PowerPoint Pearls: Practice the Presenter View

Anyone who has attended my PowerPoint workshops knows that my mantra for a skillful presentation is "Practice, Practice, Practice!" So, when one of my workshop participants wanted to practice using the Presenter view, I recommended that he use his desktop monitor as a second monitor. Success! He got to practice his presentation using his laptop in the presenter view and felt fully prepared for his presentation at an international conference.

Here's how to do the same for yourself:

First you'll need to connect the hardware. Take the monitor cable out of your desktop machine. The cable has what is known as a SVGA connector, which should plug into a port on the side of your laptop. The monitor cable is the male connector: the laptop has the female connector and they will likely be a medium blue color.

After you have made the hardware connection, you must set your display for two monitors.

Setting up the Presenter's View:

1. Click SlideShow, Set-up Show... The Set Up Show window will open.
   
   
2. Click in the Show Presenter View checkbox.

3. A pop-up window will appear that allows you to check for the second monitor. Click the Check button in this window.
   
   
4. Next, the Display Properties window will appear. Use the dropdown to select the second monitor.

5. Then click the Extend My Windows checkbox. Click OK and Apply.

6. When you return to the Set Up Show window the Show Presenter View box will be checked and you'll notice that, by default, the second monitor will display the slide show. Click OK.
   
   
7. When you return to the main window, click the View Show icon to see the Presenter View.

View the demo to learn more about the Presenter View.