How to Use Presenter view in PowerPoint: A step-by-step guide

If you have an upcoming presentation and want it to run smoothly, Presenter Mode in PowerPoint is your best friend. It’s great for helping you have your slide notes in front of you without putting all of those notes on your slide deck, which leads to your audience zoning out and not paying attention to what you’re saying.

Before you use presenter mode and finalize your presentation you want to identify the key message you want to convey. Think about what your audience needs to take away from your presentation, and make that what you see on the slide deck. You shouldn’t have slides full of bullets because you are going to move what you want to say out of the slide and into the notes tab.

Why use presenter mode?

Presenter Mode (or Presenter View) is useful because the audience actually hears you instead of trying to read the slide and listen to you at the same time. Our brains can’t read and listen at the same time. By using presenter mode, the audience sees the slide (instead of your notes), you don’t forget what you want to say, you have a timer and tools like the pen or laser pointer to call attention to specific areas of the slide, and you never forget what’s coming up next because you have a preview of the next slide.

Before using presenter mode (or Presenter view), it’s helpful to add notes to your PowerPoint document.

How to add presenter notes in PowerPoint?

At the bottom of your screen in PowerPoint, you should see an area that says “Click here to add notes”, like the screenshot below:

Once you click on that, you can add notes. If you don’t see that, hover over the bottom of your screen and your cursor should turn into a double arrow. Click and drag up so the notes tab appears, and then you can type your notes in, like the example below (highlighted in yellow):

Once you have notes, you’re ready to use presenter view/mode.

We’ll walk you through a step-by-step guide to using presenter mode and presenter notes in PowerPoint.

How to open presenter view in PowerPoint?

Click “Slideshow” on the ribbon (menu) at the top of PowerPoint, and check the box that says “Use Presenter View”.

Select whether you want to start your presentation “From Beginning” or “From Current Slide.” Alternatively, you can click the slideshow icon (picture) at the bottom right of your PowerPoint window.

How to change your monitor view in Presenter View?

Now you’re in presenter view! As long as you have two monitors connected, you will have presenter view on one screen and your current slide (what you’re audience should see) will be displayed on your other screen. If you’re presenting virtually, you want to share the screen that is showing the current slide (not presenter view). You want to have presenter view on the monitor where your camera is, so your notes are in the direction of where you’re looking. If you’re presenting in-person, make sure your computer has presenter view displayed on it, and the projector has the current slide. You can change this, by clicking “display settings” at the top of presenter view, and then selecting “swap presenter view and slide show.”

Now that you have presenter mode enabled, and presenter view is on the right screen, we’re going to go over some of the tools that this mode has to offer.

How do I use Presenter View Effectively?

First off, your notes will be displayed in the bottom right of your screen. You can increase and decrease the text size by clicking on the small and large A at the bottom of this area. You can also adjust how presenter view looks and the size of your current slide and next slide, by hovering over the line and clicking and dragging the area to be smaller or bigger. Click here to see this in video format.

Now that you have a feel for the format, you’ll notice a few things. You have a timer at the top that you can pause or restart. This can help you stay on track as you deliver your presentation.

You also have the slide number at the bottom so you can click on these arrows to go forward and backward (or click on the left or right arrow keys, or the space bar to move forward and the backspace button to move back.)

The tools at the bottom of your current slide are very useful. They are:

• Laser Pointer, Pen, and Highlighter:
  The first tool on the left lets you bring your audience’s attention to where you want them to look. You can point to something important or draw on the slide. You can change the ink color, and erase the ink after drawing on the slide with this first tool.

• Slide Sorter:
  The second tool on the left is the slide sorter. This lets you jump around your slides easily, which is handy if someone asks a question you weren’t planning to cover yet. Once you click on it, it shows you a mini version of your slides, and if you have sections set up, you can jump to the section that is relevant. If you click on any slide, it will go to that slide in the presentation, and you can always go back by going back to slide sorter and choosing a new slide.

• Zoom Tool:
  The third tool is the zoom tool. You can zoom in on a part of your slide if something is too small or difficult to see.
• Black or White Screen:
  The fourth tool looks like a monitor with a diagonal line. This will make your screen go black and come back. You can also access this feature by pressing B on your keyboard to make the screen black or W to make it white. This helps if you want the audience to focus on you instead of the screen for a moment.
• Subtitles:
  The fifth tool turns on and off subtitles, but if you want to adjust them, you want to click on the three dots (kabob), and click on subtitle settings (you can see this below). This lets you adjust where and how the subtitles are displayed. This is especially useful for virtual presentations.

Finally, make sure you practice!

Get familiar with where to click and what options you have. Familiarize yourself with the flow of the presentation and where your notes are (and how big you need them to be). Rehearse your transitions, and pay attention to the next slide so you don’t forget about an animation or the next point that you want to say.

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