Google Docs Blog
The official source for news, updates and tips about Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Keep.
Talk with your audience—not at them—with Slides Q&A
May 4, 2016
Public speaking can be intimidating—even for veteran speakers with phenomenal ideas and experiences to share. Take Shree Bose, for example.
At just 17 years old, Shree took home the top prize at the first ever
Google Science Fair
for
her research
on drug resistance in ovarian cancer. Now, a senior at Harvard, she’s met with President Obama twice, crowdfunded a Minecraft computer program to support STEM education, and has given talks across the globe. But she still gets nervous every time she’s asked to speak at events.
When Shree recently visited our New York office to present to 200 middle school students, we invited her to try a new feature in
Google Slides
: Slides Q&A. This update—rolling out globally today—helps speakers connect with their audience and collect real-time feedback. With a simple link displayed on a Slides presentation, audience members can submit questions from their phones, laptops, and tablets—and vote on those they want answered the most.
Hear what your audience has to say
Slides Q&A is great for audience members, too. During Shree’s talk, students submitted more than 170 questions and voted 800 times. They enjoyed being able to submit questions online the moment they thought of them instead of having to remember them until the end of the presentation. Some students also chose to submit questions anonymously.
At the end of her talk, Shree left time for Q&A, but she couldn’t possibly answer all 170 questions. So, she sorted the questions based on audience votes—and responded to the top ones. The question with the most overall votes was submitted by a seventh grader named Leila. She says, “I was so surprised when I saw my question was the most liked. I probably wouldn’t want to stand up and ask the question because I’m kind of shy.”
Focus on your ideas, not set up
Slides Q&A makes it easy to interact with your audience—without having to worry about mics or moderators. Slides also helps you get your
big ideas and stories on screen
—without having to worry about wires or set up stress. Starting today, we're improving this "Show up, don't setup" experience in two ways:
You can now present your slides to a Hangout from your iPhone or iPad. So with just your phone or tablet and the Slides app, you can present to any screen using Chromecast, AirPlay or Hangouts.
And for those of you who like presenting from a computer, we're introducing a new
laser pointer
on the web. Just in time for May the 4th (be with you).
Today’s Slides updates are rolling out globally on
Android
,
iOS
, and the
web
. So go on, share your stories and present with confidence.
And for a little inspiration, check out Shree’s full talk, #HowCanWe Make the World Better with Science? on the
Talks@Google channel
.
Posted by Michael Frederick, Google Slides Engineer
Stay on task with today’s updates in Google Keep
April 20, 2016
How many times have you found yourself with a great idea, but no easy way to jot it down for later? Or maybe you’ve got lots of notes scattered around, without no central spot to find them. Having a single place to capture what’s on your mind and save your ideas and to-do lists is what
Google Keep
is all about, and today's updates give you a few new ways to collect and manage the information that's important to you.
Keep is ready when you are
The next time you’re on a website that you want to remember or reference later on, use the new
Keep Chrome extension
to add it—or any part of it—to a note in Keep. Just click the Keep badge to add a site’s link to a note, or select some text or an image and create a new note from the right-click menu.
Same goes for
Android
—you can now create a note while you’re browsing or tapping away in other apps—without having to open Keep. Just open the “Share via” window and choose Keep to create a new note.
Organize your thoughts with #Labels
One of your top asks has been for a way to organize and categorize notes, and now it’s as easy as using a #hashtag. This should help you keep track of to-do lists for a #trip or a collect your favorite #recipes, for example.
You’ll also notice that some of the menus have been moved around to group similar options together, as pictured below.
So whether you’re researching a project at work, putting together details for your
Science Fair
submission, or collecting inspiration for your upcoming home renovation, give these updates a try on the
web
, or with the Keep app on
Android
and for
iPhone & iPad
.
Posted by Mario Anima, Product Manager
Meet the team from SongCraft Presents #myGoogleDocs
March 10, 2016
In the spirit of
Basement Queens
--an original song that was #madewithGoogleDocs, we recently caught up with SongCraft presents to chat about how they use Google Docs to power their super cool web series where they bring artists together to write a song in less than a day.
We want to know how you use Google Docs, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed.
Hi Mike! Tell us a little about yourself and Songcraft.
SongCraft Presents
is a web series about writing and recording a brand new song, usually in less than a day. In each episode songwriter
Ben Arthur
collaborates with a new artist - sometimes individuals, and sometimes a band- to write a song.
Rob Reinhart
, of the syndicated radio program Acoustic Cafe, usually hosts and narrates the show, and interviews the artists along the way. Al Houghton and me (Mike Crehore) of
Dubway Studios
, record the music, whether done in a studio or on the fly, and produce the finished product. Our director,
Matthew Hendershot
captures the process, and edits the footage into its final form.
2015 had us in 5 locations around the country producing a version of our series called “Songs of the Road,” as well as returning to SXSW 2015 to work with 3 more artists. You can see all those episodes at SongCraft Presents or at our
YouTube channel
.
How does Google Docs fit into the Songcraft process?
We have been using Google Docs since its inception both individually and in various work relationships. Al and Mike started using Docs at Dubway Studios as a way to share information amongst both fulltime and part-time staff. The studio business has a lot of moving parts, and the ability to post forms showing what a producer or engineer needed for upcoming sessions, and that the support staff can look at for setup greatly streamlined the process. Last minute changes become less of a hassle.
As part of our “Songs of the Road” series, we had staff coming from all different locations around the country. We share all the data for our shoots - locations, contacts, directions, call times, etc - and keep everything up to date as it changes. All the staff members using their smartphones and Google Docs apps are able to log in and get or input any updates as needed on the fly. As we add staff, we just share access with them according to their needs.
