Getting Started with Sync: Your First Interactive Presentation

You've spent hours preparing your presentation. The content is solid, the visuals are polished, and you're ready to deliver. But five minutes in, you notice it: half your audience is scrolling through their phones, others are staring blankly, and your carefully crafted message is getting lost in the noise.

Sound familiar? Traditional presentations create a one-way street where audiences passively consume content. Sync changes that dynamic entirely by transforming your presentations into interactive, real-time experiences where your audience becomes an active participant.

In this guide, you'll learn how to create your first interactive Deck with Sync, from uploading your slides to collecting live audience feedback through polls, quizzes, and more.

What is Sync?

Sync is a real-time presentation platform that keeps your audience engaged by synchronizing slides across all connected devices instantly. When you advance a slide, everyone sees it at the same time, whether they're in the same room or joining remotely from across the world.

What sets Sync apart:

• No app required — Viewers join instantly via QR code or link
• Real-time synchronization — Every device stays perfectly in sync
• Interactive elements — Polls, quizzes, word clouds, and collaborative boards
• Works with your existing content — Upload PDFs from any presentation tool, add images, or embed videos
• Built-in analytics — See how your audience engages with each slide

Creating Your Free Account

Getting started takes less than a minute:

1. Visit synclive.io
2. Click Sign Up and create your account with email or Google
3. You'll start with a free trial — no credit card required

Once you're in, you'll see your Dashboard where all your Decks live. Think of a Deck as a presentation container that holds all your slides and interactive elements.

Creating Your First Deck

From your Dashboard:

1. Click the New Deck button
2. Give your Deck a descriptive title (you can change this anytime)
3. You'll be taken to the Deck editor where you can start adding content

Pro tip: Use folders to organize your Decks by project, client, or topic. Click the folder icon in your Dashboard to create your first folder.

Adding Slides to Your Deck

Sync supports multiple content types, giving you flexibility to build presentations that match your needs. Here's what you can add:

PDF Slides (Your Main Presentation)

Sync works with presentations from any tool you already use. Create your slides in PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, Canva, or any other presentation software, then export to PDF. When you upload a PDF to Sync:

• Each page becomes a separate slide automatically
• Your formatting, fonts, and graphics are preserved exactly as designed
• Simply drag and drop your file or click to upload

This approach gives you complete design freedom while ensuring your slides look perfect on every device.

Embedded Documents (PowerPoint & PDF)

Sometimes you need to include a full document within your presentation flow. Sync lets you embed complete PowerPoint or PDF files as a single slide:

• PowerPoint files (.pptx) — The entire presentation lives inside one slide, with its own navigation
• PDF documents — Embed multi-page PDFs that viewers can scroll through

This is perfect for including reference materials, detailed reports, or supplementary content that viewers can explore at their own pace.

Images

Add photos, graphics, diagrams, or screenshots. Supported formats include JPG, PNG, GIF, and WebP. Images can also be made clickable, linking to external resources when tapped.

Videos

Embed videos from YouTube or Vimeo by pasting the video URL. Videos play directly within your presentation, keeping your audience focused.

Audio

Add audio files to your presentation for music, podcasts, voice-overs, or sound effects. Upload MP3 or other audio formats, and viewers can listen directly within the slide. Perfect for language lessons, guided meditations, or adding atmosphere to your presentation.

Embedded Tools and Apps

Sync integrates with the tools you already use by embedding them directly into your slides. Paste a shareable link and bring external content into your presentation flow:

• Google Suite — Embed Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Forms for live collaboration
• Microsoft Office — Include Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, or PowerPoint presentations
• Miro — Bring in collaborative whiteboards for real-time brainstorming
• Canva — Showcase interactive Canva designs
• Kahoot — Run gamified quizzes within your presentation
• And many more — Any tool with an embeddable link can become part of your Deck

This means you can combine the synchronization power of Sync with specialized tools your audience already knows.

Interactive Slides

This is where Sync truly shines. Add interactive elements that transform passive viewers into active participants:

Polls — Ask questions and collect instant feedback. Perfect for gauging opinions, checking understanding, or making group decisions. Results update in real-time as viewers submit their responses.

Quizzes — Test knowledge with scored questions. Set correct answers, assign points, and optionally show feedback after submission. Great for training sessions, classrooms, or team activities.

Word Clouds — Collect words or short phrases from your audience and display them as a dynamic word cloud. Frequently submitted words appear larger, creating a visual representation of group sentiment.

Comment Boards — Create a collaborative space where viewers can post comments and ideas. Ideal for brainstorming sessions, Q&A, retrospectives, or collecting audience feedback.

Downloadable Files

Share resources directly with your audience. Add downloadable slides for documents like:

• The presentation itself (so attendees can keep a copy)
• Templates and worksheets
• Brochures and one-pagers
• Any file your audience might need

Viewers can download these files directly to their devices during or after your presentation.

Links and Catalogs

Link cards display rich previews of any URL, showing the title, description, and image from the linked page.

Catalogs let you showcase products or services in a visual grid, each item with an image, title, description, and link.

