how to prepare interactive powerpoint presentation

How to Make an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation: An Expert Guide (Free Downloadable Playbook)

Zhun Yee Chew

Are your PowerPoint presentations lacking impact and failing to engage your audience? You’re not alone. I experienced that before. I used to spend hours carefully crafting the perfect PowerPoint presentations only to be met with disinterested faces.

In a world where attention spans are getting shorter, traditional PowerPoint presentations often struggle to hold the interest of the audience. So here’s the hard truth: unless you adapt and embrace interactivity in your PowerPoint presentations, your valuable hard work and content run the risk of getting lost in presentations.

Fret not, as in this comprehensive guide, we will share with you expert tips on how to make an interactive PowerPoint presentation through interactive animations, transitions, hyperlinks, quizzes, games, and many more.

And perhaps the sweetest part of the deal is that you will also have access to a downloadable playbook of 60+ pages with a wealth of tutorials, templates, cheat sheets, resources and tools to elevate your PowerPoint skills from average to extraordinary through interactive PowerPoint presentations.

Are you prepared to impress those who once found your presentation dull? If your answer is a resounding ‘yes,’ then let’s begin.

What is an Interactive Presentation?

What is an interactive powerpoint presentation.

Interactive PowerPoint presentations are simply PowerPoint presentations that are made interactive to convey information in a more dynamic and engaging manner.

Creating an interactive PowerPoint presentation involves deciding if you want to make your slide content interactive or if you want your audience to interact with your slides. 

Interactive PowerPoint presentations can generally be divided into two main dimensions: interaction with slide content through interactive elements and fostering interaction with the audience.

Interaction with Slide Content:

In the first dimension, PowerPoint presentations are made interactive through enhancing the slides content with interactive elements, usually native to PowerPoint. 

We will cover interactive elements including:

• Transitions
• Interactive data visualization
• Annotations. 

They function to enhance slide interactivity through adding movement to static objects, enabling non-linear slides navigation, as well as adding a dynamic touch to data and information presentation. 

Audience Interaction:

In the second dimension, PowerPoint presentations are made interactive through interaction between the presenter and the audience, usually with the help of PowerPoint add-in tools. We will cover: 

• Assessments
• Brainstorming
• Collaborative multimedia uploading

Once you have decided which strategy you would like to use, you can then follow  these step-by-step guide  and the following expert tips to turn your PowerPoint slides into an interactive experience!

Benefits of an Interactive Presentation

The fact that you are still reading this suggests that you don’t need further convincing on the benefits of interactive PowerPoint presentations. 

However, if you do, here are some quick statistics:

68% of individuals hold the belief that interactive presentations have a greater potential for being remembered. Webinar Care

This means that a simple action of making your PowerPoint slides interactive has a profound impact on how your presentation is received by the audience. From our years of experience creating interactive PowerPoint presentations, they generally: 

• Increases  engagement , motivation and knowledge  retention . 
• Result in better  impression  and more impactful messaging being conveyed.
• Allow presenters to better tailor their content or offerings to the audience or clients because they can gather  real-time feedback .
• Open up room for  creative   storytelling  and showcases.

Expert Tips on How to Make an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation – Before Presenting

1. add animations, but use them judiciously.

The first and most straightforward way of making your PowerPoint presentations interactive is through adding animations to your slides. However, so many people use PowerPoint animations the wrong way. PowerPoint animations are more than just making bullet points or images appear or fly in during your presentation.

Remember, using animations excessively in your PowerPoint presentation will only reduce the appeal and professionalism of your slides. The key is to use them judiciously and purposefully. Before you hit the “Animations” tab, ask yourself, “Does this animation enhance the message I want to convey to my audience?”  

2. Add 3D PowerPoint Animations Using PowerPoint Native 3D Stock Elements

Did you know that PowerPoint has free animated 3D elements you can use? We recommend you to try them up to instantly upgrade your presentation from ordinary to extraordinary. 

❓ How?  Simply go to Insert > 3D models > stock 3D models > animated models. And you will find a wide range of free 3D models ranging from food and animals to plants and characters, and many more. You can also select different animation scenes by heading to the Animations tab.

3. Add Animations With Triggers for Visual Excitement

You can take your PowerPoint animations up a notch by incorporating combining animations with triggers to create interactive pop-ups with extra information . These on-click pop-ups are valuable when presenting a map or when you want to explore specific aspects of an object or topic in more detail. You can also use these pop-ups as markers to alert the audience to exciting elements within different parts of the slide, as such: 

❓How? To create on-click pop-ups in your PowerPoint slides, first add shapes that will become clickable buttons, one to “open” the pop-up and the other to “close” the pop-up. Then, add text boxes with extra information you want to show, as well as entrance and exit animations. Combine the animations with “triggers” to activate the animations when the open or close buttons are clicked on. 

For a more detailed tutorial on this pop-up animation, download our Interactive PowerPoint Playbook  below. 👇

4. Add Non-Linear Slide Transition

A quick way to add interactivity to your PowerPoint slides is by using PowerPoint transitions. The first we want to discuss is PowerPoint Zoom. PowerPoint Zoom enables you to zoom in and out of and navigate to specific sections or slides on click, anytime during your presentation.

To  access the PowerPoint Zoom feature : click on Insert in the  PowerPoint ribbon  >  Zoom  > then choose  Slide ,  Section , or  Summary   Zoom . Each of these PowerPoint Zoom option serves slightly different functions:

• Slide Zoom: zooms into specific slides
• Section zoom: zooms into specific sections
• Summary Zoom: creates a summary slide for the different slides or sections in your PowerPoint presentation for easy navigation.

❓ How? To  set up PowerPoint slide zoom , select the starting slide where you wish to implement the Zoom effect. Next, click  Insert  >  Zoom  >  Slide Zoom . Here, you can pick the specific slide or slides you want to zoom in on. Click the Insert button, and thumbnails of the chosen slides will be added to your current slide.

Alternatively, for a more manual setup process, you can also set up a navigation menu at the beginning of your presentation that allows the audience to jump to different sections or slides using hyperlinks.  Read more in the Hyperlinks section below. 

5. Add PowerPoint Morph

Like PowerPoint Zoom, PowerPoint Morph empowers presenters to create dynamic transitions that elevate the visual storytelling in their presentations. But PowerPoint Morph brings storytelling to a whole new level and adds a layer of intrigue to your slides by simulating object transitions or evolution across slides. It functions similarly to animations but offers a smoother and more organic visual experience, without the need for complex setup steps. 

Personally, we think the outcomes generated by PowerPoint Morph are more professional and polished-looking as compared to traditional animations. And if you are looking for a more advanced-looking presentation, try this 3D morph animation In PowerPoint .

We’d also like to share with you the numerous applications of PowerPoint Morph contributed by our colleagues and PowerPoint professionals at ClassPoint:

• Moving background
• Rotating wheel
• Rotating cogs
• Photo gallery
• Slide Zoom with Morph
• Creative reveal
• Parallax effect
• Continuous slide transition
• Phone frame
• Movie frame

Gain access to free templates for all these PowerPoint Morph applications and effects by downloading our Interactive PowerPoint Playbook. 👇

6. Add Hyperlinks – They Can Link to So Many More Places than Just Websites

Much like PowerPoint Zoom, hyperlinks enable presenters to create interactive menus and navigation structures, allowing audiences to jump to specific slides or sections effortlessly. However, while PowerPoint Zoom primarily focuses on creating a visual and interactive overview of content within a single presentation, hyperlinks extend this capability to connect with external resources, web content, or even additional PowerPoint files. 

There are a few ways you could add hyperlinks to your PowerPoint presentation to transform  it into an interactive experience effortlessly: 

4 Ways You Can Add Hyperlinks to PowerPoint: 

• Slide Transition : You can navigate to specific slides in a non-linear manner by simply inserting a hyperlink into your current slide. Head over to Insert > Link > This Document and select the slide you want to link to. You can apply hyperlinks to text, shapes, or pictures. 

• Interactive Navigation Menu : Adding an interactive navigation menu at the beginning of your presentation allows clear navigation between different slides and sections in your presentation. Head over to Insert > Link > This Document and select the slides you want to link to.

• Action Buttons : With hyperlinks, you can also create Action Buttons in your PowerPoint presentations to make your PowerPoint slides behave like interactive web pages, allowing users to navigate, explore, and engage with the content in a dynamic and user-friendly manner. Head over to Insert > Action Buttons and choose from the selection.

• Embedded Content : You can also hyperlink your PowerPoint slides to embedded content like PDFs, spreadsheets, and even web pages. Simply click Insert > Object and select the file you would like to embed in your PowerPoint slides. This way, you can remove the hassle of toggling between various files or windows during your presentation.

Expert Tips on How to Make an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation – When Presenting

1. turn your powerpoint slides into interactive quizzes.

The traditional way to add interactive quizzes to PowerPoint is through an unfavorable process of combining complex animations with triggers and hyperlinks. Let’s be honest, it takes an eternity! Even though PowerPoint offers an extensive range of presentation tools, it does not have audience interactivity built at its core. 

The good news is, audience interactivity can actually be effortlessly achieved with the various PowerPoint add-ins as listed below: 

We will get to polls and games in a bit. For now, let’s show you how you can turn your PowerPoint slides into an interactive quiz in a just a few clicks with PowerPoint add-ins like  ClassPoint , which offers a wide range of interactive quizzes from  Short Answer  and  Word Cloud , to Multiple Choice questions.

How to Create An Interactive Quiz in PowerPoint In A Few Clicks

Once you have downloaded ClassPoint, you will have a suite of additional interactive quiz features added to your PowerPoint ribbon. 

To turn  your PowerPoint slide  content into interactive  quizzes, simply  click on any of the interactive quiz features and add them to your slide. Enter PowerPoint Slideshow mode and you can start the quiz immediately. 

2. Run Gradable Assessments inside PowerPoint

With the versatile PowerPoint add-in,  ClassPoint , you can also create assessments and collect real-time responses right inside PowerPoint. This is wonderful news for teachers! All you have to do is set up  interactive Multiple Choice questions  and enable  Quiz Mode . 

ClassPoint’s Quiz Mode introduces an  automatic grading  feature to your Multiple Choice questions within PowerPoint presentations created with ClassPoint. This feature not only automates the grading process but also includes automatic star ratings, the option to select difficulty levels, and provides a quiz summary along with an exportable quiz report, making it the perfect tool for classroom formative assessments in PowerPoint!

3. Incorporate Annotations During Slideshow

Another unique way to interact with your PowerPoint slides is through the use of annotations. With annotations, you as the presenter can interact with your slides to draw your audience’s attention to specific details, highlight key points, and tell a more coherent story. 

There are 3 ways you could use annotations in PowerPoint: 

• PowerPoint Draw Tab:  To utilize the PowerPoint Draw Tab, click on the “Draw” tab in your PowerPoint ribbon and begin annotating anywhere on your slides using built-in features like the pen, highlighter, and Ink to Shape. However, please note that PowerPoint Draw only allows annotation in Edit mode.

