PowerPoint 2016's Presenter View is a purpose-built view that
accompanies Slide Show view. This view is
beneficial in an environment that has at least two displays such as a laptop and a projector. The projector then shows the actual slides,
commonly called Slide Show view. However, you see the Presenter view on the laptop, Figure 1 below shows Presenter view.
Notice that you get to see much more than just the slide. Rest assured that the audience viewing the projector output see only the slide!
Figure 1: Presenter view in PowerPoint 2016
While Presenter view in PowerPoint 2010 and earlier versions had
to be turned on, PowerPoint 2016 and 2013 automatically detect if you have two displays and turn on Presenter view. You should however still check
and ensure that this view shows up on your laptop and not on the projected view. We show you how you can swap displays using the
Display Settings option later in this tutorial.
If you are using only a single display, you can still choose to change to Presenter view from within Slide Show view. Hover your cursor over
the bottom left area of the slide to find six watermarked navigation icons that you can see in Figure 2. Click the last icon
and from the resultant menu choose the Show Presenter View option (see Figure 2 again).
Figure 2: Show Presenter View option to be selected
This brings up PowerPoint 2016's Presenter View, as previously shown in Figure 1. Notice that PowerPoint 2016's Presenter View has
an enhanced Web 2.0 style interface and there are many other features in the Presenter view's console such as zooming onto a specific part of the
slide, and then panning across the slide area. Also you have dedicated Pause, Resume and Restart
buttons to give you more control over slide timings. Additionally, you now have easier access to the Laser pointer tool, which
directs the audience’s eye with a bright colored point of light.
We explain all these features, and more next, as marked below in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Presenter View
- Toolbar: Here you find three options:
- Show Taskbar: A toggle that alternates between showing your Window taskbar. Click once to make the taskbar available. You'll then
find that the option is now highlighted as shown in Figure 4, below.
Figure 4: Show Taskbar option gets highlighted on clicking
It can be useful to have access to the taskbar if you need to access any open application. Then once you get back to your slide show, you can
click the Show Taskbar option again to hide the taskbar. The option is then no longer highlighted.
- Display Settings: This option, when clicked spawns a drop-down menu, as shown in Figure 5. Here you'll
get options to Swap Presenter View and Slide Show, also option to Duplicate Slide Show.
Figure 5: Display Settings drop-down menu
If you are on a single display environment, these options will be grayed out. On a dual display environment, you can use the
Swap Presenter View and Slide Show option to swap displays between your laptop and projector. The
Duplicate Slide Show option will show the active view on both displays.
- End Slide Show: Exits the presentation. You can also duplicate this option using the Esc keyboard shortcut.
- Timer: Shows above the Slide Preview area, as shown in Figure 6, below. The
Timer determines the time elapsed since the slide show started. Additionally, PowerPoint 2016 introduces two extra buttons
for Pause/Resume and Restart.
Figure 6: Slide Preview and Timer
- Slide Preview: This shows the active slide (see Figure 6, above). The same slide is simultaneously
displayed full screen on the projected screen (secondary display).
- Next Slide: On the top right side, you'll find a preview of the next slide.
- Notes for the current slide: This section displays the notes (if there are any) for the current slide. Here you'll find
two buttons to Make the text larger and Make the text smaller (highlighted in
red within Figure 3, earlier on this page).
- Extra Controls: There are five extra controls available below the Slide Preview (see
Figure 7). These are explained from left to right:
Figure 7: Extra Controls within Presenter view
- Pen and Laser Pointer tools: Click on this button to bring up a menu, as shown in Figure 8, below.
Figure 8: Contextual menu in Presenter view
The options within this menu are explained below:
Laser Pointer: Directs the audience's eye with a bright colored point of light. You can set the Laser Pointer color within
the Set Up Show dialog box, to access this dialog box, choose the Slide Show tab of the Ribbon, and then
click the Set Up Slide Show button.
Pen: Lets you draw or annotate with a pen. Learn more in our Using the
Pen and Highlighter Tools in Slide Show View in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows tutorial.
Highlighter: Almost like a virtual highlighter pen. Learn more in our Using
the Pen and Highlighter Tools in Slide Show View in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows tutorial.
Ink Color: Changes the pen color.
Eraser: Lets you erase any pen or highlighter marked areas (grayed out if there are no marked areas on the current slide).
Erase All Ink on Slide: Removes all ink markings (grayed out if there are no marked areas on the current slide).
Arrow Options: Brings up a sub-menu with options to show (Visible) or hide (Hidden) the
cursor while presenting. The Automatic option is turned on by default, this shows the cursor when you move your mouse or
trackpad for a while, and hides it again when there's no moving activity for a while.
- See All Slides: Click on this button to bring up the whole slide stack (see Figure 9), and choose any
slide. With this option, you can easily switch slides in or out of sequence from a grid that only you see. Your audience only sees the slide
you’ve selected.
Figure 9: Slides stack
- Zoom into the slide: With this tool you can zoom a part of the slide and then pan around. Figure 10
shows the zoom option as active. Zoom works more smoothly if you are using a tablet device such as Microsoft Surface.
Figure 10: Zoom active within the Presenter view
- Black or Unblack Slide Show: This is the toggle button to turn the screen completely black, click again to un-black
the screen. You can get the same results by pressing the B shortcut key. Similarly you can press the W
shortcut key to get a white screen, and press W again to un-white the screen.
- More Slide Show Options: Click this button to bring up a drop-down list, as shown in Figure 11.
Figure 11: More slide show options
Within this list you'll find more options:
Last Viewed: Goes to the last viewed slide.
Custom Show: Opens a sub-menu that lists all custom shows available in the open presentation. This option is grayed out if
there are no Custom Shows created.
Hide Presenter View: Hides Presenter View and takes you back to Slide Show view on a single display environment.
Screen: Lets you show a Black or White screen to the audience,
Show / Hide Ink Markup (pen, highlighter, etc.), and reveal the Windows taskbar (Switch Programs).
Help: Brings up a list of keyboard shortcuts that you can use while presenting (see Figure 12).
Figure 12: Keyboard shortcuts for presenting
Pause: Lets you pause your slide show. Animations pause too, and you click Pause again to restart, or just
press the Pause/Break key on your keyboard. Most laptop keyboards may not have this key but bigger desktop keyboards have
the Pause/Break key.
End Show: Exits Slide Show and Presenter view.
- Navigation: Use the Previous Slide or the Next Slide arrow buttons to navigate to those slides. Also the area in between shows which slide is
active.
See Also:
Presenter View in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac
Enhanced Presenter View in PowerPoint 2013
for Windows
Presenter View in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Presenter View in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