Understanding Presentation Modes

Sync offers three presentation modes to match different scenarios:

Reveal Mode

Viewers can look back at any slide you've already shown, but cannot see slides ahead of your current position. This is the default mode and works well for most presentations, allowing attendees to review previous content while you maintain forward control.

Single Mode

Viewers see only the slide you're currently presenting. They cannot navigate forward or backward. Use this when you need complete control over pacing, such as during a keynote, formal presentation, or classroom setting where you want students focused on the current topic.

Open Mode

Viewers can freely browse all slides at their own pace. This works best for self-paced content, reference materials, or when you want the audience to explore independently.

Switch between modes anytime from the presenter controls.

Sharing Your Deck with Your Audience

Every Deck gets a unique 6-character share code. Here's how to get your audience connected:

Option 1: QR Code

Display the QR code on screen and have attendees scan it with their phone cameras. This is the fastest way to get a room connected, requiring zero typing from viewers.

Option 2: Direct Link

Share the link directly via email, chat, or any messaging platform. The format is: synclive.io/view/XXXXXX

Option 3: Share Code

Tell your audience to visit synclive.io/view and enter the 6-character code. Simple and works even if QR scanning isn't convenient.

Important: Viewers don't need to create an account or log in. They simply open the link and they're connected instantly.

Presenting Like a Pro

When you're ready to present, open your Deck and enter presenter mode. Here's what you can do:

Navigate Slides

• Use arrow keys or click the navigation buttons
• Jump to any slide using the slide thumbnails
• Your audience's view updates instantly

Monitor Engagement

During interactive slides, you'll see responses flowing in real-time:

• Poll results show as a live bar chart
• Quiz scores display as viewers submit answers
• Word clouds grow dynamically with new submissions
• Comment board posts appear as they're submitted

Reveal Results Strategically

For quizzes, you control when to reveal the correct answers. Build suspense, discuss the options, then reveal. This keeps energy high and encourages participation.

Reset for New Sessions

Running the same presentation multiple times? Clear previous poll responses, quiz attempts, or word cloud submissions with a single click before starting fresh.

After Your Presentation

Once your session ends, dive into the analytics to understand how your audience engaged:

• Viewer count — How many people connected
• Session duration — How long the presentation ran
• Slide engagement — Which slides got the most attention
• Response data — Full breakdown of poll, quiz, and word cloud results

Use these insights to refine future presentations. Did a particular poll generate lots of discussion? Consider expanding on that topic next time. Did viewers drop off during a specific section? Maybe it needs to be more concise.

Who is Sync For?

Sync is designed for anyone who presents to an audience and wants to make that experience more engaging and interactive.

Educators and Teachers

Whether you're teaching a university lecture, a high school class, or an online course, Sync helps you keep students focused and actively participating. Add quizzes to check comprehension in real-time, create word clouds to spark classroom discussions, and use polls to gauge understanding before moving on.

Corporate Trainers

Deliver training sessions that stick. Sync's interactive elements transform passive training into hands-on learning experiences. Poll your team to gauge understanding, use comment boards for Q&A, and track engagement analytics to improve future sessions.

Speakers and Presenters

From conference keynotes to community meetups, Sync gives you the tools to connect with any audience. Share your slides instantly via QR code, gather live feedback through polls, and keep remote attendees synchronized with in-person participants.

Workshop Facilitators

Run interactive workshops where participants actively contribute. Use comment boards for brainstorming, word clouds to surface common themes, and downloadable resources so attendees leave with actionable materials.

Webinar Hosts

Keep virtual audiences engaged throughout your webinar. Sync's real-time features work seamlessly for remote presentations, ensuring participants stay connected and interactive no matter where they're joining from.

Tips for Maximum Engagement

Based on thousands of presentations delivered through Sync, here's what works:

1. Start with an interactive slide — Open with a poll or word cloud to signal that this won't be a passive experience. It sets the tone immediately.

2. Pace your interactions — One interactive element every 5-7 slides keeps attention without overwhelming. Quality over quantity.

3. Keep slides focused — One idea per slide. If you're tempted to bullet point everything, break it into multiple slides instead.

4. Use reveal mode for narratives — When telling a story or building an argument, reveal mode lets you control the narrative while allowing viewers to reference earlier points.

5. Test before going live — Open your Deck on your phone while editing on your computer. See exactly what your audience will experience.

6. Have a backup QR code — Print one or have it saved as an image. If you lose internet briefly, you can still get people connected.

What's Next?

You now have everything you need to create and deliver engaging interactive presentations with Sync. But this is just the beginning.

As you get comfortable with the basics, explore advanced features like:

• Collaborative editing — Share edit access with colleagues using edit tokens
• Events mode — Manage multi-room conferences with automated session scheduling
• Custom branding — For Pro users, remove Sync branding and apply your own

Ready to transform how you present?

For individuals: Create your free account and build your first Deck today.

For universities and companies: Looking to deploy Sync across your institution or organization? Contact us to learn about team plans, volume licensing, and custom integrations.

---

Have questions or feedback? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out to our team and let us know how Sync is working for your presentations.