Slides Tips, Tricks, & Updates

Create Infographics and Images in Nano Banana

Nano Banana Pro in Slides now makes it easy to turn ideas into polished visuals. With one click, Beautify this slide transforms your content into compelling designs that match your deck’s style. For more control, the updated Help me visualize sidebar lets you choose specific formats (slide, image, infographic), fine-tune prompts, and refine results.

An illustration of a laptop showing the Google Slides interface with a focus on the Live Pointers feature. A black cursor is highlighted by a blue circular glow on a slide, with a black tooltip below it that reads, "Your pointer is visible to others (Ctrl+Alt+L Ctrl+Alt+M)." The background shows a simplified version of the Slides toolbar and sidebar, with a small arrow icon indicating where to toggle the pointer visibility.

Follow with Live Pointers when collaborating

Live Pointers in Slides solves "Where's Waldo?" when collaborating.

Look for the Pointer icon in the toolbar.
Select Show my pointer to let others see your movements.
Select Show collaborator pointers to see where everyone else is working.

A screenshot of a presentation slide with the title "Use the Pen Tool" and the subtitle "on the bottom left when presenting." A large, light gray arrow points toward the bottom left corner of the screen. In that corner, an open options menu is visible, with the item "Turn on the pen" highlighted, showing the keyboard shortcut Shift+L. Other menu options include "Open speaker notes," "Turn on the laser pointer," and "Exit slideshow."

Write with a Pen while presenting

Enter Present mode.
Hover over the bottom-left corner to reveal the options menu.
Select Turn on the pen (or just hit Shift + L on your keyboard).

More to learn here!

A slide with the title text "Convert Slides to Video" in a large, black sans-serif font. A large blue arrow points from the text toward a vertical toolbar on the right side of the frame. The arrow specifically indicates a "play" icon at the bottom of the toolbar, which has a black tooltip label that reads "Convert to video."

Make Slides into a Video instantly

You can use a Google Slides presentation to create scenes for a new or existing video in Google Vids. Each slide becomes its own scene.

From there, you can review, edit, or delete any scene. You can also use Gemini in Vids to generate scripts, AI voiceovers, add background music, and include animations for your imported slides.

A screenshot of an AI interface with the greeting "Hi Brian, Where should we start?" Above a text input box is a prompt requesting a 12–14 slide presentation for a 3rd grade English lesson on active and passive voice, and conditional and subjunctive moods. A "Tools" dropdown menu is open, highlighting options like "Guided learning," "Create image," "Canvas," "Deep research," and a "Create music" tool labeled as "New."

Make entire presentations in Gemini Canvas

Simply open the Gemini app, select “Canvas” in the toolbar, and ask Gemini to “create a presentation.” You can specify a topic or upload your own source with the prompt.

*all AI-generated content should be vetted by a professional before use

A screenshot of a Page setup dialog box. The window features a dropdown menu set to Custom and two numerical input fields showing 11 and 8.5, followed by a dropdown menu for Inches. A note below the fields states, "Note: Measurement unit preferences can be set under Tools > Preferences." In the bottom right corner, there are buttons for Cancel and a yellow-highlighted Apply.

Make your Slides print cleanly

Slides can usually print without issues. However, one teacher hack is change the page setup to 8.5 x 11 in

Go to File>Page Setup>Custom to make change the dimensions of your Slide to ensure it prints cleanly every time!

The News Literacy Project’s free Checkology resources offer ready-to-use materials that:

Give students a clear, age-appropriate overview of the First Amendment
Show how a free press supports a healthy democracy
Help teens think critically about news, trust, and their own civic responsibilities

You’ll find:

Quick bellringers – 5–10 minute Daily Do Now slides on press freedom (great warm-ups or exit tickets)
First Amendment quiz + poster – Simple tools to reinforce the five freedoms
Full lessons and activities – On the First Amendment, press freedom in the U.S. and around the world, investigative journalism, editorial cartoons, and more
Newsroom to Classroom – Option to bring a working journalist (virtual or in person) to talk with your students

All resources are free; you just need a Checkology educator account to access them.

Feel good stories at a rapid pace

60 Second Docs is a popular digital documentary series producing weekly, one-minute videos that showcase unique, unconventional characters and human experiences globally. Launched in 2016 by Indigenous Media, it highlights unsung heroes, niche passions, and extraordinary lifestyles, boasting over 500 episodes.

Subscribe to their daily feed or check out their YouTube channel!