Effective presentations can significantly enhance student engagement and learning. To help deliver more dynamic, accessible, and engaging lectures, we have identified ELEVEN practical PowerPoint Presentation tips and created a series of bite-sized video tutorials, each around one minute, demonstrating how to add these powerful features and increase learner engagement.
Quick, Simple and Impactful.
If you would like further support in implementing these PowerPoint features or discussing their pedagogical implications, please contact the Digital Learning Specialist team via elearning@tees.ac.uk or leave a comment at the bottom of the blog post.
How to Use This Guide
- Watch one video to learn the feature
- Try it yourself within PowerPoint
- Choose two or three tools to start, and build your confidence
- Gather student feedback to refine your approach
*NOTE: Please be aware that features 8 and 10 may require intervention from ITDS.
If you do require their support, please contact ITDS via the following:
Email: ithelp@tees.ac.uk Telephone: 01642 342220 (ext 2220)
1. Use Cameo to Include Live Video
Embed a live “talking head” video directly into your slides using Cameo. Ideal for pre-recorded and live sessions, this feature allows your face (or guest speakers) to be captured via a connected webcam and stay visible throughout, fostering connection and engagement.
Video link for external subscribers
Benefits:
- Makes lectures feel more personal and engaging
- Supports non-verbal connection with students
- Seamlessly integrates your video into PowerPoint or Teams
*NOTE Recording Cameo videos in PowerPoint can significantly increase file size, especially if the video quality and duration are high. Using Cameo as a live talking head video does not increase the file size of a PowerPoint slide deck.
2. Enable Live Captioning
Activate live captions so spoken words (picked up by the microphone attached to the device) appear as subtitles during your presentation. This improves accessibility for all students, supports those with hearing or language processing needs, and enhances comprehension.
Video link for external subscribers
Benefits:
- Aids understanding for the deaf, hard-of-hearing and those with auditory processing difficulties
- Reinforces audio with text, improving retention and focus
- Fulfils inclusive teaching and accessibility best practice
3. Use the Pointer Tools
Draw attention, emphasise key points, and make delivery more interactive using the laser, pen, and highlighter tools. These tools are useful for both live and recorded sessions.
Video link for external subscribers
Benefits:
- Directs learner focus and engagement by emphasising key points
- Can be saved and reviewed later
- Encourages interactive presentation delivery
4. Align and Distribute Slide Content
Use automatic alignment and distribution tools to make your slides look polished. Quick and easy, this ensures visual coherence and can save time.
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Benefits:
- Delivers consistent, visually appealing slides
- Saves prep time and reduces alignment errors
- Enhances clarity and readability on-screen
5. Animate Images
Add simple entrance, focus and exit animations to images to guide student focus and make slides more engaging. Animated visuals can help reinforce key messages.
Video link for external subscribers
Benefits:
- Helps visual reinforcement of key content
- Introduces pacing and focus into presentations
- Makes slides more dynamic and less static
6. Apply Morph Transitions
Use the Morph transition for smooth, dynamic visual transitions between slides. Suitable for visualising processes, comparisons, or progress steps.
Video link for external subscribers
Benefits:
- Seamlessly visualises content progression
- Professional, modern transitions enhance viewer interest
- Useful for illustrating process changes or comparisons
7. Remove Image Backgrounds
Use PowerPoint’s built-in background removal tool to cleanly isolate subjects within images. This creates a cleaner, more professional appearance. Another useful image editing tools allows for a single colour to be isolated and removed (made transparent) from the image.
Video link for external subscribers
Benefits:
- Focuses attention on key images
- Supports consistent design and layouts
- Enables flexible reuse of visuals across slides
8. Insert a Countdown Timer
Add a countdown timer to slides for timed activities, polls, or breaks. This can help structure sessions and encourage student participation.
*NOTE: Once you have added the Countdown Timer from the Add-ins tool, the timer will be available on all computer systems where the PowerPoint is opened (including for example, lecture theatres). This is regarded as a one-time integration and can be downloaded here.
Video link for external subscribers
Benefits:
- Keeps sessions organised and on time
- Drives engagement during timed exercises
- Encourages student focus and participation
9. Embed Microsoft Forms
Microsoft Forms can bring interactive quizzes and surveys directly into PowerPoint presentations, eliminating the need for the academic to open and authenticate to Microsoft Forms in a separate browser window (such as Chrome or Edge). This enables real-time feedback and formative assessment without leaving PowerPoint.
Video link for external subscribers
Benefits:
- Enables real-time formative assessment
- Improves interaction without leaving PowerPoint
- Provides immediate insights into learner understanding
10. Add Live Polling, word cloud and more with Slido
Integrate Slido, a 3rd party EdTech tool to include live polls, Q&As, or word clouds within your slides. A tool for gathering student feedback and maintaining engagement.
*NOTE: You must download and install the Slido extension to integrate Slido into Microsoft PowerPoint. It can be downloaded here.
Video link for external subscribers
Benefits:
- Engages students in active learning
- Collects instant feedback to inform teaching
- Supports collaborative learning and discussion
11. Embed Microsoft Forms from the Insert Tab (including Surveys, quizzes, Polls and more)
Microsoft Forms is pre-integrated into PowerPoint and therefore requires no additional setup work. To locate Forms, go to the Insert Ribbon > Forms. Choose to create a completely new Form using the standard workflow or select a Form that was previously created. Once added, choose to present the Form in live sessions (with results appearing in real time on the PowerPoint slide) or collect the responses to the Form offline and after the session.
*NOTE You can only add Microsoft Forms that you have created, not Forms that have been shared with you (These will not be included in the available Forms list). To add a Form that has been shared with you, you will need to make a ‘copy’ of the Form so that it now belongs to you.
Video link for external subscribers
Benefits:
- Enables in-slide formative assessment with no need for external tools
- Supports real-time student feedback and checking of understanding
- Effortless integration within Microsoft 365 with absolutely no technical setup needed (it’s already there)
Ready to Explore More?
By experimenting with these tools, you’re not just presenting content, you’re creating more accessible, interactive, and enjoyable learning experiences for your students..
If you’d like help applying these features in your modules or would like a tailored session for your team, please contact the Digital Learning Specialist team at elearning@tees.ac.uk.
Thanks for the feedback Laura, much appreciated!
A really useful set of tools for increasing interactivity and integration that, despite being a proficient user of PowerPoint, I was not aware of. I particularly like the timer, often having timed activities/discussions within seminars. The align feature and background removal will also be useful, as a bit of a perfectionist! Having short videos for each one showing exactly what to do is really helpful.