• PowerPoint Pen Tools:  Another option for native PowerPoint annotation tools that permit annotation during slideshow mode can be found by clicking the pencil icon located in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen during a presentation. You can use the pen, highlighter, or laser tools to annotate any part of your slides during the presentation.

• ClassPoint  Toolbar:  The ClassPoint toolbar serves as an enhanced, free alternative to PowerPoint’s existing pen tools. It offers a broader range of additional annotation features, including text boxes, shapes, spotlight effects, fully customizable pens and highlighters, and more. This enables you to transform your PowerPoint slides into a creative canvas that will captivate your audience throughout your presentation.

4. Run Ice Breakers and Brainstorming Sessions in PowerPoint

The uses of interactive PowerPoint add-ins like  ClassPoint  are not only limited to teaching and learning. Give your PowerPoint meetings and presentations a strong start with a collaborative and dynamic brainstorming experience.

You can enhance your PowerPoint presentations and turn them into an interactive brainstorming experience by incorporating  Word Cloud  in PowerPoint, inviting participants to instantly contribute ideas, keywords, or concepts. This allows everyone to dynamically visualize emerging trends and interesting ideas.

❓ How? To start a brainstorming session in PowerPoint, click on the “Word Cloud”  button in your PowerPoint ribbon once you have downloaded ClassPoint to add the “Word Cloud” feature in your PowerPoint slides. Then enter PowerPoint slideshow mode to start brainstorming! 

5. Add Draggable Slide Objects (And Why It’s Better than Animations!)

Similar to animations, draggable objects allow you to interact with your slide objects freely during slideshow mode, except than you can do so with full control of where you want the slide elements to go!

This dynamic presentation feature adds an element of visual interest that captures your audience’s attention and can be a valuable tool for explaining complex ideas. Moreover, it has the potential to serve various purposes, such as revealing hidden information or acting as a movable marker to indicate your position on the slide content. You can also use it for group drag-and-drop activities, such as matching, categorizing, sorting, and more. You can either perform these actions yourself to provide a visual explanation or engage your audience by letting them instruct the movement of images and text on the slide.

❓ How? Draggable objects is a unique tool that is possible inside PowerPoint with the use of the add-in ClassPoint. Download ClassPoint, free PowerPoint add-in, the select any shape, image, illustration, or text on your slide to become draggable by clicking on “Draggable Objects” in your PowerPoint ribbon, and toggling “Drag enabled” on the side panel.

In slideshow mode, click on the draggable objects hand from the ClassPoint toolbar at the bottom of your screen to start dragging your slide objects around!

6. Create Playable Games In PowerPoint (Without Animations or Hyperlinks)

Much like interactive quizzes, PowerPoint games add a layer of interactivity and fun to PowerPoint presentations. However, what sets PowerPoint games apart is their ability to introduce competition through gamification. 

Here are  3 ways  you can instantly gamify your PowerPoint slides with  gamification elements :

• Set Up a Point and Reward System : Define how your participants can earn stars and points, and  award stars  to them when they have accomplished a goal during your presentation. 
• Add  Levels and Badges  to PowerPoint : Every game benefits from having levels and badges, and your PowerPoint game is no exception. You can create a simple game within PowerPoint by incorporating  questions  into your slides and defining the points and scores needed to progress to higher levels. When it comes to badges, you have the creative freedom to tailor them to your audience. For example, in an educational setting, badges can be skill-focused, while in a social gathering, they can take the form of fantasy characters that participants aspire to collect
• Add a  Leaderboard  to PowerPoint : Leaderboards are essential to keep track of scores or points during a PowerPoint game. You can of course create a manual leaderboard using PowerPoint’s tables and hyperlinks, but an easier and more straightforward way of implementing a leaderboard in your PowerPoint is using add-ins like  ClassPoint  and  Vevox .

With these fundamentals of gamification in place, you are now ready to create fun and exhilarating games in PowerPoint. 

Here is a full walk-through on  how you can create a PowerPoint game  in a few simple steps. 

If you are an educator, this  free trivia PowerPoint template and these 5 interactive PowerPoint game templates tailored for the classroom will be useful for you.

Expert Tips on How to Make an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation – After Presenting

1. run real-time polls in powerpoint.

Think of a memorable presentation you have attended? Did it use live polls? We bet it did! Live polling are especially helpful after a PowerPoint presentation to gather feedback for future improvement.

Traditional poll tools require presenters to switch between tabs during presentation. Thanks to PowerPoint add-ins such as  ClassPoint ,  Mentimeter  and  Poll Everywhere , this is no longer the case. And by eliminating the need to switch between different applications or tabs, the presentation experience becomes more fluid and engaging.

2. From Static to Interactive Data Visualisation

Incorporating interactivity through data visualization after a presentation concludes is a potent strategy for enhancing audience engagement and comprehension. Once the primary content delivery is complete, you can transition into a dynamic display of data or feedback you have gathered from your audience using interactive charts, graphs, or infographics.

This approach empowers your audience to explore the information at their own pace, dig deeper into specific data points, and ensure a two-way communication between the presenter and the audience. Whether it’s zooming in on specific trends, toggling between different data sets, or going through feedback, interactive data visualization encourages active participation and a deeper connection with the presented information. 

We recommend the following 2 ways to display data into your presentation:

• Insert tables, charts and graphs, and add a touch of interactivity through animations.

Below is a list of 10 PowerPoint animations most suitable for different kinds of graphs and charts: 

• Embed a website with data you want to go over. I’m not talking about a link that leaves PowerPoint for your default browser, but an actual embedded browser that loads your websites without leaving PowerPoint! Plus you can insert the page as a picture into your slide and start annotating on it!

Now that you have a collection of strategies and tips at your disposal, you are better prepared to leave your old and dusty PowerPoint toolkit behind and embrace these refreshing ideas. Whether your ultimate aim is to create a captivating classroom experience, deliver a memorable business pitch, or simply wow your friends and peers during  PowerPoint nights , don’t forget to: 

• Add animations, but use them sparingly.
• Make use of non-linear transitions and storytelling. 
• Turn simple transitions into stunning visual experience with PowerPoint Morph.
• Make creative use of polls, quizzes and games. 
• Make your presentation human with Bitmoji.
• Build anticipation with interactive presentation tools like annotations and drag and drop.
• Try out these 160 fun PowerPoint ideas for your next presentation!

To read more about Interactive PowerPoint Presentations, you can download our Interactive PowerPoint Playbook, which includes comprehensive guides, tutorials on various interactive PowerPoint presentation methods, cheat sheets, and a wide range of resources for mastering the art of creating interactive PowerPoint presentations.

Try ClassPoint solve some of your presentation problems by adding interactive tools to your PowerPoint in just a few clicks! Happy presenting! 😁👇

About Zhun Yee Chew

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How to Give an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation in 2023

Presenting online is tough, yes. You can’t really connect with your audience. You often don’t even know whether those mute faces listen to you at all.

That’s why it’s important to go the extra mile and make your presentation interactive. 

But that’s easier said than done, right?

Being for 7 years in the game of interactive presenting, I’d like to share some of my tips on how to activate your audience , create meaningful interaction, and facilitate it during your talk.

Get inspired by these (or some of these) tips for delivering a  truly interactive PowerPoint presentation.

• Play music or do some chit-chat while waiting
• Welcome people and properly introduce the topic
• Explain how people can interact with you
• Involve the audience from the very start
• Re-engage your audience every 5-7 minutes
• Use polls to trigger a discussion
• Take advantage of Zoom’s interactive features
• Simplify your slides: One idea/visual per slide
• Play around with virtual backgrounds
• Use breakout sessions for peer-to-peer learning
• Turn tedious numbers into a quiz
• Invite a sidekick
• Run mid-way Q&A sessions
• Give your audience something tangible to leave with
• Run a short feedback survey at the end

1. Play music or do some chit-chat while waiting

Often it takes a couple of minutes before everybody jumps on a call. While you’re waiting for the rest of the crew to join, you can play some music in the background to set the mood and talk to the people who have already tuned in. “Has anyone discovered a good recipe lately?” or, “Did you do anything cool this weekend?”

You can share music during your Zoom call easily by clicking the ‘ Share computer sound ‘ checkbox.

As people are joining, you can also prompt them to turn on their cameras and unmute themselves for the time being, so that you can all see and talk to each other.

💡 Use icebreaker polls to strike up conversations while you’re waiting for others.

2. Welcome people and properly introduce the topic

Once everybody’s aboard, welcome your participants warmly, thank them for joining you, and tell everyone what you will be talking about today. You can even add an agenda slide to your presentation so you map out the whole session to your audience in advance. In the virtual environment, it’s even more important to navigate people through the talk.

3. Explain how people can interact with you

Always check that everyone understands the technical side of things – otherwise, people may not know how to interact with you. Tell them what tools you’re going to use during the presentation and explain how they can use them.

It’s all about setting the right expectations: Do you want your participants to share comments via Zoom or Webex chat? Sure, tell them that. Explain how Webex or Zoom reactions work in case not everyone is familiar with them. If you expect verbal input from your participants, ask them to use the ‘Raise hand’ feature, so you can call on them if they want to contribute.

Are you going to use live polls throughout your presentation? Explain how people can vote in a poll or contribute with their ideas.

4. Involve the audience from the very start

Now that you’ve made it clear to your audience that you want and expect them to actively participate in the upcoming session, it’s time to give it a trial run.

Start a conversation with them right off the bat. For instance, I was recently a guest at an online fireside chat series called ‘Living Online’, run by our former Head of Education and a great moderator, Zuzana.

Before she dived into the topic, she collected insights from the audience. She ran a series of polls, asking people, “How much has the online world changed your life?” or, “What helps you find a balance between the real and the online world?”

This way, she made the talk more about the audience, as opposed to just streaming information one way (while making sure people are familiar with the tech).

5. Re-engage your audience every 5-7 minutes

Keep the momentum and motivate your audience to “talk” to you throughout your presentation. Even if it is just in a non-verbal way.

We recommend using live polls or other forms of interaction every 5-7 minutes to pull people back in and involve them in a conversation.

Prepare several poll questions for your audience beforehand, and spread them out throughout your talk.

Is there a content-heavy part of your presentation that might be tough for your audience to process? At the end of it, use a rating poll to ask your audience how well they understood.

Are you about to propose an argument? Before you do, ask your audience what their viewpoint on the topic is first. (You can use live polls here too.)

Take inspiration from our Head of Internal Comms, Silvia, who – before giving a word to our CEO Peter who’d walk us through September highlights – began by using a word cloud to source highlights from the team.

6. Use polls to trigger a discussion

Live polls are invaluable for collecting real-time input from your audience. You can use that input effectively for starting a discussion.

For example, during our latest strategy meeting with our Brand team, I really needed to know whether the strategy points I presented to my team made sense, and I wanted to build up a discussion around them.

After each of the three presented areas, I ran a rating poll: “On a scale of 1-6, how important is this area in order to achieve our goals?”

When votes came in, I commented on the results and whenever there were votes lower than 6, I asked: “Okay, who put 5/4? Can you please share your thoughts with us?”

