« Blog survey results | Home | More on User Groups »

Do you use "Presenter view" in PowerPoint

Mon, January 28, 2008, 04:32 PM under AboutPresenting
I recently received (as a gift) the "Microsoft Office Powerpoint 2007 Step-by-step". I was scanning thought it to see if I am missing any tricks and came across page 232 where it advises on how to use Presenter view when using two monitors. That reminded me of how I had evaluated and discarded this feature before the 2007 version so, after looking at it again, my reasons still holds true:

3. Presentation View does not show animations. So when I go to a slide that has animations, on my screen I will see the entire slide while the audience is seeing a different one.
- I don't like looking back on the large screen because I find it distracting.
- I like to see on my screen what my audience is seeing.
- Clicking (on my clicker/mouse/keyboard) in order for the animation to appear on the large screen while nothing happens on my screen makes me uncomfortable.

2. Presentation view is useful for slide notes, but I'd rather not read anything while the audience is expecting me to be speaking instead.

1. It encourages the presenter to be in front of the laptop screen for the duration of the presentation, which whilst the only option in some venues, is not my preferred place to be.

There you have it, instead of telling you what features I do use in powerpoint, I am sharing the one that I don't... oh well, maybe you have some powerpoint tips to share?
Comments [5] |#Permalink
Monday, January 28, 2008 5:00:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Yes, I use the presenter view in PowerPoint 2007. Actually, I didn't realise it was available before as I found it by accident. I just thought it was a cool new feature.

I tend to use it for additional notes. I try not to read off it, but if I write in prose I've found that I will, so I keep it for additional bullet points now.

I've found that my best presentations have been in front of the laptop with a handy bluetooth clicker thing that allows me more freedom of movement. Also, if I'm free to move, I engage more with the audience (I think)
Colin Angus Mackay
Monday, January 28, 2008 5:25:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
I dont use Presenter View for my sessions, just because, I usually flick between PowerPoint and Visual Studio, lol

And I also like to see what the audience see in the screen. It wont be good if you see something and they see something else!

But sometimes, when I present to my supervisors, where just text is there, I turn on Presenter for the sake that I can see my notes ;)
Chaks
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 3:08:03 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Colin: Try once without presenter notes and feel the liberation ;-)

chaks: Sounds like your supervisors make you too nervous ;) Ditch the notes!
Daniel Moth
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 10:48:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
I use it for all of my presentations and love it. I usually have my laptop positioned at some sort of an angle so I can see the screen and still be out in front of the audience.

Usually my speaker notes are pretty lengthy, but I try to only scan them to help me remember what points I wanted to make.

The lack of animation for me hasn't been a problem, probably because none of my decks have any. :)
Scott
Thursday, January 31, 2008 5:17:27 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Scott: No animations in a deck? Novel :)
Daniel Moth
Comments are closed.