How to share your screen like a pro

Everyone in the world knows how to share their screens because we’ve all been working from home for the last year or so, meaning there is no reason for this post and you may as well stop reading.

Have a good day.

Still here?

Ok, maybe everyone doesn’t do it perfectly, and some people don’t even do it well, but it is an important and regular part of life these days, so I thought I’d throw together some tech tips on how to share your screen like a pro when you’re presenting a PowerPoint presentation in Zoom.

How to share your PowerPoint in Zoom like a pro

1. Once you’re in the call, open the PowerPoint file, click “Slide Show” or press F5 (Command + Return on Mac)

2. Alt + Tab (Command + Tab on Mac) to get back to Zoom

Alt + Tab (Command + Tab on Mac) is one of my favourite computer shortcuts. If you’ve never used it before, you’re welcome! It makes any kind of multitasking easier, but when screen sharing, it really makes you look like a pro and saves time. It also takes out the awkwardness of having to minimise your tab, then find the right one to bring up in its place.

If you’re using Mac, another fun shortcut for you is command + ( is above Tab) which you can use to switch between windows within the same app.

3. Click “Share Screen” in the very middle at the bottom of Zoom, then select “Powerpoint Slide Show” and “Share sound”

You are given the option to share any screen, or any window of any app, so there are two or three options when it comes to which PowerPoint window to share.  Make sure you don’t click “Rambling prezo” (or whichever less silly filename your presentation is) or “Presenter view”.  You don’t want everyone to be able to read your notes while you present.

In this example, I’ve got “My top secret passwords” spreadsheet open. If you’re planning to share your screen you shouldn’t really have any other documents open, but you especially shouldn’t select to share them!

If you have any sound in your prezo, remember to select “Share sound” and “Stereo (High-fidelity)” for better quality.  There’s also an “Optimize for video clip” option that hides the little Zoom window, so I didn’t select it this time because I still wanted to be able to see the people in the call at all times.

4. Now you’re sharing your slides, so off you go with your prezo!

If you decide that you wish to hide the Zoom window, you will still be able to bring it back up in a few different viewing options by clicking the buttons at the top of the screen.

When you click past your last slide the screen sharing will automatically stop.

This method is usually best because it means you don’t have to do any more Alt-Tabbing at the end or tinker with the mouse to stop sharing at the end. It also means you won’t reveal your untidy desktop, or whatever apps you have open at the time.

Like all things technical: test, test, test.  I’ve you’ve ever been on a tech check with a technician, all we want to do is test everything in the most similar conditions to the event as possible, so we can have confidence that it will work.

With this in mind, hopefully, we can avoid a few awkward moments in your next remote presentation.

If you’d like to see a super helpful hack for improving the look of your PowerPoint prezo click here!

Thanks for reading; break a leg!