This really changed the game for me, because I collected some invaluable insights from my colleagues that would otherwise have remained uncovered. Very often, people don’t share until you nudge them a little.

Read also: 7 Interactive Poll Ideas for Your PowerPoint Presentation

7. Take advantage of interactive features

Encourage your participants to ‘Raise hand’, use emoji reactions, or chat. Your meeting participants are probably not going to use them heavily unless you encourage them to do so.

I often use emoji reactions for fast feedback: I ask people to press thumbs up as an indication that they understand or agree, or to express that they like something with a clapping emoji or the heart symbol.

8. Simplify your slides: One idea/visual per slide

Make sure your slides are visually appealing. When listening to someone speak online, the last thing you want is to read huge bodies of text on slides. So don’t copy-paste the whole script of your speech. Use just one idea, one sentence, one topic, or one number per slide.

Where appropriate, support what you’re saying with an image, a graph, a gif, or even a meme. Do you want to show a video during your presentation? Make sure it’s really short because a video, no matter how entertaining, is yet another piece of content your audience consumes passively.

9. Play around with virtual backgrounds

Using a virtual background when presenting online can save the day if you need to quickly hide a messy kitchen or any trespassing relatives.

But, there’s more to it. You can tie it to the topic of your presentation and thus strengthen the message you’re trying to convey. For example, ever since our CEO Peter used climbing El Capitan as a metaphor for our company strategy, he uses an El Cap photo as his virtual background as a reminder for all of us that we still have a mountain to climb.

Need another great use of a virtual background? Pick a funny picture and use it as an icebreaker. For example, in several meetings, I put up a picture of a naked man chasing a wild boar, and believe me, there’s no better icebreaker !

People usually laugh and ask me why I picked this very image – it’s priceless to start a meeting with a smile on people’s faces!

Read also: 18 Best Virtual Icebreakers For Your Zoom Meetings

10. Use breakout sessions for peer-to-peer learning

This tactic is magic, especially with longer presentation types such as during all-company meetings, workshops, or training.

Propose a discussion topic or a challenge. Give your audience 1-2 minutes to think about it, before splitting them into smaller groups so that they can share their thoughts together and brainstorm solutions.

This is a great interactive exercise that helps you break the monotonous flow of one-way content broadcast and allow for some peer-to-peer learning.

You can also collect the learnings of your audience to include them in the presentation. For example, you can run an open text poll where you collect everybody’s key learnings and then display them on the screen. Let’s say you have asked your audience to discuss your company priorities. Try a word cloud such as: “Submit which priorities you discussed in your group.”

11. Turn tedious numbers into a quiz

Presenting company updates or business results can get quite tedious and your audience may easily start zoning out.

Turn it around and present your numbers in a form of a quiz .

For instance, before you reveal the number, say something like: “Before we look at the numbers, why don’t you guys have a guess at how well we did?” Then run a poll with multiple options and wait for your participants to cast their votes.

You can use this technique on multiple occasions. Our CEO, Peter, usually does this at our end-of-year all-hands meetings when he presents our business results such as revenue, sales, or a number of Slido events.

12. Invite a sidekick

Virtual presenters are superheroes that need to juggle multiple tools. And every Batman needs Robin. Consider inviting another speaker to deliver the presentation with you.

It will freshen up your talk and break the stereotype of only one speaker talking. On top of that, she/he can also help you with technicalities such as keeping an eye on the chat or troubleshooting any technical issues.

You can take turns in presenting the content or even give your presentation in the form of a conversation between the two of you. This way, it’ll be even easier for you to involve your audience in the talk, as they’ll be joining what already feels like an ongoing discussion.

Having a sidekick is invaluable if you’re running a Q&A round at the end of your presentation – they can help you manage questions from the audience.

13. Run mid-way Q&A sessions

Always make sure to leave space for Q&A – answering questions from the audience is one of the most important engagement points. Your participants will have a chance to dive deeper into the topic of your talk, and eventually, learn much more from your presentation.

Don’t wait until the end, but review the questions as they come in and take the most relevant ones continuously throughout your presentation (e.g. after each content block). If there are any outstanding questions, address them in the Q&A round at the end.

For example, during our recent product event , our Project Managers, Juraj Pal, Martin Srna, and Mario Ceselka, ran several Q&A rounds after each product announcement that they made. (Almost 350 questions came in! This is why it’s priceless to have a sidekick.)

They also encouraged people to use upvotes, so the most popular questions can jump to the top and be answered with priority.

14. Give your audience something tangible to leave with

As you move towards the end of your talk, it’s good practice to reiterate the main message of your presentation to give your participants one concrete takeaway to remember.

You can make the ending interactive as well: Ask your audience to think about what they’ve just heard, then run a poll asking your audience: “What are you taking away from this presentation?” or, “What one thing resonated with you the most during this presentation?”

15. Run a short feedback survey at the end

Don’t forget to ask your audience for feedback. We’re always ready to rate our Uber drives or meal deliveries in order to help improve the experience. Why should presentations be any different?

Feedback is the best way for you to learn and find out what you can do better next time. Combine classic star rating with an open text poll so your participants can write more elaborate comments as well.

Two to three questions will suffice – you don’t want to wear your audience down with too long a survey (plus, you’ll boost the response rate!). Here’s an example that you can use:

• How would you rate today’s presentation? (Rating)
• What did you like most about this presentation? (Open text)
• Is there anything that could be improved? (Open text)

Over to you

Actively involving your audience in your content is key if you want to make your online presentation more interactive and engaging.

Using polls, quizzes, and collecting questions from your audience is one of the easiest ways to create more interaction during your talk.

With Slido for PowerPoint , you can add polls to your presentation and present seamlessly – all from one place. Watch this video to see how Slido for PowerPoint works. Click below to try it.

Add live polls directly to your PowerPoint presentation.

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Why Interactivity?

It's important for engagement. The more you allow your audience to participate and listen to them, the more they'll be engaged with your material and listen to you, right back.

How to go from PowerPoint to Interactive Slide Deck

To make any PowerPoint deck interactive, you can use Slides With Friends to give prompts and get responses from your audience, while still using the slides you created in PowerPoint. So whether you're looking to run a live poll of your conference audience, do an icebreaker before you start, build a wordcloud during your talk, or just get feedback from your audience members, this is the tool for you.

It's easy to do!

Step 1 - Get this interactive deck

To copy, you'll first need to create an account on Slides With Friends by clicking "Create free account". You can create the account and copy the deck for free, but the PowerPoint upload itself is a premium feature.

Once you've got an account, copy this sample deck: Interactive PowerPoint Deck Template . It's a template that you can add your own PowerPoint slides into. We'll walk you through how to customize it for your own slides!

Step 2 - Add your PPT slides to your deck

Note, to upload your PowerPoint, you'll need an upgraded account first. Here's details on our pricing and how to upgrade to unlock this premium feature.

Complete your PowerPoint deck, save it, then add it to the deck you copied! Here's how:

• Head to your account and open the sample deck you copied
• Click "Import" to upload your .ppt, .pptx, or .pdf slide deck presentation.
• Select "replace" — this will remove the sample imported slides, and replace them with your own.
• Drag your file into the upload box. The fewer slides you have, the quicker it will be to upload.

Step 3 - Add interactions

Once you've got your PPT slides in your presentation, you can now add the interactive portions.

Each interaction is added like a new slide to your deck. So for instance, if you want to add a Poll question to a PPT slide, this would be a new slide that you would place directly after your static PowerPoint slide.

Add these interactions by opening the "+" button in the top menu, and selecting what type of interactive slide you want to add. Here are the options of all the interaction types you can add:

‍ Multiple Choice Question: A slide that asks a question and supplies a set of answers that your players can choose between. You can show who guessed what, and the correct answer(s), optionally after each question. These slides are best for surveys, trivia questions, quizzes, polls, and anywhere else there are a fixed set of responses.

Text answer question:   A slide that asks a question but doesn't give answer options to choose from, instead your audience types their response. The system will determine if a response is correct or incorrect by comparing it to the answer(s) you have input.

User Vote: An Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity style interaction. Give a prompt or ask a question, and players send in responses. Then they can vote for their favorite, from all the other player's responses.

Answer roundup: If you've hidden the correct answers from the any previous multiple choice or text answer questions, you can display them all in a row with this slide.

Score summary: Show the leaderboard! Display those with the highest scores so far. You can set how many players to show in a row.

Pass the mic: Display each participant's avatar, one at a time in a random order, to give them a chance to speak. You can set how many players you'd like to go through — from everyone in the game to just one person.

Picture share: Players can upload or take images with their phones. The slide will then show a however many images you selected that it display, in random order, one at a time. Think of it like photo show & tell.

Wordcloud: Players can send a word or short phrase, and it will pop up on your display screen. They can tap on words from others to make those words larger. The end effect is a cloud of words with the most popular words appearing larger.

Rating: Allow participants to select from a set of pre-determined rating options, from Likert scores, to agree / disagree, to Emoji faces.

Poll slide: Allow participants to select from up to 6 answer options that you've type in. Then display the responses in a graph, donut chart, or by player name.

Last thing — Try it out!

It's time to see how everything works!

Start an event and join in yourself using your phone to scan the QR code. You'll be able to see how the event will look to your players, how your PPT slides look on the phone, and send responses to see how everything works.

Watch the video for an in-depth tutorial:

You can watch the video, or simply follow the steps below.

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Home Blog Presentation Ideas How To Make a Presentation Interactive

How To Make a Presentation Interactive

This article provides a short list of proven techniques for adding interactivity to your presentations. Based on our experience and available research, we know applying them will enhance your presentation experience.

Table of Contents

Definition of Interactive Presentation

Benefits of interactive presentation, interactive presentation techniques, recommended templates for interactive presentations.

An interactive presentation actively engages the audience, transforming them from passive listeners into active participants. It incorporates various elements that invite audience interaction, encourage learning and discussion.

• Interactive presentations generate connection, bringing audiences and presenters closer. 
• They enhance comprehension, simplifying complex concepts. 
• They boost engagement, keeping audiences active and interested. 
• They encourage cooperation, promoting collaborative learning and problem-solving.

The following list is a suggestion of audience interaction techniques that, in our experience, helped presenters make their presentations interactive. They all present an actionable example that can be easily implemented in your next PowerPoint presentation .

Use of Icebreakers

In recent years, researchers have theorized that Icebreakers help establish a conducive communication environment, favoring participation. Effective icebreakers can range from simple questions to fun activities to break down barriers and encourage interaction. The key is to choose an icebreaker that aligns with the audience and the topic of the presentation.

Icebreaker examples

We present two examples of the same technique based on the context of the presentation delivery method.

Scenario 1 – Physical Audience (in the Context of a Summit)

In summits, the audience is gathered for a shared interest. So, the hypothesis is that the people in the room, ready to listen to the presentation, have some interests in common. The presenter can break the ice with a simple “know the people around you.” Each participant should present themselves to the person at the right and the left and ask them the purpose of their assistance.

The presenter will then share the 3 “possible answers,” introducing how the presentation will cover those interests. If time is well measured, it can even do a “rise the hands” round to roughly estimate the answers.

