Up Your Language Proficiency: Record yourself with Google Slides

Why use Google Slides for recorded speaking practice?

Recording spoken practice can feel intimidating, but a simple slide deck turns it into a low-stress, effective habit. Using Google Slides to record speaking activities gives you a visual prompt, a comfortable structure to follow and an easy way to track progress over time. This method works especially well for fluency journaling — short, regular recordings where you talk about a topic for a set amount of time.

What you need

Google Slides (a blank deck will do)
A list of prompts or bullet points to guide your speaking
An add-on or an alternative recording app such as PowerPoint or Keynote

Step-by-step: set up a fluency journal slide

Start by creating a fresh slide for each entry. Keep each slide simple: one topic or prompt and a few bullet points as visual reminders. If you are new to speaking practice, small prompts are enough — aim for cues, not scripts. The goal is to encourage free speaking, not to read aloud word-for-word.

Create a new slide with a clear prompt and a few bullets before you record.

Use bullets to remind yourself of the structure you want to follow — for example:

Short introduction
Main idea or story
One example or detail
Quick wrap-up

Clear view of Google Slides on a monitor showing the 'Click to add title' template, useful as a prompt slide for recording practice — A clear Google Slides slide to use as a visual prompt for a fluency journal entry.

How to record

There are a few ways to capture your recording from Slides. If you already have PowerPoint or Keynote, you can download your slides and use their built-in recording tools. Alternatively, add-ons make the process seamless directly in Google Slides.

Desktop screen displaying a Google Slides slide with 'Click to add title' placeholder and the Slides toolbar. — You can record write on the screen now with one button.

Desktop monitor showing Google Slides with a blank slide template and the heading 'Recording for Fluency with Google Slides'. — Use in-slide recording to save dated fluency entries directly from your Slides deck.

Practical tips for better recordings

Keep sessions short. Five minutes of focused speaking daily beats an hour once a week.
Use prompts, not scripts. Bullets help you stay natural and fluid.
Be consistent. Name or date each slide so you can review progress chronologically.
Listen back selectively. Focus on one or two areas to improve rather than trying to fix everything at once.

How this builds fluency over time

Recording regularly provides tangible evidence of improvement. You will notice subtle gains in pronunciation, vocabulary choice and confidence. Having dated recordings makes it easy to set goals and measure growth. Over weeks and months, those incremental improvements compound into real fluency gains.

Quick checklist before you hit record

Create a slide with a clear prompt and a few bullets.
Check your microphone and quieten background noise.
Open your chosen recorder. Google slides will let you record now directly on them.
Record a short session and save it with the date or session number.

Final thought

Using Google Slides for recorded speaking activities is simple, flexible and powerful. Whether you use it or another presentation software, the important part is to make recording a habit. Small, regular steps lead to confident, natural speaking.

Building Proficiency for World Language Learners: 100+ High-Interest Activities
Discover over 100 dynamic activities to make world language learning interactive and fun. I wrote this book with some of my favorite activities for educators aiming to build proficiency with high-impact strategies.
Learn more and get your copy here.

5 Weeks of No and Low Prep Fun
Need quick, engaging activities for your class? This free guide includes 25 no-prep and low-prep ideas to save time while keeping students excited about learning.
Download your free copy now.