How to Add Live Translation in PowerPoint Slides

Be it your school, college, or workplace, we all come across a time when we have to give a presentation. And the most popular presentation software is none other than Microsoft PowerPoint. Not everyone is a good speaker or has that voice modulation of trained speakers, and often, our focus is so divided between explaining things in our slides that we sometimes say too quickly or too slowly. Besides, not everyone in your live audience will be a native English speaker or have English as their first language.

In such cases, it is always preferable to add subtitles to your slides so your audience can better understand and stay with you throughout the presentation. However, if you are giving a live presentation, then you need to have what you say show up in your presentation. In this guide, we will help you with the steps to add live translation in PowerPoint slides and make your task easier. Let’s jump right into it.

How does live translation in PowerPoint slides work?

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 can help you transcribe what you say during a live presentation and display it on screen for your audience to understand better what you are saying. The text appears as captions or subtitles translated into another language on the display. The best part is that you can tweak how the text appears during your presentation, as PowerPoint lets you adjust the position, size, color, and other appearance options for the captions.

For best results, Microsoft recommends “using a headset microphone connected to the device running PowerPoint. Also, the feature requires a reliable internet connection throughout your presentation.”

Pre-requisites:

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use live translation with older versions of PowerPoint. Microsoft has set some requirements, which are listed below:

• Windows: Requires Windows 10 and later, with PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 version 16.0.11601.20178 or higher on Current Channel. The feature isn’t supported if you’re using an earlier version of Windows.
• Mac: This feature requires PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac version 16.22.127.0 or higher.
• Web: This feature is compatible with the following web browsers: Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome 34+, and Mozilla Firefox 25+.

Steps to use live translation in PowerPoint

Now, that we are done with the prerequisites, let us follow the steps to enable and use live translation in PowerPoint.

1. Launch Microsoft PowerPoint presentation slide.
2. On the top menu toolbar, click on the Slide Show option.
3. On the far right of the Slide Show menu, you will find the Subtitle Settings option. Clicking on it will open a menu. You need to navigate to Subtitle Language and then choose the correct language that you will be speaking.
4. Also, select the language in which you would like to show the subtitles using the Subtitle Language Speech option.
5. You also need to select the correct microphone from the list.
6. Now, you need to select where you would like to show the subtitles from the same Subtitle Settings drop-down menu.
7. After that, you need to click on the From Beginning button at the leftmost side of the Slide Show tab.
8. A preview of your presentation will start. You will find the subtitle icon at the bottom left, which looks like a keyboard.
9. All you now need to do is speak into the microphone, and the live translation should appear in the designated place in your PowerPoint slides.
10. As you click through your slides, your subtitles will continue to translate whatever you say in the mic.

What are the supported languages for captions and live translation in PowerPoint?

According to Microsoft, there are different languages supported by PowerPoint, such as voice input for live captions and subtitles for Microsoft 365. The languages marked with “Preview” are available in advance of full support and have lower accuracy.

Spoken languages supported by live captions and subtitles via voice input

On-screen languages supported by live captions and subtitles in text output

Tips for getting the correct subtitle to show in your presentation

The above steps will help you turn on live translation in PowerPoint slides. The feature is similar across other operating systems, including the web version of Microsoft 365. However, merely turning on the feature doesn’t guarantee that you will get 100% correct translation or generated captions. For that, we have mentioned a few tips and tricks:

• You should make sure that your voice is loud and clear so the translation feature can pick up your voice and convert it into text.
• Ensure that you are using a high-quality microphone that is close to your mouth for the correct translation of words. Built-in microphones are good for emergency purposes but not sensitive enough to pick up every word.
• A Bluetooth or wireless microphone is best suited for cases when you have to move around during your presentation.
• Don’t rush while talking in the microphone; take your time and use voice modulation, making it easier for the microphone to generate text.
• Before going on stage for your final presentation, make sure that the feature is working as you prefer. Check the settings and make sure that every setting is according to your liking.
• Avoid or eliminate background noise during your presentation that may interfere with your voice.
• Captions and live translation depend on cloud-based speech services, so make sure that your internet connection is stable and fast.

Make your PowerPoint slide presentable to everyone

Some of us around have hearing disabilities, which can be a hurdle for us in understanding an important topic that is being presented. In such cases, turning on the live translation or using the captions feature in PowerPoint can break the ice. If you are looking for some of the best presentation templates, then you can go through the list mentioned in our dedicated guide.