Using Live Subtitles in PowerPoint

PowerPoint has a live subtitle feature which captions speech on the screen during a slideshow. This feature can also be used to translate and caption, for example, Finnish speech into English, or English speech into Finnish.

To use live subtitles, a microphone must be connected to the computer. Laptops have a built-in microphone, and most standalone webcams also have a built-in microphone.

Most lecture halls are equipped with microphones for hybrid meetings, and these microphones can also be used for PowerPoint live subtitles (when using a lecture hall computer). In the KOVS room reservation system, the equipment list for rooms suitable for hybrid meetings includes the mention “Monimuoto” or “Hybridikokous”.

Please note that when using this feature, the speech and the resulting text are processed in Microsoft’s cloud service, so the feature should not be used if the speech includes confidential personal data or other content that, according to university policies, should not be processed in cloud services. Refer to the guidelines: Cloud services — Uno Staff Portal (jyu.fi)

 

Subtitle Settings

Start PowerPoint and open your presentation. Click the Slide Show tab in the top menu. If you want the subtitles to be on all the time, check the “Always use subtitles” box. If this setting is not selected, subtitles must be started using the “subtitle icon” at the bottom of the slideshow.

Check the subtitle settings in the Subtitle Settings menu. If speaking in Finnish and wanting subtitles in English, select Spoken Language: Finnish and Subtitle Language: English.

In the Microphone section, select the microphone used in the room. Check the name of the microphone in the room instructions, but it is often either “Scarlett 2i2” or “Digital Audio Interface”. After this, you can start the slideshow normally.

The quality of the subtitles produced by the service improves when speaking calmly and clearly into the microphone. To achieve the best sound quality, use the lecture halls microphones and keep the microphone close enough to your mouth.

During the Slideshow

 Live subtitles can be turned on and off by clicking the “subtitle icon” marked in the accompanying image. During the slideshow, settings can be found by clicking the three-dot icon and selecting Subtitle settings -> More settings…

 

 

 

More information about PowerPoint’s real-time subtitle feature can be found on Microsoft’s website, which also lists the supported languages of the service: Present with real-time, automatic captions or subtitles in PowerPoint - Microsoft Support