This technique requires good control of the room, so it is important to constantly gauge the possible distraction generated vs the communication effect that wants to be reached. We suggest our subscribers present quickly, clear the icebreaker exercise, and invest time in the wrap-up (post-exercise) activity.

Scenario 2 – Virtual Audience (in the context of a course)

During virtual presentations (like in Google Meet or Zoom ), the interaction between participants requires separate meeting rooms or moderated chat, which incurs complexity and additional effort. So, our experience in virtual presentations shows that a single round of attendee introductions is a good icebreaker for the audience-presenter pair. 

The main task the presenter needs to prepare is to define beforehand the number of people that will introduce themselves and the 3 questions they should answer about them.

For example:

• What’s your name? (or any demographic that might fit the audience)
• What do you expect from the presentation?
• Do you have a specific question or topic you would like the presenter to address?

This technique of micro-interactions increases the audience’s affinity with its remote peers and triggers curiosity. For the presenter, it sets a standard of expectations to focus on during the speech. [3]

Incorporation of Multimedia Elements & Other Interactive Presentation Ideas

According to audience studies , incorporating multimedia elements into presentations significantly enhances audience engagement . This technique uses videos, reels, TikTok, audio clips, animations, memes, and images to convey information more effectively. These elements can simplify complex concepts, stimulate discussion, and maintain audience interest. They also cater to different learning styles, ensuring a more comprehensive understanding of the presented material.

Use of Non-linear Flow

Non-linear flow in interactive presentations allows for a flexible, audience-driven progression. It consists of allowing the listener to decide the path of the presentation. This technique enhances engagement by adapting to audience responses. Two studies ([1],[2]) conclude that the use of a non-linear presentation reinforces learning and improves understanding of concepts and results.

Storytelling Approach

The storytelling approach involves weaving a narrative around your topic, connecting facts and figures with characters and plots. This method engages the audience emotionally, stimulating their imagination, making it more relatable and memorable, and enhancing their understanding of the subject matter. The interaction materializes between the message and the emotions of the receiver. 

Do not misunderstand the usage of storytelling presentations as merely fictional creative plots. The presenter needs to create a story that delivers the message and also, is backed up with arguments or data.

Storytelling Example

For instance, imagine a mid-manager working on customer trends and behavior analysis in a retail company. In the previous quarter, numbers show a decrease in the sales of brewed coffee. The trends and survey analysis show that consumers prefer to brew at home.

So, instead of just showcasing numbers, the presenter elaborates on a customer persona (“Emily”) and creates a story about Emily’s regular day and decision-making process.

“Emily is a hard-working mom of 2 boys. She has a white-collar job, 9 to 5, in a big city. She is a conscious mom about their children’s nutrition and makes her grocery every morning in our stores. She values our quality and freshness. As part of her daily routine, she picks a fresh coffee from our store barista and quickly covers her shopping list., ready to deliver the goods at home and run to her job.

Her morning routine has recently been affected since Emily’s budget has seen an increase in groceries, and a detailed analysis of cost benefits has replaced the almost automatic process of selecting top-of-the-line healthy products. Prices have seen alterations due to inflation and have hit the shelves. Emily’s routine has changed so that she does not even take her “to go coffee”; she decided to brew at home.”

This story is more relatable and can trigger the audience’s experience about the topic. This is no bidirectional communication but generates an internal action in the audience.

Use of Q&A and Discussion Sessions

Question and Answer (Q&A) sessions and discussions complement interactive presentations. They provide a platform for the audience to drill down into concepts and exchange ideas. This methodology promotes dynamic involvement, inviting passive spectators to become active participants. Moreover, the presenter can extract invaluable insights from these sessions, transforming the presentation into a reciprocal learning experience. For further reading and techniques of Q&A sessions, please check our post on how to moderate questions and answers .

Quizzes and Polls

In interactive presentations, quizzes and polls are frequently employed to receive input from the audience at scale. Using technology, you can get quick answers to a grid of questions predefined or even built during the presentation itself. The audience input is received and quickly processed to share in a summary. Results can then be discussed during the presentation. 

Quizzes and Polls Examples

As technology for this technique, we suggest using Microsoft Forms or Google Forms. Booths are proven technologies that can be accessed from almost every network and guarantee you will not fail during your presentation. This tool reduces the risk of having a glitch failure.

If you have an Office 365 subscription, you can use Microsoft Forms, which integrates with PowerPoint to show the results of a poll or quiz.

If you use Google Forms, even though you do not have direct interaction, you can use the web viewer add-in of PowerPoint and, after some time, edit the presentation, refresh the preview, and show the examples.

Here is a list of interactive presentation ideas & templates that you can use in PowerPoint or Google Slides.

1. Interactive Jeopardy Game Template for PowerPoint & Google Slides

Welcome to Jeopardy! If you intend to make a memorable presentation and evaluate your attendees’ knowledge of the topics you disclose, this is the ideal resource to make a presentation interactive.

Use This Template

2. Quiz Maker for Interactive Presentations Template

When looking for how to make presentations interactive, this slide deck with a quiz theme can bring light to training sessions or even inspirational presentations. Easy to edit, you can build expectation with multiple-choice format, or work with true/false statements.

3. Six Thinking Hats PowerPoint Template for Interactive Presentations

Induce interactive activities for presentations by implementing this creative thinking template featuring the Six Thinking Hats model. It is ideal for teams to discuss a problem from different points of view.

4. Futuristic Concept Roadmap for Interactive Presentation Ideas

When looking for how to create an interactive PowerPoint presentation, this roadmap template stands out by its highly detailed graphic aesthetic, which makes facts easier to remember. Participants can add their insights to collectively build a roadmap for the organization, highlighting 3 key milestones.

We presented several methods to make your presentation interactive. You can navigate our presentations gallery and choose professional PowerPoint templates to apply these new techniques.

• Das, Anup & Dutta, Bidyarthi. (2002). Presentation of Results of Research: Linear and Non-Linear Forms.
• Rumpa, Lantana & Sampelawang, Petrus & Lolang, Enos & Tangkeallo, Daud & Rubianus,. (2018). NON-LINEAR PRESENTATION ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE: APPLYING PREZI ON ENGINEERING EDUCATION.
• In-person vs. virtual conferences: Lessons learned and how to take advantage of the best of both worlds

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10 Ways To Make Interactive And Engaging Presentations In PowerPoint

Professionals across the spectrum will stand by the fact that compelling presentations can be an important force of influence at the workplace. Many people at the same time also struggle to make presentations in an effective and engaging way. 

How can one tackle this problem?

One tactic seasoned presenters use – make the presentations more interactive!

During a presentation, the audience tends to pay more attention if they know that at some point it will turn interactive. Audience participation is key to the success of any presentation. So next time you create a presentation bear in mind these 10 tips to make it more interactive.

Remember, the goal is audience engagement and active listening. The key to a successful presentation is understanding that the presentation should complement your speech, not be gimmicky and not be the point of focus. Make use of our Google Slides Themes to create presentations in a fraction of time. Here are a few tips: 

• Icebreakers are always the safest way to start the session
• Use Audio/Visuals in Your Presentation
• People love a good story
• Use Transitions and Animations Smartly
• One Slide, One Topic
• Live polling Keeps the audience engaged
• Surprise Them!
• Use hashtags, spread the word
• Add a reflection at the end

1. Icebreakers are always the safest way to start the session

This is universal to any form of interaction, not just limited to presentations. Building a rapport with the audience is key to presenting successfully.

This can be achieved either through a round of personal introductions or if the audience is larger, there are numerous ice breaker games that can be used.

The objective here is to get your audience’s undivided attention. By using an ice breaker, you set the tone for the rest of the presentation.

2. Use Audio/Visuals in Your Presentation

Audio-visuals in a few slides are bound to get the audience’s attention. Use your own video or embed one from YouTube.  

Embed a video into one of your slides to draw your audience’s attention. This also serves as a break for you from speaking. Videos give them a break from monotony.

3. Questions 

The easiest way to engage the audience is by asking questions. Some presenters prefer to do it at the end of the presentation and then there are those who prefer to have it at various points during the session to gauge the audience’s subject understanding.

Asking questions to the audience also makes them feel important, builds trust, and radically increases engagement levels.

4. People love a good story

Many say that humans are wired for stories and it could not be more true when it comes to presentations. Even dense numbers and statistics can be made accessible via good storytelling. 

A story well told can create an immersive effect. It can make the audience feel they are witnessing something important unfold. Tap into their psyche, their emotions, make the presentation memorable to them.

5. Use Transitions and Animations Smartly

Make your presentations visually appealing. You can do this by animating, transitioning, and morphing techniques. Use transitions intelligently and make these relevant and deeply linked to your content as opposed to just adding gimmicks. But make sure the look and feel throughout the presentation are consistent.

6. One Slide, One Topic

The primary objective of a presentation should be to keep your audience paying attention to your speech. To draw their attention, use one topic per slide. Don’t go overboard! While it is easy to create the presentation, it also helps the audience keep pace with you. Keep the content light so the audience can ask questions and interact as you go along.

7. Live polling Keeps the audience engaged

One of the most popular go-to tools by presenters is live polling. It encourages the audience to participate and give real-time feedback. It is also a fun and interactive means.

You could either use multiple choice questions or use polling tools online eg Mentimeter.

8. Surprise Them!

Presentations can get boring, especially for people with a short attention span. Interactive presentations are an active experience. To ensure total attention hide small pieces of interesting information within the presentation itself. It could be a video, or audio or new information. Hide infographics and let the audience track them. People are never bored when it comes to tracking for new or additional information. This helps you keep them engaged while also allowing them to learn something new.

9. Use hashtags, spread the word

We live in an age where most of our time is spent staring at a screen. Chances are it will be the same during presentations as well. People would be on Facebook or Instagram or tweeting their thoughts through Twitter. Some may even be conducting their business through their smartphone.

Capitalize on this by creating presentation-centric hashtags and encouraging your audience to share news and updates about it. It is just smart marketing; word of mouth, event promotion and social interaction all act parallelly for the same event.

Such hashtags encourage people to create and engage in discussions about your presentation through other social domains. While it promotes your event, you can also view responses and customer opinions through relevant tags.

10. Add a reflection at the end

While ice-breakers are key to a good start, reflective questions make sure the presentation receives a good ending. A reflective question gives you an idea of the audience’s take-away from the presentation while encouraging them to share their feedback and inputs.

Reflective questions can be asked verbally or in the form of an interactive slide at the end of the presentation.  

These ten tips will enable you to create an interactive, informative, and engaging presentation. Implementing these tips will certainly take you a long way and ensure that your presentation isn’t just another snooze fest. Happy Presenting!

You can browse through our collection of PowerPoint Templates & Google Slides Templates to create stunning presentations. Here are a few examples of presentation templates:

Source: Timeline Animation By SlideUpLift

Source: Quiz Animation By SlideUpLift

Source: BarCode Template  By SlideUpLift

Now you don’t have to scour the web to find out the right templates. Download our PowerPoint Templates from within PowerPoint. See how ?

