Show the current time on your PowerPoint slides

Let’s say that you’re running a meeting and want to keep everyone on track so that the meeting ends on time. These days, fewer people wear watches. (My son says that if you wear a watch, it’s a sure sign that you’re over 30!) Anyway, it may look impolite to be checking your watch, even if you have one. And you don’t want people at the meeting to have their cellphones out — too much opportunity for them to not be listening to you.

Maybe there’s a clock on the wall. But maybe not. And if there is, it’s behind you. But in front of you is your laptop and it shows the slide. So if you could show the current time, that would be great. And it would help everyone keep on track.

So you add a footnote to the slide that shows the time. Note: It will show the time on your computer.

Watch the short video to see how to set this up and how it works.

What’s helpful is that although the time updates automatically, it only does so when you go to a new slide. Otherwise I think people would be transfixed, watching the time constantly changing. And if you go backwards to a previous, the time is incorrect. The updating seemed a little capricious to me, but overall it would be helpful if you didn’t need it to be completely precise.

If you’re having difficulty seeing the time (or a slide number), see an earlier tip, “Add slide numbers to your slides.”

There’s a saying that the teacher learns more than the student and I always learn from my clients. I learned this from one of mine. My client speaks to corporate teams and doesn’t wear a watch. She uses the time to keep her on track. This could be distracting for your audience, so you’ll have to judge if it works for your situation.

Get the time in Presenter view

You can see both the current time and the elapsed time in Presenter view. Here’s how it looks in PowerPoint 2013.

In PowerPoint 2007 and 2010, both indicators are below the slide, rather than above as in 2013.

I explain how to use Presenter view here.

How do you keep track of the time during a presentation? Leave a comment and share your best tips!