Skip to content

PowerPoint Operation

The slides shown during the service — song words, readings, notices — come from Microsoft PowerPoint running on the presentation PC (a small Windows NUC computer). This page explains how to show slides and move through them.

📷 Screenshot placeholder: NUC, keyboard/mouse, and PowerPoint open on screen.

What you are working with

Item What it is
Presentation PC (NUC) A small Windows computer that runs the slides
Microsoft PowerPoint The program that shows the slides
Bluestream HDMI Matrix Sends the PowerPoint picture to the TVs
Front TV Left / Right The two screens the congregation sees
Rear Confidence Monitor A screen facing the speaker so they can see the slides

The PowerPoint picture travels from the PC, through the Bluestream matrix, to the TVs. See TV Distribution.

Opening the service slides

  1. On the NUC, find the Sunday service PowerPoint file (it is usually on the desktop or in a clearly named folder).
  2. Double-click to open it in PowerPoint.
  3. The file for this week may be prepared by the service team — check you have the correct date.

Open it during startup, not at 9:29am

Open and check the slides during your pre-service checks so you have time to fix a missing or wrong file. See Sunday Startup.

Starting the slideshow (full screen)

To show the slides full-screen on the TVs:

  1. In PowerPoint, press the F5 key to start from the beginning, or Shift + F5 to start from the current slide.
  2. The slides now fill the screen and appear on the front TVs.

What 'Slide Show' mode does

Normal PowerPoint shows menus and thumbnails — fine for editing, but you do not want the congregation to see that. Slide Show mode shows only the slide, full screen. Always present in Slide Show mode.

Moving through the slides

To do this Press
Next slide / next line Right arrow, Spacebar, or Page Down
Previous slide Left arrow or Page Up
Jump to a slide number Type the number, then Enter
Black the screen B (press again to return)
End the slideshow Esc

You can also use the StreamDeck "Next Slide" / "Previous Slide" buttons if they are set up. See StreamDeck Buttons.

Stay one step ahead

Listen and watch so you change the slide right as the song line or section changes. Being ready slightly early is better than being late.

Showing PowerPoint on the TVs (the key question)

"How do I show PowerPoint on the TVs?"

Two things must both be true:

  1. PowerPoint is in Slide Show mode (press F5) on the PC, and
  2. The Bluestream matrix is sending the PC's picture to the front TVs.

For a normal Sunday the matrix is already set so the PC → Front TVs. If the TVs show the wrong thing (or a desktop), see TV Distribution and PowerPoint Not Displaying.

flowchart LR
    PC[PowerPoint PC - NUC] --> MX[Bluestream HDMI Matrix]
    MX --> TVL[Front TV Left]
    MX --> TVR[Front TV Right]
    MX --> CONF[Rear Confidence Monitor]

The confidence monitor

The Rear Confidence Monitor faces the speaker so they can see the current slide without turning around. It normally shows the same slides as the front TVs.

Common problems

Problem Likely cause Fix
TVs show the desktop, not slides PowerPoint not in Slide Show mode Press F5
Slides on PC but not on TVs Matrix not routing PC to TVs, or HDMI issue PowerPoint Not Displaying
Wrong slides Wrong file open Open the correct dated file
Slides frozen PC or PowerPoint stuck Press Esc, restart the slideshow