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How to create more engaging video presentations: 5 tips from expert Ellen Yin
Mary Pendleton
Feb 11, 2025
Presentation expert Ellen Yin shares her favorite ways to use mmhmm's tools to create content that keeps viewers interested from start to finish. Her methods combine audience participation, visual elements, and smart organization to keep people interested from start to finish.
Let's look at Ellen's proven strategies for making presentations that wow.
1.Use live poll screensharing for better participation
Rather than dealing with messy chat interactions, Ellen suggests using tools like Mentimeter for audience input. When live-shared into mmhmm with a screen share slide, this creates a clean way to collect responses while showing visual results. Viewers see their answers appear alongside others in real-time, and become active participants in the presentation.
2. Insert fun with gifs
Plain slides don't cut it anymore. Adding GIFs with mmhmm brings energy and personality to your presentations. Ellen points out that mmhmm has a GIPHY integration you can use right away. This simple change turns basic text slides into eye-catching visuals that hold attention.
3. Move around the screen as a presenter
Break out of the standard "tiny box in the corner" format. mmhmm lets presenters appear anywhere on screen, with options to change size, transparency, and rotation. Ellen shows how surprising viewers - like repositioning herself from slide to slide - keeps them engaged. You can also pick different frame shapes or remove or tint backgrounds to look more professional.
4. Guide viewers' eyes with pointer tools
When showing how things work or highlighting key points, visual guides make a big difference. Presenters can use cursors, hand pointers, or laser pointers to draw attention where it matters. These tools help ensure viewers notice important details and stay focused throughout.
5. Make replays easy to navigate
While live presentations matter, making content work well for replay viewers is just as important. Ellen recommends recording presentations in chapters. This helps viewers jump straight to the sections they want, making your content more useful for those watching later.
These features show how Ellen puts mmhmm's tools to work, transforming standard video presentations into dynamic, engaging experiences. As she shows in her examples, the platform combines traditional slideshow capabilities with innovative presenter tools that help create content that works equally well for live sessions and recordings.
If you're considering mmhmm for your presentations, Ellen suggests starting with one feature at a time - perhaps beginning with the presenter positioning tools or GIF integration - until you're comfortable with the platform's full range of capabilities. As she shows throughout her video, each tool can add a new dimension to your presentations, making them more polished and professional.
Remember Ellen's key message: mmhmm isn't just another presentation platform - it's a tool that helps you create memorable experiences for your audience. By following her five tips, you'll be able to transform your standard presentations into interactive, visually appealing content that keeps viewers engaged from start to finish.