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PowerPointIntermediate~35 min practiceLesson 13 of 20

Use speaker notes and share the right PDF

Rehearse with notes, then make separate audience and presenter PDFs.

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In this lesson

Write note cues, rehearse in Presenter View and create a slides-only handout plus a separate notes PDF.

Practice material

Start with the practice file. Open the worked answer after trying the exercise. CSV and text briefs are also available. All resources and import notes →

Example

Thursday leadership meeting

Dana wants a handout for attendees without her notes, and a printed copy of her notes for herself in case the second screen doesn't work.

Presenter View — Slide 2 of 6

Response times improved in every region

00:02:14Next: Ticket volume…

Notes

  • Open with the headline, then pause
  • Point to the biggest improvement first
  • Hand over to the chart on slide 3
Teaching diagram, not a Microsoft screenshot.

How it works

Presenter View shows your notes and next slide; the audience should see the slide show. Check the monitors before presenting. Also remember that anyone who receives the editable deck may be able to read its notes.

Use a slides-only PDF for the audience and a notes-page PDF for yourself. Choose the appropriate export or print layout, then open both files to check their pages before sharing.

Steps

  1. Choose View › Notes (or select Notes in the status bar) and write two to four short cue lines per slide. Use cues, not a full script.

  2. On the Slide Show tab, make sure Use Presenter View is checked. On a single screen you can rehearse it with Alt+F5 on Windows.

  3. Optionally, use Slide Show › Rehearse Timings to see how long each slide takes.

  4. Choose File › Export › Create PDF/XPS › Options and set Publish what to Slides. Save as the handout.

  5. Repeat the export with Publish what set to Notes pages for your own copy.

  6. Before sharing the editable file outside your team, run File › Info › Check for Issues › Inspect Document to find off-slide content and notes.

Try it yourself

  1. Add three cue lines to the notes for slide 2.
  2. Export “Support-Review-Handout.pdf” (slides) and “Support-Review-Notes.pdf” (notes pages).
Show expected result
  • The handout PDF has one slide per page and no notes.
  • The notes PDF shows each slide at the top of the page with its notes underneath.
  • Presenter View shows your notes and the next slide during rehearsal.

If something goes wrong

The audience can see speaker notes on the projector.
Blank or stop the show. Check whether the displays are mirrored and which monitor shows Presenter View. Swap the displays if needed, then check the audience screen before continuing.
The supposed notes PDF contains only slides.
On Windows, set Publish what to Notes pages. On Mac, choose Notes in the print layout and use Save as PDF. Open the saved file and look for the cue lines below each slide.

Quick check

Try these questions after the exercise. Check the result in your app before marking the lesson complete.

1. Which file should attendees receive in this exercise?
2. What verifies the notes export?
3. What must the audience screen show?

Choose an answer for all 3 questions to check your understanding.

Optional: try it with Copilot

If you have Copilot, try this after the exercise. Keep the original file and compare its suggestions with your own result.

Write speaker notes for this slide as three short cue lines a presenter can glance at. Keep the facts exactly as they appear on the slide.

More from Microsoft

These Microsoft guides cover the tools used in this lesson.

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