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.
- Create your presentation.
- 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.
- Display the slide where you want to be able to type in Slide Show view.
- 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.
- With the text box selected, right-click and choose Properties or Property Sheet. Change the settings marked with arrows as shown here:
This really answered my problem, thank you!
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.
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.
Sadly both of these features seemed to have been removed from the latest versions of PowerPoint.
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.
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 up. Check the “Slide Show” tab, “Monitors” group for the checkbox.
The view allows for both seeing an overview of your slide deck, the slide you’re on, as well as any notes related to that slide. There’s a separate pane for entering new notes.
Powerpoint for Mac 2011 takes this one step further with showing all of the above + a view on what is going to happen the next time you advance the show.
Hope this helps.
–Michael
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.
What a good article! Thank you and keep up the good work!
Fantastic post! I found it really informative.
Fantastic article! I found it really useful.
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
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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