How to add a timer to Google Slides

When you plan to deliver a time-sensitive pitch, add a timer to your slides to pace the presentation accordingly. A visual time indicator also gives your audience a better idea of the time remaining and improves your pitch impact. Although Google Slides doesn’t have a native countdown timer or clock feature in the web or Android app, there are a few hacks you can use to get the job done.

Whether you want to deliver a presentation to investors or in classrooms or online workshops, a countdown timer can help keep your audience engaged. You can track and finish a presentation with the help of a live clock and save time for conducting a live Q&A session with the audience.

Add a timer using YouTube videos in Google Slides

Google Slides doesn’t have an in-built timer function. However, you can use the option to insert a video, which you can use to add a live timer from YouTube. Let’s check it in action.

1. Navigate to Google Slides on the web and open a presentation you want to edit.
2. Find a slide where you want to add a timer. Select Insert at the top and click Video.

   

3. Go to the YouTube tab and search for a countdown video at the top.

   

4. Pick your preferred countdown video and select Insert.

   

5. Check your added video in a slide. You can resize it and place it in a relevant location.

When you type Countdown video in the YouTube search bar, you may notice dozens of videos in suggestions. If you want to insert a specific video, go to YouTube on the web and find your video.

You can copy the video URL from the address bar at the top and insert it into Google Slides. Now, move to a presentation slide, go to Insert > Video, enter the video URL, and add the countdown clip.

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Video formatting options in Google Slides

There are several video formatting options that you can explore in Google Slides. When you insert a video, click on the thumbnail and expand the Video playback menu.

• Autoplay: You can start video playback by clicking automatically or manually.
• Duration: If a video starts a timer with a specific duration, tweak it from the Start at and End at menus.
• Mute: You can mute the added YouTube video.

  

If you want to be specific about the video thumbnail’s width and height, tweak the size from the Size and rotation menu.

Use a third-party extension to add a timer to Google Slides

If you don’t want to deal with YouTube videos, use a third-party extension like Slides Timer to add a timer to Google Slides. It’s available via the Chrome Web Store and remains compatible with all Chromium browsers like Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera, and Brave. Here’s what you’ll do.

1. Visit the Chrome Web Store and search for Slides Timer.
2. Click Get to install the extension on your browser.

   

3. Select Add Extension.

   

4. Move to Google Slides and select a slide in a presentation.
5. Select the text box and enter <<5:00>> to start a five-minute timer. You can also type <<2:00+>> to count up, starting at two minutes.

   

6. Other options include <<time>> to display the current time in AM/PM format and <<date>> to display the date in word format.
7. Click Slideshow at the top and check your live timer in action.

   

If the live timer doesn’t work, refresh the tab and click Slideshow again. Press the d key to pause and the e key to reset timers.

Slides Timers extension is free to download and use.

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Benefits of including a timer in Google Slides

Here are the top reasons for using a timer in Google Slides:

• When you want to cover certain topics in a presentation, adding a timer lets you strike a balanced timing.
• You can honor others’ timings and schedules and complete your presentation in the allocated time.
• A dedicated timer lets you deliver an engaging presentation. Your audience also appreciates your professional approach.
• A timer is an ideal add-on for quiz presentations.

Don’t bore your audience with long presentations

Apart from adding a timer, there are other ways to make a strong impact with your presentation. For instance, if you have a pitch with media files, turn on the autoplay function and keep your PPT file in a loop for your audience.