Whether you’re teaching an online class or having an important meeting, recording your Google Slides presentation can come in handy later for your or your students’ reference.
Stay with us as we break down how to record a Google Slides presentation with audio and video using free software.
How to Record a Google Slides Presentation (with Audio & Video)
Before you can begin recording your Google Slides presentation, you will need a few things:
Step #1: Ensure You Have the Required Resources
- A microphone (you can use your laptop’s mic or wear a headset)
- Recording software (we touch on this in the coming section)
- A Google account
Step #2: Install Required Software
There are several software tools available online for free that you can use to record a Google Slides presentation. For the sake of ease and clarity, we use Apowersoft, a free tool that you can download from CNET.
After downloading the executable, double click on it to run it and complete the wizard to install.
We recommend using this tool because it is 100% free to use and does not limit how much of your presentation you can record.
While an earlier version of the tool did not add a watermark to recorded videos, in the new version, you will have to sign up with Apowersoft to record videos without a watermark.
It’s important to remember that the basic tool does not offer any editing features. In other words, you will need to record your presentation in one take or use another editing program to piece together the clips of your presentation.
If you’re a teacher, we recommend recording short videos since they’re convenient to make and also easier for students to watch.
Step #3: Run the Tool
When you launch Apowersoft Free Screen Recorder, it will show you the region you can record with the tool right away.
You can change the region the tool will record by moving the recording area around by clicking and dragging the button in the middle. You can alter the bounds of the recording area by simply dragging the bounds as you please.
Alternatively, you can click on the “Full Screen” icon on the panel on the bottom. Since you need to record a Google Slides presentation, this is the button you want to click.
It’s also important to set up the tool correctly before proceeding to the next steps. If you look at the Apowersoft recorder’s panel, you will find video and audio options next to the record button on the left.
Ensure that the tool is set to record your screen and not your webcam and that the tool is recording audio from the correct microphone.
Note that if there is a video in your slideshow, you will need to record the sound from your computer.
Remember that choosing to record the system’s sounds also means that your computer’s error sounds (“bing”) and all other system sounds may also be recorded.
Step #4: Set Up Your Presentation
Before you can start recording, navigate to slides.google.com and find your presentation. Next, click on the “Slideshow” button in the top right corner. This will display the presentation in full-screen mode.
It’s important to ensure that your slides on Google slides load completely before you start recording. If all the slides aren’t fully loaded, the transitions from slide to slide may look choppy in your recording.
Step #5: Prepare to Record
When both the recording tool and your presentation are ready, you can hit the record button on the panel. Clicking the button will make a popup appear. If you have logged into your Apowersoft account, it will record without a watermark.
You will also see the hotkeys you can use to control the recording in the popup.
If you hit the “OK” button, a 3-second countdown timer will appear before the tool starts recording. If you don’t want the Apowersoft recorder’s panel to appear in your recording, like in the following image:
You will need to navigate to the options menu by clicking on the three dots button on the right side of the panel.
You can then toggle the “Show recording toolbar” option off from the options menu.
You can also change several other settings from this menu, including the recording format and the “Record” and “Stop Recording” keyboard shortcuts.
Step #6: Start Recording
Navigate to your slideshow window and click the “Rec” button. The tool will start recording after the countdown. You can go through the slides by pressing the right and left buttons.
One of the most useful features of this tool is that it allows you to pause recording at certain points if you need a moment to proceed to your next talking point.
If you’ve left the recording panel enabled, you can use it to pause the recording whenever you want.
Alternatively, you can press Ctrl-Alt-F3 to pause the recording. After you’ve caught up with the talking points or taken a moment to focus, you can press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to start the recording again.
After you finish recording the slideshow, press Ctrl-Alt-F2 to stop recording. The tool will then automatically start playing the video you recorded, and you can go through it.
You can use the handles on the extreme left and right of the player to trim the beginning and end of the video.
However, we suggest that you do not do any trimming with this software since it sometimes ruins the recording by not trimming at the correct point.
If you’re satisfied with the recording, click on the “Save” button on the bottom right to save the video.
A menu with a default name for the recording and the folder where it’ll be saved will open up.
You can rename the file from this menu without any hassle. You can also select where you want to save the video from the “Open Folder” button.
If you’ve signed up with Apowersoft, they will offer you free cloud storage to save your videos. You can upload the video directly to the cloud storage by clicking on the “Upload to the cloud” button in the Save menu.
Alternatively, you can upload the video you recorded straight to YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, or Dropbox by clicking the “Cloud” button instead of the “Save” button.
If you are a teacher, saving the video to Google Drive may be the right way to go. You can easily share the video with your students by making the video sharable and sending them the link to the file.
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Conclusion
While there are many ways to record a Google Slides presentation, using the Apowersoft free video recorder is one of the easiest ways to go about it.
The software is quite intuitive, and you should be able to figure out what buttons perform which function without expressly reading through this guide.
That being said, learning all the functions before you begin using the tool is an excellent way to ensure you get the most out of the tool and make a solid recording for your future reference or for your students.