How to View Notes When Presenting in PowerPoint While Presenting with PPT Slides
by Dr Valeria Lo Iacono | Last updated Oct 31, 2024
In PowerPoint, you can teach and make your trainer notes invisible to your students whilst also having these notes visible for you to see on your own monitor or screen and it is easy to do.
So, if you are wondering how to view notes when presenting in PowerPoint, (invisible speaker notes and presenter notes) i.e. notes that the participants or students cannot see as you show the slides, let me explain.
Page Contents
How to See Notes for Your Presentation Show on Your Own Monitor
Okay Let’s get started:
1. Open PowerPoint and the Presentation
The first step is to open PowerPoint as an application.
Once you have opened PowerPoint, you will then need to open the presentation that you want to use for your presentation.
2. Go into Slide View Mode
Next, you need to click the ‘Slide View’ button on the bottom of the PowerPoint screen (see the image below and to where the red arrow is pointing)
3. Selecting ‘Show Presenter View’
You will now be in ‘Slide View.
What you need to do now is to right-click anywhere over the slide and then select ‘ Show Presenter View ‘ (see image below).
Once you press ‘Show Presenter View’, you will then immediately see what your classroom participants can see and you can see your own screen (and with your teacher’s notes on it, that only you will see).
4. Additional Options
Once you are in presenter mode, you will see a view such as in the image directly below.
There are some pretty nifty things you can do including zooming in on certain parts of the slide for your students to see or using a marker to point things out on screen. You can easily do these things in Presenter View.
How Do You Add Trainer or Teacher Notes to PowerPoint?
It is a great idea to add trainer and teacher notes at the bottom of each PowerPoint, especially if you are designing the training materials for someone else to teach.
Even if designing the materials to use yourself though, to keep the presentation and workshops fluid and seamless, it is a great idea to have notes for each slide so that you have useful prompts.
These notes can be bullet points on what you need to say for each part of the slide, or it might be a list of instructions that you need to explain to the participants to run a classroom activity or team-building activity .
Adding teacher notes to PowerPoint slides is a straightforward process you’ll be happy to know.
Teacher notes are meant to provide additional information, instructions, or speaking points to the presenter or trainer while delivering the presentation. Here’s how you can add teacher notes to your PowerPoint slides:
Adding Teacher Notes to Individual Slides
Open your PowerPoint presentation by launching PowerPoint and then opening the presentation you want to work on.
Select the slide : Navigate to the slide to which you want to add teacher notes. Click on the slide in the left-hand slide pane to select it.
Access the Notes section : At the bottom of the PowerPoint window, you’ll see two tabs: “Normal” and “Notes.” Click on the “Notes” tab to reveal the speaker notes area for the selected slide.
If you cannot see the notes section below the slide then you need to click on the ‘Notes’ button on the menu of PowerPoint (see image below).
Enter your teacher notes : In the speaker notes area, you can type or paste the additional information, instructions, or speaking points that you want to include for that slide. To reiterate, these notes will only be visible to the presenter when in Presenter View or while editing the slide.
Repeat as needed: To add notes to other slides, select each slide, go to the “Notes” tab, and enter the relevant information.
Note : You might also have to switch to Normal View to do the above. To get to ‘Normal View’ :
- Click on the “View” tab in the PowerPoint top menu bar
- Select the “Normal” view.
- This view provides a clearer workspace for editing slides and notes.
FAQs about PowerPoint Slides and Trainer Notes
1. what are speaker notes or trainer notes in powerpoint.
Speaker notes in PowerPoint and Trainer notes in PowerPoint refer to the same thing and they are the hidden notes that provide additional information, instructions, or reminders for the presenter during a slide show.
As discussed earlier, when we say hidden notes, they are visible to the presenter or instructor (if they wish to see the notes) but invisible to the people viewing the presentation.
2. What Is the Purpose of Trainer Notes?
Trainer notes help presenters stay on track, provide context, and deliver a presentation effectively.
3. Are Trainer Notes Visible to the Audience?
No. Only you will be able to see the notes.
4. How Do I Add or Edit Trainer Notes?
Click in the notes section below each slide to add or edit trainer notes.
5. Can I Format Text and Add Images in Trainer Notes?
Yes, you can format text and include images in trainer notes, similar to regular slides.
6. What Are the Differences Between Presenter View and Trainer Notes?
Presenter View displays your notes alongside the current slide during a presentation, while trainer notes are for editing and reference.
7. How Can I Secure or Password-Protect Trainer Notes?
Unfortunately, PowerPoint doesn’t have a built-in feature to password-protect trainer notes. Consider securing the presentation file itself if confidentiality is a concern.
How to Design Great PowerPoint Slides
If you are looking for tips on how to design PowerPoint slides for teaching then we’ve already written a post with 8 tips explained. Here’s the post:
9 Tips on PowerPoint Design for Trainers and Teaching
How to Download Pre-Made Ready-to-use PowerPoint Slides with Trainer Notes
Thank you for reading this post on how to view notes when presenting in PowerPoint and hopefully I have answered your questions.
Designing PowerPoint slides with notes such that the subject you are teaching is covered in great detail, with great visuals, clear and transparent trainer notes, and training activities included, really takes time.
It is possible to throw together a PowerPoint presentation in a few hours but the soft skills workplace training materials we provide take weeks to design and are designed in-house by Dr Valeria Lo Iacono, who has over 20+ years of experience in teaching and education .
You can learn more about our downloadable PowerPoint slides and trainer notes packages below:
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