Microsoft Teams are trying to make video calling a little less boring during the pandemic era of telecommuting with new presenter modes. Allows you to customize how you appear when presenting in Teams. Three new modes will be available soon, including a “Reporter” option that lets you place content over your shoulder as a visual aid, such as a news anchor during a TV segment.
With Stand Out mode, you can hover over the content like a silhouette on top of a slide. And the third option, side by side, shows your webcam feed along with the content you present. Standout will begin this month, with Reporter and Side-by-Side modes available soon.
All three modes are part of a greater pressure from Microsoft to respond to feedback to make meetings more attractive during remote work. “As I look at it now, we need to make presentations more like TV shows,” said Nicole Herskowitz, general manager of Microsoft Teams, in an interview with The edge. “We really need to find ways to make the digital experience more powerful.”
These new modes use the technology that Microsoft uses in Together mode to remove all the background behind you on a webcam. Together Mode was one of the first major changes to Teams designed for pandemic meetings, placing participants at the meeting side by side in a virtual environment.
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In addition to the new presenter modes, Microsoft is also launching PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams today. It is designed to make the presentation with PowerPoint slides much easier for the presenter and participants in the meeting. Providers can now view notes, slides, and a meeting chat in one version, and attendees can navigate through the slides themselves. It’s great if you missed a specific slide and want to jump back, and it’s a great boost to accessibility for those with learning disabilities who want to read and learn at their own pace.