Present with closed captions in Google Slides

Google Slides now has a closed captioning feature when presenting your next lecture or presentation. It uses your computer’s microphone to detect your voice and transcribes it in real time as you are presenting.

How to enable Closed Captions

When presenting, click the “CC” button in the navigation bar. Google Chrome may prompt you for permission to access your microphone. Click on “Allow” and begin speaking.

Closed captioning benefits

• People who have some form of hearing loss.
• Noisy classrooms or auditoriums.
• Presenters who are not projecting their voice well.
• Participants whose first language is not English.
• Students taking notes in a lecture.

Restrictions

• Feature is only available in Google Chrome browser.
• Supports only one presenter at a time.
• Currently supports U.S. English only. Other languages will be available in future.
• Accents, voice modulation and intonation may affect transcript quality.
• Transcriptions are not saved. You cannot download them or view them after your presentation.

Google Slides closed captioning feature uses speech recognition software powered by machine learning. Although the accuracy and efficiency of the technology is always improving, it does not offer 100% accuracy. Therefore, it is not recommended to use this feature as a substitute for remote (live) captioning or ASL interpreting.

Did you know?

Did you know that you can type with your voice in Google Docs? Check that your microphone is working, and then open a document in Google Docs with a Chrome browser. Go to Tools, and then Voice typing. When you’re ready to speak, click the microphone. Speak clearly, at a normal volume and pace. For more instructions and voice commands, visit Google’s documentation on typing with your voice. (external link)