Microsoft Teams webinars and PowerPoint Live roll out this week
The new features for Microsoft Teams make presenting a richer experience.
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What you need to know
Microsoft Teams will support webinars and PowerPoint Live this week. The features make it much easier to present to a large audience of people. Microsoft outlines all of the new features in a recentblog post.
You can present to up to 1,000 attendees through interactive webinars or switch to view-only broadcasts for up to 10,000 people. Microsoft has temporarily increased the limit for view-only broadcasts to 20,000 people as more people work remotely.
You can set up custom registration pages, rich presentation options, and host controls for your webinars. You can also see post-event reporting to understand how attendees engaged with the webinar.
PowerPoint Live lays out content and information in a way that improves presenting. With it, you can see upcoming slides, notes, the meeting chat, and the audience through a single view.
While you’re presenting a PowerPoint, people can navigate through slides at their own pace and use features like high contrast mode and screen reader to better absorb content. Slide translations aren’t available yet but will be in the future.
Presenter Mode will roll out later this month. It allows presenters to select how their video feed appears to other people. Presenters can choose between standout mode, reporter mode, and side-by-side mode. Standout mode will roll out later this month, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer for reporter and side-by-side modes.
These new capabilities are included in Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Microsoft 365 A3/A5, and Microsoft 365 Government G3/G5 plans. Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Microsoft 365 Business Premium plans can use the features as well, but they are limited to up to 300 attendees. For the rest of this year, all Teams users can try the features with their existing subscriptions, but that trial will end before 2022.
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Microsoft Teams will soon support interactive webinars and PowerPoint Live. These features enrich the presenting experience and expand how you can share content through Teams.
Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He’s covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean’s journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.
