In the past, one of the biggest challenges is to interact with your audience while giving a presentation but the benefits of cloud services are real. As Google Slides is an online application, it offers an interactive Q&A feature through which you can engage your audience and allow them to submit their questions or vote on any idea during the slide presentation.
Do you want to learn how to invite the audience to participate in your presentation and enhance engagement?
To use Q&A on Google Slides, choose “Presenter View” from the “Present” dropdown menu. Then click on “Start new” in the “Audience Tools” Tab. In the new window, the “Accepting Questions” button will be turned on by default and the link will be shared with the audience automatically.
You can also see the history of Q&A from the “Q&A History” options in the “Tools” menu dropdown. This will open a sidebar containing the list of questions per session. In addition to this, Google Slides also allows you to create a poll with the ultimate goal of enhancing engagement and interaction with your audience.
In this article, we have provided a step-by-step guide on how to use the Q&A feature in Google Slides. So, if you have a presentation coming up, here’s how you can encourage your audience to ask questions and participate actively:
1. What is the Q&A Feature in Google Slides?
In Google Slides, the Q&A feature is accessible through the “Presenter” view. This feature allows the audience to ask questions during the presentation. In the presentation screen, the audience is given a link where they can type in their questions. The audience has the option to ask a question anonymously as well.
As the presenter, you can see the questions appearing on your screen in the “Audience tools” tab. This gives the audience an opportunity for a Q&A session during the presentation. Besides, the presenter can see all the questions as they are asked and choose which questions to answer.
2. How to Use the Q&A Feature in Google Slides?
The Q&A feature in Google Slides is easy to open and use. To use the Q&A feature in Google Slides, all you have to do is follow the 3 simple steps.
Step-1: Click on the “Presenter view” option
In the Google Slides presentation, click on the downward pointing arrow in the “Present” button located at the right side at the top of the screen. Then click on the “Presenter View” option from the dropdown menu to open a new “Presenter view” pop-up window.
Step-2: Click on the “Start new” button
The next step is to select the “AUDIENCE TOOLS” tab located at the top of the “Presenter view” window. Then click on the “Start new” button at the bottom of the window to open the Q&A screen.
Step-3: Share the link with your audience
In the Q&A screen, the “Accepting questions” option will be turned on by default. The link beside the “Accepting questions” button will be automatically shared on the presentation screen. The audience can click on the link while the presentation is ongoing, and they can type in their questions through the link.
You can see the questions in the “Questions appear here” section. You can click on the button under the “Accepting questions” option to disable the Q&A feature.
3. What is Q&A History in Google Slides?
The Q&A history in Google Slides is a tool accessible in the editor view. After ending the presentation, you can access the “Q&A History”. It is an extension of the Q&A feature in Google Slides. The “Q&A History” option in the “Tools” menu gives you access to all the questions asked during the presentation.
With this option, you can review the questions and comments of your audience after the presentation has ended. The questions in the “Q&A history” even have timestamps to help you pinpoint when they were asked. Besides, you can access questions from all sessions if you have presented the presentation multiple times.
4. Can You Access Q&A History After the Presentation?
In Google Slides, you can access the Q&A feature even after the presentation is over. The Q&A history is available after you exit the “Presenter view” window. To access the Q&A history after the presentation, follow the 2 simple steps.
Step-1: Click on the “Q&A history” option
After exiting the presentation mode, click on the “Tools” tab in the menu bar located at the top of the screen. In the dropdown menu, click on the “Q&A history” option. This will open a “Q&A history” sidebar.
Step-2: Click on a question
In the “Q&A history” sidebar, you will find the list of all the questions asked during all sessions of the presentation with timestamps. You can click on each option in the list to see the questions.
5. How to Add a Poll in Google Slides?
A live poll in a slide can offer the audience a chance to actively participate in a presentation. Google Slides has no feature which allows you to add a live poll in your presentation. You can use the “Add-on” feature to use an extension for adding a poll.
The most common add-ons are “Slido” and “Slides Poll”. To add a poll using an extension, follow the 7 quick steps.
Step-1: Click on the “Get add-ons” option
The first step is to click on the “Add-ons” tab in the menu bar located at the top of the screen. In the dropdown menu, click on the “Get add-ons” option. This will open a “Google Workspace Marketplace” dialog box.
Step-2: Search for your preferred extension
In the “Google Workplace Marketplace” dialog box, click on the “Search apps” box at the top. Type in the name of a poll extension like “Slido” and click on the “Search” icon at the left of the box. Alternatively, you can press the “enter” key on your keyboard.
Step-3: Click on the “Install” button
The next step is to click on the “Slido” extension. Then click on the “Install” button. This will open another dialog box.
Step-4: Click on the “Continue” option
In the new dialog box, you can read the “terms of services” and “privacy policy” of the extension. To continue with the installation process, click on the “Continue” button at the bottom of the box. This will open a new browser window.
Step-5: Click on the “Allow” button
In the new window, sign in with your Google account. Then click on the “Allow” button at the bottom of the window to allow the Slido extension access to your Google account.
Step-6: Click on the “Done” option
Another dialog box will open when the installation is complete. Now all you have to do is click on the “Done” button to finish the installation process.
Step-7: Click on the preferred extension
After the installation process is complete, click on the “Add-ons” tab in the menu bar of the Google Slides presentation. In the dropdown menu, click on the preferred poll extension like the “Slido for Google Slides”.
This will open a secondary dropdown menu where you have to click on the “Open the sidebar” option. In the “Slido” sidebar, you can customize the poll choices.