How Do I See Word Count on Google Slides Easily

Creating presentations on Google Slides is usually a walk in the park. It is user-friendly, which helps you easily make a well-appearing presentation. But what if you need to keep track of your word count? Maybe you are trying to write a school project preparing for a timed presentation, or just trying to follow a word limit. The trick is? Google Slides does not allow the same ability to count words that Google Docs does. Don’t worry! Still, there are a few ways around that. So, let’s take a look at some easy and effective methods to see the word count on Google Slides.

Why Check Word Count?

So, before we talk about how to do it, let’s chat a little about the why. You might not think this is a big deal when you are dealing with word count in a slide deck, but it’s important for many reasons:

• To stay within assignment word limits: You might get an assignment from teachers or guidelines to stay within a certain word limit.
• To avoid slides from becoming cluttered: Too much text hurts your slides and makes them appear cluttered. Keeping track of your word count keeps this from happening.
• Time management: Just in case you are presenting, knowing how many words you are hitting will help you estimate how long your speech will take.

Now that you know why it matters, let’s find out how you can do it.

Method 1: Copy the Text and Paste into Google Docs

Probably the most simple way to count words is to simply paste your text in Google Docs. The reason is that Google Docs, unlike Google Slides, has an embedded word count tool. Here’s how you do it:

1. Open your Google Slides presentation.
2. Click and drag over all the text in a slide to select it.
3. Right-click and choose “Copy.”
4. Open a new tab and go to Google Docs.
5. Insert the text into an untitled Google Doc.
6. After pasting the text click on Tools in the upper menu.
7. Click on Word Count option from the drop-down menu.

That’s all! So now you know how many words fit in that slide. Now do this for all your slides and you’ll know the total word count.

Method 2: Use an Add-on for Word Count

Another method to check how many words you have in a slide is through an add-on. It doesn’t have a native word count in Google Slides, but there are third-party add-ons that can perform the same thing. And here’s how it is done with one:

1. Open Google Slides and click at the top menu on “Add-ons”
2. Then select “Get add-ons” from the dropdown.
3. In the search bar, look for “Word Counter”.
4. Browse through the list and identify a plug-in that grabs your attention.
5. Install it and follow the instructions to authenticate it to your Google Slides.

You can then see the word count feature inside of Google Slides itself, once installed.

Method 3: Calculate Word Count Manually

If you want to do this more hands-on, you can count the words on every slide. It’s pretty easy – you just select the text and count. Of course, if your presentation is long enough, doing this could be far too time-consuming. Still, in a short deck of slides, it may never be a problem at all.

Method 4: Use Google Keep Notes

Another innovative workaround is using Google Keep Notes.

1. Open the Google Slides presentation and select a slide that contains text.
2. Choose your text; then click, right-click on it, and pick the “Save to Keep” option.
3. On the right-hand side of your screen, you will see Google Keep Notes that contain the text you saved.
4. Open Google Keep in a new tab and count words with a word counter.  

Bonus Tip: Simplify Your Slides

Although knowing your word count is important, your Google Slides themes and presentation design do count too. There’s a temptation to include as much information as possible in the slides, but too much of that can be overwhelming for your audience. Use bullet points, visuals, and brief text to have clean and clear slides.

Conclusion

Although Google Slides does not have word count integrated, there are numerous other ways to track the words. Now you have all you need to check the word count by either copying and pasting into Google Docs or making use of some add-on, or calculating your words manually. This keeps your presentations clear and concise and within any word limitations, there might be.

So, next time you are preparing a presentation ask yourself, How do I see my word count on Google Slides? Now you know exactly what to do!

Pro Tip: This post explored a few of the abovementioned ways, ranging from simple copy-paste to more advanced add-ons. Irrespective of the approach you will take, remember that the motto is: just enough is enough – simple and clean slides will always triumph over wordy ones.