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How to make interactive PowerPoint slides for eLearning

• Written by: Hannah Harper
• Categories: PowerPoint design , Effective eLearning
• Comments: 27

Want to build some interactivity into your PowerPoint slides? Here are two easy entry-level ways that you can turn your PowerPoint slides into dynamic and interactive material for eLearning.

How to hyperlink in PowerPoint

Hyperlinks sound a lot more complicated than they actually are. They work like any button or box on a website. By clicking that box you’re sent to another page. So from the ‘Search’ button on Google to the ‘Buy it now!’ on Amazon – you’re already pretty familiar with them.

But did you know you can build them into PowerPoint presentations? In the same way that you can link round a web page, you can link round a presentation.

The advantages of this are that your presentation is no longer linear. You can skip out whole sections and focus on the bits that are relevant. During a test you can link back to the theory for a recap. You can create easily navigable menus just like website home pages.

So how do you create such wizardry?

It’s probably best to hyperlink objects within your presentation. Technically you can hyperlink almost anything in PowerPoint: text (down to a single letter), pictures, objects etc. but it’s best to stick with what looks familiar to your audience (so that’s going to be boxes, arrows, and buttons).

Once you’ve chosen your element, right click and choose the option Link .

A pop-up window will appear and on the left hand side you want to choose the option Place in This Document . A list of your slides will then appear.

Choose the one you want to link to, hit OK and you’re sorted.

Remember – you can use hyperlinks in PowerPoint in all sorts of ways to navigate around your presentation. It might help to think of it like a web page instead of a presentation. A potential starting point is creating a clickable menu for your slides – find out how by using our guide .

If you’ve got a complicated PowerPoint presentation, your hyperlinks might get overwhelming. It can be difficult to know which slides are hyperlinked and where those links go. Our incredible, free add-in BrightSlide has a super useful tool for getting your links in order. Under the BrightSlide tab  select  Review  (under File & Master ), then click Hyperlinks > Tag Hyperlinks With Comments .

It does what it says on the tin, every hyperlink in your deck will have a comment attached telling you where that link goes. Download BrightSlide here !

Using triggers in interactive PowerPoints

The wonderful thing about triggers, is triggers are wonderful things! They, much like a hyperlink, are applied to a specific element on your slide, and you can add an animation so that something happens when you click that object. Think of this like an internal hyperlink on your slide. You’re staying within the slide itself, but you can click things and have them change in any order – the person viewing the presentation has control.

This can be really useful for building quizzes where your participants have multiple choice questions to answer.

So first of all make your elements (the list of possible answers). Animate them so they appear as you want, then add a Font Color  animation. Choose green for the right answer and red for the incorrect answer (if you’re going for the typical look).

Next go to the Animation tab at the top of the PowerPoint window and make sure you have your Animation Pane open. In the Animation Pane click on one of the  Font Color animations – you’ll then see at the top of the Animation tab that you have the word Triggers .

Click on this and you’ll see that you get the option On Click Of . When you select that, you’ll see that all the elements on your slide are listed. Click on the one that matches your element and there you have it. When you play your slide in show mode you’ll be able to click it and the answer will change colour according to whether it’s right or wrong.

Interactive PowerPoint: Taking it further

You should be able to do a lot in PowerPoint with just hyperlinking and triggers. I’ve given you a few very simple ways to use both of these tools, but as you start to use them for yourselves, you’ll see how many different uses they have.

There will inevitably be things that you want to do that are just beyond the limits of PowerPoint. But there are some great pieces of software that plug into your PowerPoint and give you that option of building more sophisticated interaction. Learn more about PowerPoint triggers in this blog post . Google Slides user? Learn how to create an interactive presentation in Google Slides.

Have any SOS interactivity needs? Post a comment below and we’ll try and sort you out!

Hannah Harper

Principal consultant, related articles, how to get the most out of powerpoint and pdfs.

• PowerPoint design

This article is dedicated to the bit hitting combination of PowerPoint and PDFs, and three particular use cases that will have these two giants working together in perfect harmony: how to convert PowerPoint to PDF on Windows and macOS, how to convert PDF to PowerPoint, and how to insert a PDF into PowerPoint.

Masking effects in PowerPoint: Stencils and animation

Masking effects are a great way to jump-start your image slides in PowerPoint. They not only look great, but also serve many a practical purpose. We've come up with a few ideas for creative ways to combine masking and animation in your presentation.

Masking effects in PowerPoint: Creating stencils

• Comments: 10

Having lots of image slides in a presentation can be great, but sometimes they don't do the heavy-lifting they ought to with your message. Using shapes as stencils to create masking effects in PowerPoint is a really easy and effective way to make your image slides stand out, and communicate something more. Here are three ideas you can try

Thanks Hannah for these tips and suggestions!

Thank you so much for taking the time to create this tutorial. I was chuffed to be able to create interactive buttons by following your instructions. 🙂

Loved your instructions. Made it easy to accomplish what I needed. Excited about exploring more options.

Thanks, great tips. Do you have any tips on embedding video and if possible, overlaying the video with text, pics etc?

It’s great to see you all having a go at interactivity in PowerPoint! Keep experimenting – maybe try playing round with some triggers. We’ve got a great tutorial for that too: https://www.brightcarbon.com/blog/powerpoint-triggers-make-something-happen/

And Lee, you can insert a video like you insert a picture in PowerPoint (just navigate to the’Insert’ tab) here’s a great tool for checking to see what formats work for you: https://www.brightcarbon.com/resources/powerpoint-help/video-embedding-tool-for-powerpoint/

I think this may be beyond powerpoint’s capabilities, but I didn’t know about triggers, either! So I’ll ask: is there any way that the program can keep track of the things a client clicks?

I.e. I want to show a slide for three seconds with an image. The next slide will come up with a set of five choices. I want the client to click on a choice, for the choice to be recorded, and then the next slide shows, regardless of the answer chosen.

I am pretty sure it doesn’t do this, but maybe? If powerpoint doesn’t, can you think of a program that does?

Sounds like an interesting project!

About 90% of that is possible in PowerPoint: you can do everything apart from record the answer. In the Transitions tab you can set your slide to come up for three seconds and advance automatically (uncheck ‘On Mouse Click’). This will them move to the next slide (with your five options). You can then make your five options hyperlinks (if you’re not sure how, just follow the instructions above), and these will navigate the user to a slide of your choosing (they can all be the same).

But if reporting the answer is important, I can recommend a programme called Articulate Storyline: it’s what lots of people use to build out full eLearning decks. You can download a trial version for 30 days if you want to try it out. When you publish in Articulate you can get results reported, the only catch is that you’ll need to upload it to a Learning Management System (or LMS), for the results to be reported to a specific location.

I hope this helps!

I don’t know if this is even possible…

I want to create an interactive calendar using jpeg images. Imagine a preK class using a pocket chart every day, adding that day’s date picture.

So using a trigger button the jpeg image would appear for that day, using a hyperlink you could go to another activity (song, months of the year review, etc.)

But can you tell the program to save today’s jpeg image so tomorrow you only add that day’s and so on?

(sorry, my email address was wrong in the first comment)

This article was excellent with detailed instructional pics. I’m interested in creating free response quiz and also a multiple choice to create a trigger for puzzle piece and melting candle timer. Qtns 1. How to know whether the free response is correct and hyperlink to that’s it slide? Is there a way to use visual basic for this kind of quiz? 2.How to create melting candle timer like word for word worm APP? 3. How to make trigger for multiple choice game where the correct answer will appear on the screen and player must assemble the puzzle pieces before the candle timer melts? 4. Is it better to create free response quiz separate fro multi choice. It should also trigger the puzzle piece to appear after a response is written. HOW to ensure silly answers are not accepted?

I am an experienced producer of powerpoint presentations. I teach languages and use PP to display pages that show objects that play a sound when they are clicked on. They work great on my laptops and students benefit from them. However the study centre’s computers reject any unauthorised software file saving. I cant solve this problem without admin clearance. So I am hoping that there is a way to make my ppp files interact and perform online just like the stand alone version. Any suggestions anybody ?

Hello from France !

First of all, thanks a lot for writing this complet tutorial. But here is my problem : after seeing Prezi, Powerpoint seems so platonic and past history now… But my boss doesn’t want to use Prezi, so here I am to found new options and new ways about using this tool. Can you help me on this ? I’m looking about more animated features.

Thank you again for triggers and hyperlink, I’ll surely use it soon.

Hi Benjamin.

We’re not totally convinced by Prezi .

If you just want to make stuff that looks really cool, check out the Morph functionality in PowerPoint 2016 .

Hi Benjamin, If you want to still have some of the benefits that you get from Prezi you can try Slide Navigator interactive and animated PowerPoint templates. The website is http://www.slidenavigator.com . Hope that helps.

I like this webpage, it is informative and concise. I published a website some years ago explaining how to make PowerPoint interactive for the college where I work. The problem I have found is the fear of PowerPoint and even more fear of trying to make the presentation interactive. Those who are interested seem to get a mental block once they see the work involved. I have felt for a long time that PowerPoint can go a long way to help in training and education when interactive.

I completely agree that interactive PowerPoints can go a long way to help in training and education when interactive. It is a lot of work. There is a website that helps to reduce the amount of work in making an interactive PowerPoint presentation called http://www.slidenavigator.com . I think it can really help college professors.

Or PowerPoint’s new Zoom functionality, if you are using 365. Probably easier.

One word of advice about making things interactive. You have to disable the slide forward clicking in the advanced animation selection. If this is not disabled the slide will advance to the next one. The check box has to be clicked and then you will only be able to move to the next slide or open up other hidden on the slide using the hyperlink. Other presentation programmes from other software organisations such as Libre and Open Office don’t have this disabling function which makes PowerPoint that much more powerful.

Thank you for the great info. Once I build this awesome document how Can I save it so my audience will only see the first page and then navigate using my links?

You can indeed! You need to highlight all your slides and then go to the Transitions tab at the top of the PowerPoint ribbon. On the right-hand side you’ll notice two ‘Advance Slide’ options (On Mouse Click and After 00:00.00]. The ‘On Mouse Click’ option should be checked. If you uncheck it here, the slide won’t advance, and you’ll only be able to navigate using the hyperlinks you’ve added!

You can then save it as a standard .pptx file, or you can save it as a PowerPoint Show file (.ppsx) if you just want your audience to launch the presentation (without seeing the edit view).

I hope this does the trick for you!

Hi Hannah, I’m a bit late to the party here, but am trying to save an interactive ppt. as an interactive PDF for upload to a training Sharepoint. However when the PDF launches it also has the option to scroll through all the pages, rather than only progressing via hyperlinks – how do I do set this up to only be able to move on via links?

I am designing quizes for pre-schoolers using powerpoint slides. I have created hyperlink of a text box to another slide. When I do a right click the textbox, it opens up to a list of options. I have to select open hyperlink. How to bypass this step? Is there anywhere to click on the text box and open up to another slide directly?

Thanks for these tutorials. It really enhances my skills in designing PowerPoint presentations.

Quite hapy with built in annimations but looking for different ready made Aware of companies like Envato but just want to buy animationsd (advance)

Thank you so much, this is great

When creating an interactive e-learning, how would you handle transitions to the next slide? Is there a way to set triggers for that as well (like clicking on an image that says “next”?)

