As we attend more Teams meetings a common problem is frequently related to PowerPoint sharing, especially when using multiple screens and with presenters wanting to see their PowerPoint notes. Follow this guide to ensure a smooth transition when presenting and between presenters in Teams meetings.
There are four different ways to share PowerPoint content in Teams Meetings.
- Share your entire screen/desktop
- Share the Editing Window
- Share the Slide Show window (Preferred)
- Use the PowerPoint file sharing option in Teams
This is the default method that most people choose because it is the most familiar. If you have two monitors you can choose which desktop you wish to share.
Pros: Easy to setup, whatever is on your screen – the audience also see. Your PowerPoint animations and transmissions are also delivered.
Cons: Any notifications, such as incoming mail or Teams notifications will be shared in the meeting. Your audience will also see the small Teams window in the lower right corner of your screen unless you minimize it.
Sharing your Window can be useful as you can choose a specific application.
Pros: The attendees don’t see your taskbar or any other programs you may have open.
Cons: They can however still see you setting up.
Our preferred option is to share ONLY the window which contains your presentation in Slideshow mode. Here are the steps:
- Run your slideshow from the beginning – Don’t press ESC.
- Use ALT + TAB to switch back to your Teams Meeting
- Choose Share and share the Window which contains your presentation in Full Screen mode.
- ALT + TAB back to your presentation and deliver as appropriate
Pros: Nothing shared until you are ready. Limits the possibility of confidentiality issues arising from sharing before you are fully set up!
Cons: Can’t easily see Teams Controls ie. If someone raises their hand.
You can share the PowerPoint file in the meeting from these options. It then runs the slide show using PowerPoint on the Web inside Teams. This option offers some advantages according to Microsoft, including the use of far less bandwidth compared to screen sharing
Pros: If you are experiencing some “lag” between slides due to poor internet connection speeds, this option is worth a try.
Cons: As the presentation is run In PowerPoint for the web, not all features are included – some animations or transitions may not work for example. Be mindful that you are effectively giving your audience a copy of the file. Unless you specify otherwise, your audience can move through the presentation at their speed. Note: you can stop this from happening.
If your presentation includes a video and you require the attendees to hear the audio you need to Include System Audio when sharing your screen.
Important note about Presenter View
Many users like to use Presenter view in PowerPoint.
Presenter View shows the full-screen slide show on one monitor and a “speaker view” on another monitor. The “speaker view” includes the current slide, a preview of the next slide and your speaker notes, a timer and more
To use Presenter View in a Teams meeting, simply check the settings (as above) and run your slide show. Then Alt+Tab and switch back to Teams and share as in Option 3 above i.e. share the window which is displaying your presentation in full screen mode.