows the audience to view PowerPoint slides on their own device (laptop, tablet or phone) separately from the presenter’s screen. The audience can review previously presented slides (go back), and zoom in on slides.
- The audience can post their emotions on that slide and that reaction will be displayed as a floating temporary icon on the presentation screen
- If the presenter is equipped with a microphone, that audio can be transcribed in real time and the audience can see the transcriptions on their device. Additionally, the audience can select a different language for the transcription and have the presentation translated in real tie.
PowerPoint Live works best in a lecture-type presentation where attendees have their own devices, but it can be used with Microsoft Teams as well. In the second case, users will benefit by having multiple screens or devices – one for watching and participating in the Teams meeting and another for their independent view of the presentation slides.
Starting a PowerPoint Live Presentation
PowerPoint Live will only work with the Web version of PowerPoint. You cannot use the PowerPoint app on your PC, instead the presenter goes to portal.office.com and opens their presentation in the Web browser. (Note: Safari on a Mac account be used by the presenter currently, but Safari will work for the audience).
Your PowerPoint presentation must be stored in OneDrive or in SharePoint to present live.
Once the PowerPoint presentation is opened, switch to the Slide Show or View tab and select Present Live. You can require that people have @uwindsor.ca accounts and also change audio settings from the menu to the right of the Present Live button.
Your slide show will start with a special opening screen that presents a QR code and a short URL (top right) that the audience can use to see the presentation independently:
One your presentation is running, you can right-click to open a toolbar. You can show the welcome screen again using the second last icon.
Other buttons in the toolbar allow you to turn off the microphone, advance or return to slides, view the entire presentations as thumbnails, use a pen or highlight on the slides, turn on captions on the presenter’s screen, end or pause the presentation.
Audience Reactions
The audience will see the presentation as below if they are using a laptop computer.
There is a toolbar on the bottom with a happy face button on the right that lets them send a reaction from their device to the presenter. The reactions will appear on the presentation screen as temporary icons.
The audience can go back to previous slides using the buttons on the left. The audience will not be able to advance to slides that have not been presented yet.
Pressing the language button and selecting another language will start the translation.
Follow-up Questions
When the presentation is done, audience members using PowerPoint Live will each get a short anonymous survey where they get to rate slide design, speaker's skill, content, and interaction with audience on a scale of 1 to 5. They can add any other comments or feedback they might have and submit. The results can be viewed in Forms at portal.office.com and the presenter will also receive a summary email message after the presentation.
Resources
Video: Microsoft PowerPoint Live First Look (9 mins)
Link: Engage your audience with live presentations