How do I make shapes that my audience can click and drag around. I want them to virtually be able to complete a jigsaw puzzle.

Nice. I like this post very much.

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It is, quite simply, the best deck we have. I did a nice presentation with it yesterday and would like to do the same next week... I am sure it will get a lot of use. The visual impact and flow are compelling! Peter Francis Janssen

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18 Ways to Make Your Presentation More Interactive

November 10, 2017 - Dom Barnard

It can be difficult to hold your audience’s attention for the entire presentation. According to a  Prezi study , half of the respondents said they did something other than listen during a co-worker’s presentation, including:

• Sending a text message (28%)
• Checking emails (27%)
• Falling asleep (17%)

An interactive presentation is much more likely to keep your audience’s attention and build rapport with them, and there are a few simple ways to achieve this, from live polling to asking questions throughout.

This article explores several different effective strategies for making the audience feel fully involved in your presentation and keeping your audience’s eyes away from their smartphones.

Why involve your audience?

Listening to a presentation for any length of time can be a difficult process. If you don’t involve the audience, they’ll start to play with their phones, talk to colleagues and generally lose track of what you are saying. Once this happens and you start seeing that the audience would rather be somewhere else, you’ll start feeling anxious and might try to speed up the presentation.

To engage a  large audience  fully, the presentation needs to be energetic, purposeful and staged, as if it is a direct conversation between both you and your audience. That way, they’ll absorb your ideas and insights and they’ll have learnt something in an enjoyable way.

1. Plan from the audience’s perspective

Before you start  writing your presentation , think about these points:

• What are the most interesting parts in my topic?
• How much will the audience know about my topic? What level do I target it at?
• Which members of the audience will most likely be disinterested?
• How can I help them learn and understand my topic?
• What is the size of the audience?

You can do this by researching the event or conference, investigating other speakers at the event and even contacting the organisers to find out more about the demographic.

By asking these questions about your audience and identifying answers, you are starting to think about your audience’s interests and needs. Remember, the aim is to give the impression that your presentation has been planned according to your audience’s specific interests.

2. Use an easy-to-follow structure

When building your presentation, focus on giving it a structure which people can easily follow. Start by introducing the core concepts and goals, then elaborate on the various points in a bit more detail, draw logical conclusions and leave your audience with a clear takeaway message. You want to flow naturally from one part to the next like you are telling a big story chapter by chapter.

3. Get the audience immediately involved

You audience will come to your presentation in a range of different moods. Try using a simple ice-breaker to re-energise them and get them focussed on your presentation.

For example, ask people to stand up and introduce themselves to their neighbours, or have them identify two or three questions they would like to hear addressed during your presentation. By starting with an ice-breaker, you show your audience that your talk will be interactive and require their participation.

4. Ask the audience questions during your presentation

The audience’s attention drops to zero after just 10-15 minutes of your presentation. To get their attention back, take a break from your presentation from time to time and interact with your audience. Ask for their questions and answer them during your presentation. This will help clear up any confusion the audience might have.

When planning your presentation, identify opportunities in your material for your audience to ask questions. If you’re not comfortable breaking the flow of your presentation, mention that you’ll be taking  questions at the end  so the audience can prepare some questions.

Asking rhetorical questions as you move through your presentation involves your audience by stimulating their own thought processes. This technique also helps move between sections of your presentation as it establishes a clear transition from one point to another.

If you’re comfortable with taking questions throughout your presentation, use a tools such as  Slido , which allows your audience to ask questions anonymously at any time, so even shy people can participate in the discussion.

Example of what can go wrong with audience interaction

Audience interaction:

Watch how the presenter tries but initially fails to get the audience to interact with the presentation. Notice how he encourages them to get involved and eventually they do join in.

5. Use storytelling to make it more memorable

Since our early ancestors, stories have always been a huge part of human culture and civilisation. Storytelling is the most universal way to captivate your audience’s attention, no matter where they are from or what they do for a living.

Stories are much more engaging and memorable than lists of facts and figures, but you wouldn’t think so looking at the majority of presentations (particularly academic ones).

People automatically tune in when you  start telling your story  because they want to know what happens next. A popular storytelling technique is when you present the status quo and then reveal an improved path to that end goal.

Think of your presentation as one arching narrative. As we mentioned earlier, give it the proper structure with a clear beginning, middle and end. Introduce conflict and provide a powerful resolution that reinforces your key messages.

6. Use non-linear presentation software

Instead of flipping through slide after slide, you can show the relationships between your ideas and give your audience the “big picture” view of your topic. Try letting your audience drive the presentation by laying out all of your main points, and then let them choose which topics they want to go to. Your audience will get a truly custom presentation based on their interests, which they will appreciate and more easily remember.

Prezi, shown above, is a popular non-linear presentation tool.

7. Add in a short video

Billions of hours of YouTube are consumed each month and advertisers have identified videos as having a high  retention rate  for users. However very few presentations ever use videos to engage with their audience.

Find a short video clip that reinforces your story or explains a concept better than words can. You can either embed the video directly into your presentation software or include a link to an external website. Just make sure you test your method on the day of the presentation and have a backup on a USB just in case you need it.

8. Invite people onto the stage

If you’re preparing a particularly long presentation, consider having other people to come on stage and talk for a bit. This will help you narrate the story and make the whole presentation more interactive.

Steve Jobs never pulled off the entire presentation by himself; he always invited several speakers, including designers, partners, and other executives, to help him introduce their latest product. Of course, this technique should always be arranged with your colleagues in advance.

9. Poll the audience

Polls are similar to quizzes in that they engage the audience during the presentation. Polls encourage participants to think not only about your questions but also about their answers. Moreover, live polls help create mental breaks, so your audience can regain attention and stay focused throughout your presentation.

By including everyone in answering the question, you also create a group experience that leaves the audience feeling like they all have been part your presentation.

10. Use (appropriate) humour

Some of the best speeches and presentations in the world feature plenty of humour. No matter the subject, a great speaker will use natural charisma, humour and language to convey their points and get the crowd excited about what they are saying.

A great example of building rapport with the audience through the use of humour is Barrack Obama talking about the government building Iron Man.

Another example is when  Morgan Spurlock  offers individuals the opportunity to buy the rights to name his TED talk—which he refers to again at the end, where he reveals the title. He peppers the entire presentation with humorous commentary that nonetheless supports his point.

Create relevant jokes or find a way to bring out the humour in your subject, and your audience will be much more engaged and more likely to remember your words.

11. Practice your delivery, again and again

Practicing is the most important part of delivering an interactive presentation. You’ll need to practice where to use live quizzes, when to accept questions, which points to emphasise with body language and many more. There are several options for practicing:

Practice Presentation Skills

Improve your public speaking and presentation skills by practicing them in realistic environments, with automated feedback on performance. Learn More

• In front of a mirror  – great for seeing and improving your body language, however it can be distracting to what you are saying.
• To friends or colleagues  – a useful way to get feedback on your presentation, try and action the feedback straight away to improve on it. You can also give the person some key areas to focus their feedback on if you believe you are weaker in those areas.
• Virtual reality  – practice in realistic  public speaking environments , whether it be in a virtual conference room or boardroom. Receive feedback on your speech with voice analysis technology.

With all three of these, you’ll want to work on your tone of voice, accent, pauses between sentences and facial expressions. The most important thing is to talk slowly and loudly enough to be heard and understood clearly.

A list of the best presentation skills courses you can practice with:

• Presentation Skills Training Courses

12. Try and relate to the audience

Make comparisons to events from everyday life that most people are more than familiar with. By making things look simple, not only will you help your audience get a better understanding of the subject by enabling them to visualize the information more clearly, you will also draw a connection between you.

After all, you are all just regular people with similar experience, you just happen to be performing different roles at the moment.

13. Strong body language (position, posture and gesture)

Non-verbal communication plays a large part in how we construct meaning, so it makes sense to consider how to use it in your presentation. You can make things more interesting for your audience by using  your body language  to enhance what you’re saying.

Body language goes beyond reinforcing your messaging – it’s useful from a biological standpoint. As discussed in her  body language TED talk , Amy Cuddy’s research found that using ‘assertive’ body language released testosterone and reduced cortisol in both men and women, thereby increasing confidence and decreasing stress.

An effective presenter pays close attention to the physical relationship with her/his audience. If you stand hidden behind an overhead projector or stand too far away from your audience, they will not develop a bond with you and this will limit the effectiveness of your presentation.

Your posture will also dictate levels of audience involvement. If you’re too relaxed and sit slumped in a chair to deliver your talk, the audience might drift away. Find a comfortable but purposeful position in relation to your audience and adopt an upright sitting or standing posture that allows for movement and gesture.

Audiences respond well to the physical energy and enthusiasm being conveyed by a presenter, and thus the use of clear and controlled gestures will greatly enhance your presentation. Gestures that are open and reach out to your audience serve to extend your presentation to them and thus help them feel more involved.

Examples of good body language:

• Use hand gestures when delivering key points
• Use calm, deliberate movements when highlighting certain information
• Keep arms and legs uncrossed

14. Maintain eye contact with all sections of the audience

Making eye contact is one of the most  powerful techniques  for involving your audience. If used well, eye contact can serve to make your address much more personal and thus more effective. If eye contact is avoided, the presenter can appear to be nervous and unconvincing.

It is important to share eye contact with all members of a small audience or all sections of a large audience. Avoid making eye contact with just the people you know, taking particular care not to deliver your entire presentation to the person who’s assessing your work. Remember that you will need to involve the whole audience if you are to make an effective presentation.

If you are nervous, eye contact can be very difficult to establish and maintain. Remember that some eye contact is better than none and that you should try to build your confidence over time.

15. Use live quizzes to better understand your audience

Live quizzes are a great way to understanding your audience better get them engaging with the material.

For example, if you’re giving a presentation on autonomous vehicles, you could ask questions such as:

• When do you think autonomous vehicles will become mainstream?
• Are you concerned by safety issues?
• If someone is injured or killed by the car, who is to blame?

These will surely create some interesting results which you, as the presenter, can talk about and discuss.

16. Use physical props if possible

You don’t need to be giving a product demo to use props during your presentation. Props are a great way to help the audience visually picture what you are talking about. While talking through your presentation, you can refer to the prop at certain points to highlight your point or make it clear to the audience.

Kenny Nguyen  does this will in his TEDx talk on ‘The Art of Saying No’. He refers to the “sword of yes” and “shield of no.” Naturally he picks up a sword and shield from the table to help demonstrate his points.

Another great example is when  Jill Bolte Taylor  brings a real human brain on stage during her TED talk to explain to what happened to her when she had a stroke. She touched the audience with this demonstration and left the audience in complete awe.

17. Extend your usual vocal range

Your tone of voice, your volume, and other vocal aspects affect how people listen and hear your message.

Julian Treasure’s  TED talk on ‘How to speak so that people want to listen’ is all about this, and at the end offers several tips ‘in our toolbox’ for how to master the use of voice, from changing your speaking pace to speaking in a different pitch.

