How to Add Animated GIFs in Google Slides for More Lively Presentations

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Adding animated GIFs to your Google Slides presentations is an excellent way to make them more visually engaging and memorable for your audience.

GIFs can help explain complex ideas, demonstrate processes, and simply add some fun and personality to otherwise dry slide decks. With just a few clicks, you can insert lively GIFs that capture attention and drive your points home.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to effectively add animated GIFs to your Google Slides, including:

Finding Great GIFs to Use

The first step is finding a relevant, high-quality GIF to use in your presentation. There are a few great places to look:

  • Google Image Search: Set the search type to GIF and enter your search term. This will display a wide variety of animated GIF options to choose from.
  • GIF websites: Sites like Giphy and Tenor have huge databases of categorized GIFs to search through. Great for finding the perfect one.
  • Video to GIF converters: If you have a great video clip, use a site like Ezgif or GifMaker to extract just a few seconds into an animated GIF.

When choosing your GIF, make sure it’s on-topic, engaging, and adds value to your presentation. The animation should enhance the content rather than just be a distraction.

3 Ways to Add a GIF in Google Slides

Google Slides offers a few methods to add animated GIFs into your presentation:

1. Upload from Your Computer

If you’ve already downloaded a GIF you want to use, adding it is easy:

  1. Open your presentation and select the slide you want to add the GIF to.
  2. Click Insert > Image > Upload from computer.
  3. Find and select your GIF file to upload it.
  4. The GIF will now be inserted into the slide, ready to be positioned and edited.

2. Insert GIF by URL

If your desired GIF is hosted online, grab its URL and insert it directly using these steps:

  1. Copy the GIF URL that you want to use.
  2. In your Google Slides presentation, go to Insert > Image > By URL.
  3. Paste the GIF URL into the box and hit enter.
  4. The GIF will appear as a preview, then click Insert Image to add it to your slide.

This method allows you to quickly grab great GIFs from animation websites without having to download the files yourself.

3. Search for GIFs Directly

Google Slides has a built-in GIF search tool to lookup animations on the fly:

  1. In your presentation, go to Insert > Image > Search the web.
  2. Type in your search keyword and hit enter.
  3. Browse through the GIF results and select one to insert.

While simple, the built-in search has limited results compared to GIF-specific websites. But it can be handy for quick searches.

Positioning, Resizing & Editing GIFs

Once inserted, click on your GIF to reveal editing handles around the border. This allows you to:

  • Reposition the GIF anywhere on your slide.
  • Resize by dragging the corner handles (hold shift to retain aspect ratio).
  • Play/pause animation.
  • Set animation to start automatically or on click.
  • Adjust transparency.
  • Add borders and effects.

Take the time to ensure your GIFs have the right placement, size, and settings to seamlessly fit your presentation.

Ideas for Using GIFs in Presentations

There are endless possibilities for how to effectively utilize animated GIFs to boost your Google Slides. Here are just a few ideas:

  • Demonstrate a process or progression in steps.
  • Visualize changes over time.
  • Explain a complex concept dynamically.
  • Add some humor to lighten the mood.
  • Capture attention by revealing key points sequentially.
  • Replace generic clipart with more memorable animations.

Put thought into which slides will benefit most from the addition of a relevant, well-placed GIF.

Best Practices for Inserting GIFs

When adding animated GIFs to your presentations, keep these best practices in mind:

  • Use sparingly – Too many GIFs can be overwhelming and distracting.
  • Keep file sizes small – Large GIFs will slow down your presentation loading time.
  • Test animations before presenting – Ensure they render properly and don’t flicker.
  • Credit creators – If possible, cite the GIF source by adding text below it.
  • Match styles – Pick a GIF visual style that aligns with your overall presentation design.

Presentation Tools to Easily Create GIFs

If you want to take things a step further, there are great software options for actually creating your own animated GIFs to use:

1. PowerPoint

The latest versions of PowerPoint have built-in tools to export slides or sections into GIF animations. To do this:

  1. Select the slides you want to turn into a GIF.
  2. Go to File > Export > Animated GIF.
  3. Adjust frame rate and quality settings.
  4. Export selection as an animated GIF you can import into Google Slides or any presentation tool.

2. Adobe Photoshop

While best known for image editing, Photoshop has robust video editing features that allow you to extract GIFs from video clips:

  1. Import your video file into Photoshop.
  2. Trim to the short section you want as a GIF.
  3. Go to File > Export > Save for Web and select GIF.
  4. Adjust settings like loops and color reduction.
  5. Export as an optimized animated GIF in seconds.

There are many creative ways to produce custom animated GIFs from existing assets using tools you likely already have access to.

Conclusion

Adding animated GIFs can take your Google Slides presentations to the next level — making them more fun, memorable, and impactful for audiences.

By following this guide, you’ll have the knowledge to find fitting GIF animations from the best sources across the web. Then, utilizing Google Slides built-in tools, seamlessly insert them into your decks.

So the next time you’re looking to amplify a key message or presentation section, consider reaching for an animated GIF to do the heavy lifting!

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