Using Presenter View

I often hear from presenters that they want to have all their text on slides because they fear forgetting what to say. Lack of practice is often a problem, but some presenters fear public speaking so much that they need to have more support when using mostly visual slides.

That is why speakers need to learn how to leverage technology to help them ease their fears. PowerPoint has been providing Presenter View for some time now, helping presenters see their notes while the audience sees only their slides. Now is the time to learn how to leverage all its power with the help of the topics discussed in this chapter:

• Defining and starting Presenter View
• Using the display and navigation tools
• Using the annotation tools
• Using other tools
• Making your presentation more accessible with live subtitles

Technical requirements

The Presenter View feature is available in all versions of PowerPoint, but there could be differences in the tools available depending on the version you are using. Be aware that since the subscription version of PowerPoint is updated on an ongoing basis, it is possible that screenshots shown in this chapter might differ from your version of the application.

Defining and starting Presenter View

Presenter View is a PowerPoint feature allowing presenters to see their speaking notes and various tools on their computer while the audience only sees the slides in their presentation. We’ll see how easy it is to set it up and describe the various parts of the Presenter View window.

If you are using any version of PowerPoint from 2013 to the latest ones, as soon as you connect your computer to a second monitor, a projector, or a TV screen, PowerPoint should automatically set up Presenter View for you. When you are working with two monitors permanently connected to your computer, there might be times when you don’t want to use it, so let’s see where Presenter View can be turned on or off.

From the Slide Show tab (1), go to the Monitors group (2) and uncheck the Use Presenter View box (3) (Figure 12.1):

Figure 12.1 – Activating or deactivating Presenter View in the Slide Show tab

The...

Using the display and navigation tools

When you start your slide show with Presenter View, you might need to change how it is displayed, so we will first have a look at the display tools (Figure 12.4):

Figure 12.4 – Using the display tools in Presenter View

If you need to look for something in another window on your computer while in a slide show, you will quickly realize you don’t see your taskbar when using Presenter View, so using the SHOW TASKBAR tool (1) could be helpful. It works like a toggle that you click to show or hide your taskbar.

The DISPLAY SETTINGS tool (2) allows you to change the device on which you want Presenter View displayed by using the Swap Presenter View and Slide Show setting (3). You might have a need for it if you realize the display is not right when starting your presentation on a computer that is not yours. I have used it many times during training sessions so that people would see Presenter View on a big...

Using the annotation tools

When you click on the Pen and laser pointer tools button (1) below the slide preview in Presenter View, you get access to nice annotation tools that can be easily used directly on the slide preview thumbnail (Figure 12.7):

Figure 12.7 – Accessing the annotation tools in Presenter View

Selecting either the Laser Pointer, Pen, or Highlighter tool options (2) changes your mouse cursor to the selected type, such as Laser Pointer in my example (3), making it much easier for the audience to follow your cursor. If you are using Pen or Highlighter tool, you will be able to draw over your slide to bring attention to some content.

After changing your cursor to any of the tools, you can change its color (4) before using it on your slide. And if you drew anything on a slide, you can use Eraser and Erase All Ink on Slide (5) tools to remove part of your annotations or all of them at once.

Arrow Options (6) is helpful only if...

Using other tools

We will not necessarily go through all the remaining tools and settings available in Presentation View. Instead, we will focus on Zoom into the slide (1), Black or unblack slide show (2), and Click to add notes (3) while you are presenting (Figure 12.8):

Figure 12.8 – Extra useful tools in Presenter View

If you want the audience to have a closer look at a specific element on your slide, using the Zoom into the slide feature (1) is an excellent way to do it (Figure 12.9):

Figure 12.9 – The Zooming into the slide feature in Presenter View

After clicking on the magnifying glass icon (1), it is now highlighted to show it is selected (2), and the slide preview is zoomed in (3), showing a hand instead of the regular mouse cursor. If you left-click your mouse and maintain it, you can drag the image to move the zooming effect around your slide. When you want to go back to your whole slide view, simply...

Making your presentation more accessible with live subtitles

If you are an M365 user, you can use a good microphone connected to your computer and make sure to have access to an internet connection to deliver your presentation. You should also consider using live subtitles to make your presentation easier to understand for your audience.

While in Presenter View, you can click on Toggle Subtitles (1) to start the feature. In the slide preview, your words will be captured and then added under your slide (2) (Figure 12.12):

Figure 12.12 – Using subtitles during your presentation

You can decide to show subtitles in your spoken language or make them available in another language. All you have to do is click on More slide show options (3) and then on Subtitle Settings (4). The first two options (5), Bottom (Overlaid) and Top (Overlaid), will add captions at the bottom or top of your slides respectively on a semi-transparent shape. I suggest you avoid...

Summary

In this chapter, you have seen how to use Presenter View and leverage many of its great tools to improve your presentation delivery, and how to make your presentations more accessible and inclusive by using subtitles.

Using Presenter View to help you reduce your fear of forgetting what to say is a great way to improve your presentation delivery. Just make sure that you don’t put very long scripts in the notes. Doing so might increase your stress level because you have to scroll through the notes, or may even make your eyes focus on your computer instead of on your audience. Also, if you have a long script, reading it might make you sound unprepared and unnatural. The best advice I can give you is to aim to reduce your notes to very short sentences or keywords so that they are a reminder of the points you have to discuss.

As wonderful as I think Presenter View can be, if you think it will solve all your delivery problems, you are wrong! No tool can ever replace...