A popular tip for a suc­cess­ful Power­Point present­a­tion is “less is more.” This piece of advice refers to creating slides with as little text as possible. In this way, listeners focus more on what is being said and are less dis­trac­ted by the slides. As a presenter one also feels less tempted to read off the present­a­tion.

For a suc­cess­ful free-form talk, presenters will ideally learn as much of their speech content by heart. But even the best of us can forget things or stumble. As a memory aid during the present­a­tion, the Microsoft program offers a practical solution: Power­Point speaker notes. The digital notes help you to avoid for­get­ting content and remain out of a listeners’ sight. We explain how to create and use speaker notes in your present­a­tion step-by-step.

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Speaker notes in Power­Point: this is how you use the practical support tool

Often, speakers use two screens while giving a present­a­tion. A monitor is used for the present­a­tion software, while another computer screen or pro­jec­tion screen displays your present­a­tion to listeners. In doing so, Power­Point enables you to display different content on the monitors. While the listeners only see the present­a­tion itself, you can, for example, have your Power­Point present­a­tion proceed with your notes in Presenter View. Below we show you how to use this con­veni­ent feature.

Tip

With IONOS’ Microsoft 365 solutions, you can use the popular Office programs Power­Point, Excel, and Word in a cus­tom­ised package for your company, or for private use.

Step 1: Display Power­Point speaker notes

In your present­a­tion’s pre­par­a­tion phase, you create the Power­Point speaker notes. Check to see if the ap­pro­pri­ate feature is already being displayed. To do this, in the ‘View’ tab of the menu switch to the ‘Normal’ present­a­tion view. Under the selected slide a grey area with the text ‘Click to add notes’ should be displayed. If this area is not available, you can open it with a simple click. With a left-click select the ‘Notes’ button in the status bar beneath the slide, or, al­tern­at­ively, in the menu ribbon. The notes area will open. You can close the field at any time with another click.

Image: PowerPoint speaker notes: The displayed notes area
A right-click is suf­fi­cient to display Power­Point speaker notes.
Tip

If the ‘Notes’ option is not available in your status bar, open the content menu with a right-click and select ‘Notes’. A check mark appears next to the option and the button for notes is displayed in the status bar.

Step 2: Add Power­Point speaker notes

Within the displayed area you can add your Power­Point speaker notes. Enter your ex­plan­at­ory notes for the slide in the ap­pro­pri­ate field. In Presenter View you will see these later during your present­a­tion. Repeat this step for each slide.

Image: PowerPoint: Add notes for the example slide
You can add the desired Power­Point speaker notes beneath the slide.

The present­a­tion view ‘Note Page’ provides another option for adding notes in Power­Point, providing ad­di­tion­al space for notes. That’s why a switch is worth­while if you add long text blocks to your ex­plan­at­ory notes.

Tip

Power­Point offers various present­a­tion views with different ad­vant­ages. Outline View, for example, is suitable for creating a clear structure.

To add notes, select the ‘View’ tab in the menu and then the ‘Notes Page’ button. Power­Point now displays a slide per page along with the as­so­ci­ated notes. In order to perform changes, a switch in the normal view is not necessary. Click on the ap­pro­pri­ate notes area and then perform the desired ad­just­ments.

Image: PowerPoint Notes Page: Adding PowerPoint notes
The “Notes Page” page view offers more space for ex­plan­at­ory notes.

Step 3: Display Power­Point speaker notes

For your present­a­tion, it is required that you set up your operating system and present­a­tion software for dis­play­ing Power­Point speaker notes. To do so, it is necessary to set up different displays on your screens. Fre­quently, after the projector or a second monitor has been connected, the option ‘Enhance Display’ appears auto­mat­ic­ally. Select it with a left-click. If your computer doesn’t display it, press the [Windows] and [P] keys on your keyboard. A menu will appear where you can select the ‘Enhance Display’ option.

Fur­ther­more, it is necessary to activate the so-called ‘Presenter View’ in Power­Point. This view is intended for the monitor and displays the slides together with your Power­Point speaker notes. If you have Power­Point 2003 or a more recent version, the present­a­tion software auto­mat­ic­ally sets this view as the default. If this is not the case, then follow the in­struc­tions in step 4.

Note

Technical com­plic­a­tions are un­pre­dict­able and are es­pe­cially in­con­veni­ent during a present­a­tion. For this reason, Power­Point gives you the option of printing out your slides and notes with just a few clicks. This feature ensures that you have your Power­Point notes in hand during your speech.

Step 4: Activate Presenter View

In order to active Presenter View, Power­Point offers two options:

  • Via the menu: Select the ‘Slide Show’ tab in the menu and tick the ‘Presenter View’ check box.
  • Setup via the ‘Slide Show’ dialog window: Select the ‘Setup Slide Show’ option in the menu with a left-click. After that the dialog window of the same name will open. Select the ‘Use Presenter View’ box. Confirm by clicking on ‘OK’.

In order to display only the present­a­tion slides on both screens during the present­a­tion, de­ac­tiv­ate Presenter View. To do this, remove the tick mark shown in the box.

Image: PowerPoint: “Set Up Slide Show” dialogue
Activate Presenter View in order to show your Power­Point speaker notes during the present­a­tion.

Step 5: Select the slide show monitor

Is Presenter View with its Power­Point speaker notes appearing on the screen that is intended for the audience? This can be quickly rectified. To solve this, Power­Point provides two options:

Within Presenter View

Within Presenter View, both views can be switched in just a few clicks. Start the slide show via the menu path ‘Slide Show’ > ‘From Beginning’:

Image: PowerPoint: Start slide show
Start the slide show from the beginning in order to open Presenter View.

Then open the ‘Display Settings’ drop-down menu in Presenter View and select the ‘Swap Presenter View and Slide Show’ option.

Image: Swapping Presenter View and slide show in PowerPoint
With just one click, Power­Point displays the notes on the other screen.

Above the menu ribbon

With this option you determine the screen for Present­a­tion View. Select the “Slide Show” tab in the menu and then open the drop-down menu in the “screen” area. Here, select the monitor for the present­a­tion.

Image: Select PowerPoint slide show screen
Select the screen for the slide show display in the menu ribbon, and thus for the audience.
Tip

A Power­Point table of contents provides listeners with an overview of your present­a­tion at the beginning of your talk. Find out how to add one to your present­a­tion in our article “Create a Power­Point Table of Contents”.

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