Introduction

Zoom yesterday released version 5.2 with some new bells and whistles. Read the post announcing it here.

To be sure, many folks will find the new noise-reduction and appearance-improving options useful. I can see messing around with the new reactions and filters, but today I’d like to focus on the using PowerPoint or Keynote as a virtual background. In other words, in lieu of displaying a static custom picture or video, you can use dynamic slides.

To do this, just share your screen and follow the numbers below:

In the end, you get something like this:

Photo credit: Zoom

This is exactly the type of feature that excited me about the mmhmm app a few weeks ago. I envision channeling my inner John Oliver or Hasan Minhaj.

I noodled with this functionality and it’s promising. Still, I’m not ready to abandon my current—and, admittedly, involved—Zoom presentation setup¹ at the moment for two reasons.

First, Zoom currently doesn’t allow you to use animations in your virtual background. For me, this is a dealbreaker. I always insert animations to keep my audience focused on the point that I’m making. I also use them to spice up graphs and charts as follows:

Second and as just as important, Zoom currently doesn’t let speakers use Presentation Mode—another professional essential. Complicating slides is a common mistake among newbies and even many experienced speakers. Put differently, keeping slides as spartan as possible often distinguishes good speakers from mediocre or terrible ones. To do this, I rely upon a hodgepodge of cryptic phrases and notes that only I can see.

Simon Says: Expect tighter integration between Zoom and proper presentation software.

As I write in Zoom For Dummies, these types of enhancements are expect. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to know that Zoom will concentrate on new features now that it has addressed its formidable security issues.

Brass tacks: I fully expect future versions of Zoom to enhance what professional speakers can do with proper presentation software.

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What say you?