Delivering a presentation to a large, diverse audience can be challenging. Whether you are presenting in a noisy conference hall, speaking to an audience that is deaf or hard of hearing, or dealing with poor audio equipment, ensuring your message is understood is critical. To solve this, Google Slides includes a brilliant accessibility feature that automatically generates live subtitles as you speak.
How to Enable Live Captions
This feature uses your computer’s built-in microphone and Google’s advanced speech recognition technology to transcribe your words onto the screen in real-time.
- Open your presentation in Google Slides.
- Click the Slideshow button in the top right corner to begin your presentation.
- Hover your mouse over the bottom left corner of the screen to reveal the presentation toolbar.
- Click the Caption preferences icon (it looks like three vertical dots next to the standard CC icon).
- Click Toggle captions. (Alternatively, you can just press Ctrl + Shift + C on Windows or Command + Shift + C on Mac).
Customising the Subtitles
By default, the subtitles will appear at the bottom of the screen. However, if your slide design has important information at the bottom, the captions might cover it up. You can customise the appearance by clicking the Caption preferences menu again.
- Text Position: You can choose to display the captions at the Top or the Bottom of the screen.
- Text Size: You can choose from Small, Medium, Large, or Extra Large text depending on the size of your audience and the projector screen.
Once enabled, you simply speak normally into your microphone. Google Slides will instantly transcribe your words and display them on the screen, creating a highly accessible and professional presentation experience.