Get feedback from a friend or colleague to see what works best for you.

18. Use language and literary techniques

Your use of language has a huge influence on the way you engage your audience. It’s important to use language your audience understands and is familiar with.

Avoid using language that is too formal or informal, too technical or too simplistic depending upon the nature of your talk and the knowledge base of your audience. Pitching your presentation at the right level can be a challenge but it is very effective for making the audience feel involved.

There are various  literary techniques  you can use, such as the Power or Three, to give greater impact to your message.

Involving your audience is essential to making an impact. Your presentation should pull them in, get their attention and stimulate their thoughts and understanding. This can be done in a number of ways.

The way that you plan your presentation will be critical in terms of using language and ideas that your audience will understand. You must also ensure that there is sufficient time for questions and discussion. The way that you deliver your presentation should create a bond with your audience.

Your use of eye contact, body language, spoken words and energy should  communicate effectively  and enthusiastically with all areas of the room, thus ensuring that the audience receives positive messages about you and your material.

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11 Creative Methods for Crafting Interactive Presentations

Table of Contents

Microsoft PowerPoint is the quintessential presentation software that has set the standard for creating visual aids for speeches, lectures, and meetings. With tons of templates, themes, and tools, it allows you to create interactive presentation slides that grab an audience’s attention.

PowerPoint offers a rich feature set, including text formatting, animations, transitions, and multimedia integration, so you can make both straightforward and sophisticated presentations. 

It’s used across various sectors — educational, corporate, and more — because it’s reliable, compatible with numerous devices, and remains a go-to software for professionals who want a tried-and-true solution to get their point across.

Also read →   How to Create an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation

2. iSpring Suite

iSpring Suite is a powerful tool designed for creating engaging presentations, especially for eLearning and corporate training. As it integrates seamlessly with PowerPoint, it enables you to transform conventional slides into dynamic online learning experiences with quizzes, role-plays, screen recordings, and interactions. 

Its responsive design ensures presentations are accessible across various devices. Besides, you can save them as SCORM and xAPI packages to upload to a learning management system (LMS) and track learner progress and results with ease. 

iSpring Suite is extremely easy to use, and with all its awesome features, it’s a must-have for anyone who wants to create immersive content for teaching and training.

Prezi is an online presentation tool that breaks away from the traditional slide-based format. It offers a dynamic platform for storytelling and information sharing. 

With Prezi, you can create non-linear presentations on an endless canvas that allows you to zoom in to and out from details and move around freely. This approach keeps your audience engaged and makes the entire experience more interactive and memorable. 

With its user-friendly interface, wide range of templates, and the ability to collaborate in real time, Prezi is a popular choice among professionals, educators, and students who want to go beyond static slides.

Visme is another online tool designed for creating presentations, infographics, and other visual content. Offering a wide range of customizable templates, graphics, and data visualization tools, it stands out with its emphasis on design and ease of use.

It’s Visme’s collaborative capabilities allow teams to work together seamlessly that makes it a good choice for businesses and marketers who want to transmit complex ideas in a more appealing format. 

With its comprehensive suite of design tools, Visme is a great alternative to traditional presentation software that empowers users to bring their ideas to life in a visually compelling manner.

5. SlideDog

SlideDog is a unique presentation tool that stands out for its ability to mix and match all kinds of multimedia and presentation styles within a single interface. Unlike traditional presentation software that locks you into one format, SlideDog lets you combine PowerPoint slides, PDFs, Prezis, web pages, video clips, and even live feeds in a single presentation.

The tool is easy to use with its drag-and-drop interface and has neat features like live sharing, audience engagement tools, and remote control via smartphone. It’s a flexible and innovative solution for anyone looking to bring some energy and interaction to their sessions without being limited to a single platform or format.

To learn about other tools that are available on the market, read this article on the best interactive presentation software .

How to Create an Interactive Presentation with iSpring Suite in 5 Easy Steps

As mentioned, iSpring Suite is a powerful tool for crafting presentations that captivate and involve your audience. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to unleash the full potential of this tool and make presentations interactive. 

Step 1. Install iSpring Suite

First, you’ll need to have iSpring Suite installed on your computer. It works as an add-in to PowerPoint, so make sure you have PowerPoint installed as well. Once installed, open PowerPoint, and you’ll see the iSpring Suite tab added to your ribbon, signaling that you’re ready to start.

Step 4. Narrate your slides

A voice-over is a great way to guide your audience through the content and ensure they’re following along. With iSpring Suite, you can record audio narration for each slide, adding a personal touch and making your interactive slideshow more engaging. 

Or you can use a built-in text-to-speech tool that allows you to generate a natural sounding voice-over without a narrator. Just choose a language and voice, add text, and your narration is ready!

Content creator:

Helen Colman

She enjoys combining in-depth research with expert knowledge of the industry. If you have eLearning insights that you’d like to share, please get in touch .

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What’s it for?

Make interactive presentations

Create show-stopping presentations and clickable slide decks with Genially’s free online presentation builder. Leave boring behind and tell a story that’s interactive, animated, and beautifully engaging.

INTERACTIVE CONTENT

A presentation that works like a website

Engage your audience with interactive slides that they can click on and explore. Add music, video, hotspots, popup windows, quiz games and interactive data visualizations in a couple of clicks. No coding required!

NO-CODE ANIMATION

Make your slides pop with animation

Bring a touch of movie magic to the screen with incredible visual effects and animated page transitions. Add click-trigger and timed animations to make any topic easy to understand and captivating to watch.

INTEGRATIONS

Live from the world wide web

Embed online content directly in your slides for a media-rich interactive experience. From YouTube and Spotify to Google Maps and Sheets, Genially works seamlessly with over 100 popular apps and websites.

TEMPLATES & TOOLKIT

Genius design tools

With Genially, anyone can create a polished and professional presentation. Choose from over 2000 pre-built templates, or create your own design using the drag-and-drop resources, color palettes, icons, maps and vector graphics.

ONLINE PLATFORM

Safe and sound in the cloud

Because Genially is online, you can relax knowing that your slides are always up-to-date. There’s no risk of forgetting to save changes or accessing the wrong file. Log in from anywhere, collaborate with your team, and make edits in real time.

All-in-one interactive presentation maker

Real-time collaboration.

Co-edit slide decks with others in real time and organize all of your team projects in shared spaces.

Multi format

Present live, share the link, or download as an interactive PDF, MP4 video, JPG, HTML, or SCORM package.

Engagement Analytics

See how many people have viewed and clicked on your slides and keep tabs on learner progress with User Tracking.

Import from PPTX

Give your old decks a new lease of life by importing PowerPoint slides and transforming them with a little Genially magic.

Keep content on-brand with your logo, fonts, colors, brand assets, and team templates at your fingertips.

Quiz & Survey Builder

Use the Interactive Questions feature to add a fun quiz to your slides or gather feedback from your audience.

Beautiful templates

Make your next deck in a flash with Genially’s ready-to-use slides.

OKR Presentation

School Notebook Presentation

Animated Sketch Presentation

Minimal presentation

Land Of Magic Presentation

Onboarding presentation

Visual Presentation

Animated chalkboard presentation

Online Education Guide

Terrazzo presentation

Startup pitch

Historical presentation

THEMES FOR EVERYONE

Interactive presentation ideas

From classroom materials to business pitches, make an impact every day with Genially.

Education presentations

Pitch decks

Business presentations

Thesis defense

Share anywhere

Present live

From the front of the room or behind a screen, you’ll wow your audience with Genially. Heading off grid? Download in HTML to present dynamic slides without WiFi.

Share the link

Every Genially slide deck has its own unique url, just like a website! Share the link so that others can explore at their own pace, or download an MP4 video slideshow or PDF.

Post online

Embed the slides on your website or post them on social media. Upload to Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, Moodle or any other platform.

The benefits of interactive slides

🗣️ Active participation An interactive slide deck gives your audience cool things to click on and discover, boosting learning and engagement.

👂 Multi-sensory experience Audio, video, animations, and mouse interactions make your content immersive, entertaining and accessible.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People-friendly format Pop-ups and embeds condense more material into fewer slides so you can break information down into digestible chunks.


🎮 Gamification Games, quizzes and puzzles make information more memorable and enable you to gather feedback and check understanding.

How to make an interactive presentation

With Genially’s easy-to-use presentation platform, anyone can make incredible visual content in moments.

Choose a template or a blank canvas

Get stunning results in less time with a ready-made template. Feeling creative? Design your own slides from scratch.

Customize the design

Add animations and interactions

Resources to become a pro presentation creator

How to create an interactive presentation: Get started in Genially.

How to present data without sending your audience to sleep.

No-code animation: Bring your slides to life with cinematic visual effects.

The art of digital storytelling: Engage and thrill on screen.

Genially in a nutshell

How do I make a presentation interactive and how does Genially work? Find the answers to all of your slide-related questions here!

What’s an interactive presentation?

Interactive slides contain clickable hotspots, links, buttons, and animations that are activated at the touch of a button. Instead of reading or watching passively, your audience can actively interact with the content.  

Genially’s interaction presentation software allows you to combine text, photos, video clips, audio and other content in one deck. It’s a great way to condense more information into fewer slides. 

If you’re a teacher, you can share multiple materials in one single learning resource. Students can create their own projects using digital media and online maps. For business or training, try embedding spreadsheet data, PDFs, and online content directly in your slides. 

An interactive slide deck is more user-friendly than a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation or Google Slides document. That’s because you can break information down into chunks with pop-ups, labels, voiceovers and annotated infographics.  

The other benefit of interactive content is increased engagement. It’s easier to keep your audience’s attention when they’re actively participating. Try Genially’s presentation software and free slideshow maker to see how it’s better than other presentation websites. You won’t go back to standard presentation apps!

How do you make a clickable slide?

The best way to make slides clickable is to use Genially’s free interactive presentation program. Design your slide then apply an interaction. In a couple of clicks, you can add popup windows, hyperlinks, close-up images, games, animations, multimedia and other content. 

Choose from the library of hotspot buttons and icons to show people what to click on. Go to Presenter View to get a preview and see how your content will appear to your audience.

How do I create presentations that look professional?

You’ve got a deadline looming and you’re staring at the screen with a blank presentation. We’ve all been there! Starting a presentation design from scratch is tricky, especially if you’re short on time. 

Genially’s free online presentation maker has over 2000 ready-to-use templates for professional slide presentations, photos slideshows, and more. Each slide design has been created by our team of top graphic designers. No need to worry about fonts, centering images, or designing a matching color scheme. It’s all done for you. 

Start by browsing our layouts and themes for education, business and then customize with your own text and images.

How do I share or download my slides?

Because Genially is a cloud based presentation software, you can simply share the link to your slides. Like other online presentation tools, there are no files to download or store on your computer. Everything is saved online.  

When you publish your slide deck, it gets its own unique url, just like a website. Share the link with others to let them explore the content in their own time. If you’re presenting live, just click the Present button. 

You can also embed your presentation on your website, company wiki, or social media. Genially is compatible with WordPress, Moodle, Google Classroom, and other platforms. If you use an LMS, you can also download your interactive design slides in SCORM format.

