Aug 12, 2014

There are two ways that you can run a slideshow in Microsoft PowerPoint. One way is to run it with the same image on both the projected screen and the presenter’s computer screen (assuming the presenter has a separate screen). This means that the presenter must rely on speaker notes being printed or on another device’s screen. It also means that the presenter has to rely on outside sources for the current time and length of presenting so far. The second way to run a slideshow is to run it in Presenter View whereby the audience sees only the active slide, but the presenter sees the:

• Current slide
• The next animation or slide
• Speaker notes
• A timer and the current time
• Various controls for using the pen, highlighter and other tools

This feature has greatly enhanced in PowerPoint 2013. Previously, Presenter View had to be manually turned on, but in the 2013 version, it can automatically detect if the user is using 2 displays and will turn the feature on automatically. If you're using a single display, you can still use Presenter View but you may need to set the screens to 'Extend' rather than 'Duplicate.' To change this setting, you can use the keyboard shortcut Windows+P. This will bring up the following 4 options (on a Windows 7 interface). When you click Extend, one screen becomes a continuation of the other.

There are a great number of features when using the Presenter View in PowerPoint 2013 such as:

• Pause, Resume and Restart buttons
• Easier access to the Laser pointer tool
• Ability to share meeting notes (through the use of OneNote)
• Black or unblack slideshow

If you haven’t used it before, you should definitely try it out in your slide deck. If you're interested in finding out what else you can do in PowerPoint, then you should take a look at New Horizons' Microsoft PowerPoint training courses.