What are 3 tips you’d give for other folks who use/would consider using Google Docs?
Using the “Comments” function in real time is a great way to be able to make edits and give and take feedback about them with the rest of the members of your team.
Share documents with the “View” function for those people who you do not want to give login access to, but want to share information with.
Organize your folders and color code to more easily find documents across multiple projects in Drive.
New templates in Google Docs: designed by experts, made for you
March 2, 2016
We
launched
a collection of templates in
Docs
,
Sheets
and
Slides
in September to give your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations the extra polish they deserve. Today, we’re adding to that collection with new templates designed by five experts in their fields. All templates are available on the web and on Android and iOS.
For a head start, at school and beyond
Reading Rainbow
, the third longest running children's TV series in US history and award-winning digital service, has been inspiring children to read for over 30 years. Reading Rainbow created a
lesson plan
and a
book report
template in
Docs
to help teachers and students get things done.
The
Google Science Fair
(GSF) is an annual online science and engineering competition open to teens globally. In the competition, young scientists have tackled issues like world hunger, life-threatening diseases and the energy crisis. Use GSF’s
science fair
template in
Slides
for a head start on your next project—or for this year’s GSF.
For your big ideas, at work and on the go
Intuit's QuickBooks
software helps small business owners get more out of financial planning with tools like automated budgeting, tax time reports, and payroll. Use the new annual business budget template by QuickBooks in
Sheets
to easily manage your budget so you can focus on building your business.
GV
provides venture capital funding to bold new companies. In the fields of life science, healthcare, artificial intelligence, robotics, transportation, cyber security and agriculture, GV’s companies aim to improve lives and change industries.The new GV
pitch
template in
Slides
helps entrepreneurs share their vision, based on proven presentation tactics.
And, in the bestselling book,
Made to Stick
, brothers Chip and Dan Heath revealed that “sticky” messages of all kinds draw their power from the same main traits. In their
big idea
template in
Slides
, they use these principles to help you build and deliver your most memorable presentation yet.
Jump-start your next project with these easy-to-use templates in
Docs
,
Sheets
, and
Slides
—
available on the web and on your Android or iPhone. Let us know what you create!
Posted by Brian LeVee, Product Manager
Type, edit and format with your voice in Docs—no keyboard needed!
February 24, 2016
We launched
Voice typing
in Docs to help you capture ideas, compose a letter, or even write the next great novel—all without touching your keyboard. Starting today, you can also edit and format your documents with your voice.
To get started, select "Voice typing" in the "Tools" menu when you’re using Docs in Chrome. Say what comes to mind—then start editing and formatting with commands like “copy,” “insert table,” and “highlight.”
Check out the full list of commands
in our Help Center
or simply say “Voice commands help” when you’re voice typing.
It’s a quick and easy way to get ideas out of your head, and into a doc. So try out Voice typing (and editing and formatting) today!
Posted by Isaiah Greene, Product Manager
Mobile comments are here in Docs, Sheets & Slides—just in time for #ChocolateCakeDay
January 27, 2016
When Jim, one of the engineers on the Google Slides team, brought a zucchini chocolate cake into the office last week, we knew we had to get the recipe.
So we asked him and his wife, Alison, to let us in on the family secret—just in time for Chocolate Cake Day.
They worked together in Slides (mobile commenting across Google Docs just launched today!) to perfect the recipe. Alison writes:
Growing up, my grandma made zucchini chocolate cake often, especially when there was a surplus of zucchinis at the local farmer’s market. The cake is ridiculously moist and pairs well with many different frostings, though cream cheese is my favorite.
Thanks to mobile commenting, Jim and I went back and forth on the recipe—Jim on his Nexus 9, me on my iPhone—until we had it just right:
Check out our family recipe
in Slides
. We call it Straka’s Zucchini Chocolate Cake—in honor of my grandma.
Happy Chocolate Cake Day, from our family to yours.
Posted by Alison Zoll, chemist, baker and wife of Jim Zoll, Slides engineer
Get the apps on
Android
and iOS (
Docs
,
Sheets
,
Slides
)
Basement Queens: an original song, #madewithGoogleDocs
January 20, 2016
Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. David Bowie and Freddie Mercury. Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men.
Hall & Oates
.
Some of the most popular songs ever recorded were the result of collaborations. Recently we asked ourselves: Could technology help bring together two musicians who might not otherwise meet? And if so: What would they create? With this in mind, we challenged two unique artists—burgeoning hip hop queen
Lizzo
and indie frontwoman
Sad13
(Sadie Dupuis of
Speedy Ortiz
)—to write a song together in Google Docs.
Sad13 and Lizzo first connected in Hangouts—in Massachusetts and Minnesota, respectively—to hash things out. Within seconds they were inside a doc—riffing in real-time on ideas, then lyrics, then overall structure. And in just a couple of weeks they had a track they were really excited about.
The pair of women then flew to Brooklyn to meet for the first time IRL, and to record their new single, "Basement Queens"—a celebration of creating their own sound, on their own terms. And that's how music was #madewithGoogleDocs.
Watch the video for a behind-the-scenes look at the entire process, then
download or stream the song for free from Google Play
. We think you'll agree: Sad13 and Lizzo definitely earn their "reputation / for making magic from the basement."
Credits
Song produced by Computer Magic
Drums by Jordyn Blakely
Photos by James Chororos
Film by Mixtape Club
Recorded at Room 17
#madewithGoogleDocs
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