For slideshow videos and slideshows with music, share online or download as an MP4 video. Check out our free slideshow templates for ideas.

Can I make a free presentation in Genially?

You bet! Genially is an easy-to-use slide maker, with a free version and paid plans. The free plan allows you to create unlimited slides with interactions and animations. Subscribe to one of our paid plans for more advanced features.

Discover a world of interactive content

Join the 25 million people designing incredible interactive experiences with Genially.

Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > How you can use AI to help you make the perfect presentation handouts

How you can use AI to help you make the perfect presentation handouts

Enhancing your presentation with a well-crafted handout can significantly improve its impact. A presentation handout, summarizing key information from your slides, not only aids in audience comprehension and engagement but also assists in your preparation.

What is a presentation handout?

Whether you’re creating a lecture, business presentation, or sharing research in a PowerPoint, giving your audience a presentation handout can help them retain the information. A handout can also help them follow along and engage with your presentation. And best of all, creating a presentation handout can help you prepare for the presentation itself— and AI can help you speed up the presentation-handout creation process.

Use AI to help you find examples of presentation handouts

If you’ve never made a presentation handout before, you might not know where to start. It can help to view examples of presentation handouts so you can gain an understanding of what’s expected of you. Use these prompts in your preferred AI platform to help you find presentation handout examples:

• I’m a student creating a presentation on scientific research. Can you show me an example of a presentation handout for a research presentation?
• I’m creating a PowerPoint to share new school rules with my students. Can you help me find a good example of a presentation handout for teachers?
• I’m presenting a business report. Can you help me find a few examples of handouts to go along with a business report presentation?

Tell your story with captivating presentations

Powerpoint empowers you to develop well-designed content across all your devices

Use AI to help you organize your presentation handout

If you’re not sure how to organize your presentation handout, AI can help. You can copy and paste each slide into your favorite AI platform or give it a summary of your presentation. It’s important that you give the AI tool as much context as possible about your presentation to get the best results. Once you’ve given the AI tool enough context about your presentation, try these prompts to organize it:

• What key points from my PowerPoint are essential to include in my presentation handout?
• Based on my presentation, how long does my presentation handout need to be?
• Is there any information in my PowerPoint that doesn’t need to be in my presentation handout?

Ask AI to proofread your presentation handouts

Once you’ve created your presentation handout, you can copy and paste it into your preferred AI platform and ask it to proofread your work. It’s important that your presentation handout is clear and easy to follow. If you want AI to proofread your presentation handout, try these prompts:

• How can I simplify my presentation handout?
• Is my presentation handout clear and easy to read?
• Are there any spelling errors in my presentation?
• How well does my presentation handout follow my presentation?
• Is there any crucial information missing from my presentation handout?
• Can you make sure the style and tone of my presentation handout is professional?

Remember, while AI provides invaluable assistance, a final personal review is essential to catch any details it might miss, such as incorrect contact information. Finally, ensure there’s space for audience notes in your handout and practice your presentation thoroughly for a confident delivery.

When you’re done proofreading your presentation handout, make sure to leave some space in it for your audience to take notes. If you’re printing out your handouts, ensure you have enough copies for your audience. Don’t forget to practice your presentation so that you feel confident.

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How to Insert a GIF in PowerPoint and Loop It

We show you how to insert a GIF in PowerPoint, as well as how to source them and stop them from looping infinitely.

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Adding GIFs to your PowerPoint presentation can transform it from a standard slideshow to a dynamic, engaging, and memorable experience for your audience. Whether you’re aiming to entertain with memes, illustrate a point with a quick UI demonstration, or simply add some life to your slides, knowing how to incorporate GIFs effectively is a valuable skill.

GIF for PowerPoint: An Animated Picture for Your Presentation

Microsoft makes it quite easy to add a GIF to PowerPoint, but you may have to do things differently depending on where it’s from and how you want it to display. If you don’t want your GIF to loop endlessly, for example, you’ll have to make some adjustments in a GIF splitter program. We cover all of this in this guide.

How to Insert a GIF in PowerPoint From Your PC

This method is straightforward if you already have a GIF saved on your computer and wish to add it to your PowerPoint presentation. It involves a few simple clicks within PowerPoint’s interface.

Finding GIFs for PowerPoint on the Web

If you don’t have a GIF ready but know you want to add one to your presentation, you can find a plethora of GIFs online. This section will guide you through finding the perfect GIF for your presentation from various sources.

Using PowerPoint’s Insert Tool

Explore giphy for gifs, explore tenor for gifs, how to make a powerpoint gif loop a certain number of times.

Sometimes, you might want a GIF to loop only a certain number of times rather than continuously. This can help prevent the GIF from distracting your audience from the main content of your presentation.

How to Insert GIFs directly from Your Keyboard on Windows 11 or Windows 10

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions About PowerPoint and GIFs

Can i add sound to a gif in powerpoint.

Directly adding sound to a GIF in PowerPoint is not supported, as GIFs are image files and do not store audio data. To achieve a similar effect, you can insert an audio file separately via “ Insert ” > “ Audio ” and synchronize the audio playback with the GIF animation on your slide. This requires manual adjustment of timing to ensure they play in sync.

How can I make a GIF the background of a slide in PowerPoint?

To use a GIF as a slide background, first insert the GIF using the “ Insert ” > “ Pictures ” option. Then, right-click on the GIF and select “Format Picture” . Under the “Format Picture” menu, choose “Fill” > “Picture or texture fill” and then select the GIF from your files. Adjust the sizing and positioning options as needed to cover the entire slide. Remember, PowerPoint does not offer a direct “ set as background ” option for GIFs, so this workaround is necessary.

Is it possible to insert a GIF using PowerPoint on a Mac?

Yes, inserting a GIF in PowerPoint on a Mac follows a process similar to that on Windows. Click on “ Insert ” in the top menu, choose “ Picture “, then “Picture from File…” to navigate your files and select the GIF you wish to add. Once selected, you can resize and reposition the GIF on your slide as needed, just like on Windows. The compatibility and functionality remain consistent across both platforms.

Can I edit a GIF directly in PowerPoint?

PowerPoint’s capabilities for directly editing GIFs are limited to resizing, repositioning, and formatting options such as adding a border or shadow. For more advanced edits like cropping, changing animation speed, or editing the content of the GIF itself, you’ll need to use an external GIF editor. Once edits are complete, you can reinsert the updated GIF into your PowerPoint presentation via the “ Insert ” tab.

How can I convert a video to a GIF for my PowerPoint presentation?

To convert a video clip into a GIF for use in PowerPoint, you’ll need to use a video-to-GIF converter tool, which can be found online (e.g., EzGIF.com). Upload the video file to the converter, set your preferred start and end times for the GIF, and choose any other settings like size or frame rate. Once converted, download the GIF to your computer. You can then insert it into your PowerPoint presentation following the steps for inserting images.

What’s the best way to find high-quality GIFs for my presentation?

High-quality GIFs can be found on popular platforms such as GIPHY or Tenor, which offer extensive libraries of GIFs on various subjects. Use specific and relevant keywords for your search to find the most suitable GIFs. Consider the resolution and size of the GIFs in relation to your presentation needs. When downloading, ensure the file is of a high enough quality to look good on large screens without being too large to keep your presentation file size manageable.

Do GIFs increase the file size of the PowerPoint presentation significantly?

Yes, adding GIFs can significantly increase the file size of your PowerPoint presentation, especially if you use multiple or high-resolution GIFs. This can affect the performance and loading times of your presentation. To mitigate this, consider optimizing your GIFs using GIF compression tools available online before inserting them into your PowerPoint. Additionally, think about the necessity of each GIF and its contribution to your presentation to avoid overloading your slides with unnecessary media.

How can I align a GIF perfectly in the center of a slide?

After inserting a GIF, you can align it perfectly in the center of a slide by selecting the GIF and then going to the “ Format ” tab. Click on “Align” in the Arrange group, and then select “Align Center” and “Align Middle” sequentially. This ensures the GIF is centered both horizontally and vertically on the slide. If “ Align ” is grayed out, make sure you’ve clicked on your GIF to select it, and that the “Snap objects to grid” option under PowerPoint options is enabled.

Is it possible to insert multiple GIFs on a single slide?

You can insert multiple GIFs on a single PowerPoint slide by repeating the insertion process for each GIF you want to include. However, it’s important to carefully plan the layout of your slide to avoid clutter and ensure each GIF serves a purpose and enhances your communication. Consider the size and placement of each GIF, and use PowerPoint’s alignment tools to maintain a professional and organized appearance.

Can I use GIFs in Microsoft PowerPoint Online?

Yes, Microsoft PowerPoint Online supports the insertion of GIFs in a similar manner to the desktop version. You can insert a GIF by choosing “ Insert ” > “ Pictures ” > “ This Device ” if you have the GIF saved locally, or use “Online Pictures” to search for and insert GIFs directly from the web. Note that some features might be more limited in the online version compared to the desktop application.

Why does my GIF not animate in PowerPoint?

If your GIF does not animate in PowerPoint, first ensure that you’ve inserted it as a picture via the “ Insert ” tab and not as an object or background. Also, check that the GIF plays outside of PowerPoint to ensure the animation works. PowerPoint’s view mode does not display animations, so switch to “ Slide Show ” mode to preview animations. If the issue persists, your PowerPoint version might not fully support GIF animations, or the GIF file might be too large or corrupted.

Can I change the transparency of a GIF in PowerPoint?

PowerPoint does not support changing the transparency of GIF files directly within the program due to the nature of the GIF format. If you need to make a GIF transparent, you must use an external image editing program that supports transparency editing in GIFs. Edit the GIF to adjust its transparency, save the changes, and then reinsert the GIF into your PowerPoint presentation.

How can I make sure my GIFs don’t distract from my presentation’s message?

To ensure GIFs don’t distract from your message, choose GIFs that complement your content and adhere to a theme consistent with your presentation’s topic. Use GIFs sparingly and strategically place them to attract attention to key points without overwhelming your audience. Moreover, consider the timing and context of each GIF within your presentation to enhance understanding rather than detract from it.

Are there any PowerPoint add-ins for managing GIFs?

There are several PowerPoint add-ins designed for managing and enhancing multimedia content, including GIFs. These add-ins offer features such as GIF search within PowerPoint, easy GIF insertion, and in some cases, even GIF editing capabilities. You can explore the Microsoft Office Add-ins store online to find tools that meet your specific needs. Keep in mind that the availability and functionality of these add-ins may vary.

Can I preview a GIF animation in the editing mode of PowerPoint, or do I need to start the slideshow?

To preview GIF animations as they will appear during your presentation, you generally need to initiate a slideshow using the “ Slide Show ” tab or by pressing F5. While in the normal editing view, PowerPoint shows the GIF as a static image. Some newer versions of PowerPoint might display a brief animation when the GIF is selected or inserted, but for a full preview of how it will look to your audience, viewing the GIF in slideshow mode is necessary.

Related: How to Add Music / Audio to PowerPoint Slides

Related: How to Embed a YouTube Video in PowerPoint

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