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You are here: Home / Content / Add notes in PowerPoint in Slide Show view

Add notes in PowerPoint in Slide Show view

March 14, 2001 by Ellen Finkelstein 23 Comments

READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

It’s not unusual for a speaker to need to write down notes during a presentation, especially in a meeting environment–without going out of Slide Show view. For example, you might want to keep track of decisions made, actions steps to take (and who should take them), questions/suggestions from the audience, and so on.

PowerPoint used to contain features to allow this, but PowerPoint 2007 removed the last one. I think these features are very useful, but Microsoft apparently doesn’t. I assume that their research showed that people didn’t use them. You now need to return to pen and paper — or do you?

How to add notes in PowerPoint in Slide Show view

You can use an advanced feature of PowerPoint to create a text box that lets you type while in Slide Show view. Note: I’ve adapted this technique from a post that Sonia Coleman wrote a long time ago.

    1. Create your presentation.type notes while in Slide Show view
    2. You need to display the Developer tab, which isn’t displayed by default. To display it, click the File/Office button at the upper-left corner, and choose Options or PowerPoint Options. In PowerPoint 2007, on the Popular pane, check the Show Developer Tab in the Ribton check box. In PowerPoint 2010 and 2013, choose Customize ribbon and on the right side, check the Developer check box. Click OK.
    3. Display the slide where you want to be able to type in Slide Show view.
    4. Click the Developer tab. Click the Text Box button in the Controls group (it has the letters ab in it) and drag a rectangle on your slide with enough width to comfortably enter notes.
    5. With the text box selected, right-click and choose Properties or Property Sheet.  Change the settings marked with arrows as shown here:
  • EnterKeyBehavior: Set to True so that pressing Enter starts a new line.powerpoint--tips-add-notes-during-presentation-3
  • MultiLine: Set to True so that the text box can have multiple lines of text.
  • ScrollBars: If you might have a lot of text, use the 2-fmScrollBarsVertical option to display a vertical scrollbar when you add enough text.
  • SpecialEffect: To create a magical effect, choose 0-fmSpecialEffectFlat, which makes the text box invisible. No one will know how you can type on the slide! (Thanks to Ken Molay of Webinar Success for this tip.
  • Value: Provides pre-entered text if you want it.  For example, you could enter the topic of the meeting.

Feel free to play with the other settings to see if they’re useful to you.

Close the Properties window by clicking its Close button.

Test and use the text box

Test the presentation.  You should be able to type text in the text box. If you add text to test the text box, you can always delete it in Normal view.

When you present, just click in the box and start typing. You can’t format the text, but you can start a new line by pressing Enter (thanks to the EnterKeyBehavior setting).

After the presentation, when you return to Normal view, you’ll be prompted to save the file when you close it. Saving the file will save the notes. If you don’t want to save the notes (perhaps you want to use the presentation again and want the text box to be empty), don’t save the file.

Later, you can open the file in Normal view. To copy and paste the notes, select the text box, right-click, and choose TextBox Object > Edit. You’ll now be able to select the text, copy it, and paste it. You can also delete the text so that the text box is blank for the next time you use it.

powerpoint--tips-add-notes-during-presentation-4

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  3. Expand one slide into two
  4. Create slides from audience input

Filed Under: Content, Delivery Tagged With: notes, PowerPoint, PowerPoint 2007, presentations, slides

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Kymberly Lazano
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Kymberly Lazano

This really answered my problem, thank you!

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11 years ago
Sam Eskridge
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Sam Eskridge

This is a great tip! I was extremely disappointed when Microsoft removed Meeting Minder from Slide Show. This provides a great way of bringing back that functionality, and making these points a part of the PowerPoint document.

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11 years ago
Ellen
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Ellen

Sam,
I agree that Meeting Minder was a valuable feature. In these days of more interactivity, this type of feature allows the audience to become a part of the presentation process.

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11 years ago
Chester Tugwell
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Chester Tugwell

Sadly both of these features seemed to have been removed from the latest versions of PowerPoint.

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11 years ago
Ellen
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Ellen

Have you tried the technique I explain in this blog post?
In informal business meetings, I often just go into Normal view and write down what people are saying. It works well–good for brainstorming, which is an informal process, anyway.

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11 years ago
Michael
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Michael

I realize this is an old thread, but since I stumbled on it searching for similar functionality, figured i’d share the following for anyone else who may do the same… I’m just learning a bit of some of the more advanced features of PowerPoint (although have been using the “stock” functionality for years). The context menu option was likely removed due to the “presenter view” (google it) available starting in powerpoint 2007 (possibly 2k3, but news to me). It’s not well advertised, and only works if at least 2 monitors (a projector + laptop screen count as 2) are hooked… Read more »

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10 years ago
Ellen
Guest
Ellen

Michael,
Thanks for contributing. Actually, I have a recent post on Presenter View at http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/pptblog/presenter-view-your-secret-presentation-tool/. It includes a secret for displaying presnter view even if you have only one monitor, although I haven’t been able to confirm if it works with anything but Windows 7.

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10 years ago
Conference venue in the City of London
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Conference venue in the City of London

What a good article! Thank you and keep up the good work!

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10 years ago
Event venues
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Event venues

Fantastic post! I found it really informative.

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10 years ago
Search engine optimisation
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Search engine optimisation

Fantastic article! I found it really useful.

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10 years ago
Everhardt Strauss
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Everhardt Strauss

Hi, quick question, if I am creating a work instruction via Powerpoint, and saving to PDF, I can use activeX and VB to create a “note” however I am trying to build a “note” that can then be “copy” and “pasted” elsewhere, ie, user input builds the note that will be generated upon completion of the workflow. With an output something like “slide 1, option 1 selected, Slide 2, option 3 selected” at the end, the note is then copied and pasted into another application – as the final step in the workflow. – any ideas? thanks. Ev

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10 years ago
Rafaa
Guest
Rafaa

Hello,
Thanks for your kind support, I really would like you to explain to me how to write notes under the slide in power point 2007, and i can only see these notes to remind me when i give a presentation, i mean i can see them on my computer and don’t appear on the screen.
Thanks a million for your support
Rafaa

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9 years ago
Nicole
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Nicole

Thank you SO much for posting this article. The information was extremely detailed and I appreciate you including each version of Word so we could easily find what you were referencing. This was a huge help in a presentation for a big event – much appreciated!

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8 years ago
Anonymous
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Anonymous

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you just shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up
to date like this. Thank you for sharing.

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7 years ago
Lenora
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Lenora

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7 years ago
CSSmodo
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CSSmodo

Good one, Thanks a lot for sharing.

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7 years ago
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laptop maintenance

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7 years ago
55lf6100
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55lf6100

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7 years ago
Daniel Gordeev
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Daniel Gordeev

I’m very Impressed, but I want my font size to be Bigger. Is there any Solutions???

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7 years ago
Ami Posthumus
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Ami Posthumus

This is very great information i will link this guide to my blog, keep posting!

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6 years ago
Rose Naquin
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Rose Naquin

Hashslider generates a real-time slideshow with pictures taken at every event.It will fit perfectly in weddings,concerts,conferences,birthdays or any other event .Set your slideshow and start enjoying.It’s not unusual for a speaker to need to write down notes during a presentation,especially in a meeting environment-without going out of slideshow view.

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6 years ago
Jujama
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Jujama

DUDE! I am so excited right now after reading this! Thaaaaankkk you!

Vote Up0Vote Down 
4 years ago
Vincent
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Vincent

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to work on. You have done a formidable process and our entire community will likely be grateful to you.

Vote Up0Vote Down 
3 years ago
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