How to add speaker notes in PowerPoint

Below: how to add, view and print notes, three worked examples sized in seconds per slide, and what notes can’t do when you present on a call. Microsoft’s pages were checked on November 1, 2026.

How to add speaker notes in PowerPoint

1. Click View › Normal, so the slide thumbnails and the editing area are showing.
2. Click the thumbnail of the slide you want to add notes to.
3. Click Click to add notes in the pane under the slide, and type. The pane stays under that slide, and the notes stay with it.
4. If you can’t see the pane, click Notes on the task bar along the bottom of the window. Click it again to hide the pane.
5. Drag the top edge of the pane upward when you want to see more of a long note.

Note: the steps and labels above are from Microsoft’s Add speaker notes to your slides, which describes the desktop app. The wording of the task bar button can differ slightly between versions.

Add speaker notes in PowerPoint for the web

On the View tab, in the Show group, select Notes, then type under the slide. Microsoft says the web version lets you create notes, but it can’t show them to you while you present, so open the file in the desktop app for the show itself (Microsoft Support).

Use Notes Page view for longer notes with pictures

On the View tab, in the Presentation Views group, select Notes Page. Here you can add charts, pictures or tables to a slide’s notes, and they appear on the printed notes page (Microsoft Support). Plain text is easier to read in the pane, so keep Normal view for ordinary notes.

What are speaker notes in PowerPoint?

Speaker notes are text you attach to a slide that the audience never sees. They can be a script, a list of prompts, a statistic, or a reminder of what to click next. Microsoft puts it this way: during a presentation, the speaker notes are visible on your monitor but aren’t visible to the audience.

That is why they are different from text on the slide. Put on the slide only what the audience needs to read, and put the explanation in the notes. Rehearsing with your notes also gives you a number to work to: Microsoft’s Speaker Coach recommends 100 to 165 words per minute.

How to see your speaker notes while presenting

1. Click the Slide Show tab, and check that the Presenter View box is ticked. On Windows it is on by default.
2. Click From Beginning.
3. On one monitor, click the three dots in the control bar at the bottom left of the slide show, then choose Show Presenter View.
4. Read the notes beside your current slide and the next slide. The audience sees only the slide.

Note: on a Mac, open the View menu and click Presenter View. Both paths are from Microsoft’s speaker notes page and Give a presentation in PowerPoint. Sharing on a call changes what your audience receives, so read PowerPoint Presenter View on a call before your first live show.

How to print speaker notes in PowerPoint

1. Click File, then Print.
2. Under Settings, click the arrow next to Full Page Slides.
3. Under Print Layout, choose Notes Pages.
4. Choose portrait or landscape, then click Print. Each page holds one slide thumbnail with its notes below it.

Source: Microsoft Support: Create and print notes pages. Print a copy even when you plan to read from Presenter View. A page of notes is a backup if the screen share drops.

How long should speaker notes be?

Work backwards from the time. Divide your minutes by your slides to get seconds per slide, then multiply by your speaking pace. This table does that at the bottom, middle and top of Microsoft’s range.

Paste a full script into the speech time calculator and it splits the time slide by slide, and the presentation timer keeps you to it live. Both run in your browser.

Speaker notes examples for three kinds of talk

Good notes are spoken, not written. They start with what to do, give the line to say, and end with the cue to move on. Each example below is sized to its slot at 130 words a minute.

Lightning talk: one result slide in 30 seconds

Slide 6 of 10, a 5-minute talk.

Pause on the number first. Say it plainly: churn fell from 6.1 to 5.0 percent in one quarter. Two things changed, the welcome email and the day-three check-in. Do not mention the pricing test, that is slide 8. Ask the room: who sends a welcome email today? Take one answer, nod, then click to slide 7 without adding anything.

59 words: about 27 seconds at 130 words a minute. That fits a 30-second slot.

Product demo: one feature slide in a minute

Slide 9 of 20, a 20-minute demo.

Open with the problem, not the feature. Say: last week you exported this report by hand, and it took forty minutes. Now click Export, choose Schedule, pick Monday at 8. The file arrives before anyone is at their desk. Show the schedule dialog on screen and stop talking while it opens. If someone asks about permissions, the answer is on slide 14. Land on the benefit: forty minutes back every week, for every analyst on the team. Then ask who builds a weekly report today, and listen for the groan. If the room is quiet, say that most teams only notice the cost when someone leaves and the report stops. Move on to slide 10.

115 words: about 53 seconds at 130 words a minute. That fits a 60-second slot.

Class lesson: one teaching slide in a minute and a half

Slide 12 of 30, a 45-minute lesson.

Read the question aloud: why does a river bend? Wait five seconds before anyone answers. Prompt with faster water on the outside of the curve. Then explain that fast water digs the outer bank and slow water drops sand on the inner bank, so the bend grows over time. Draw the arrow on the slide while you say it. Check with the class: which bank is steeper? Take two answers. If they are unsure, point back to the photograph on slide 11. Next slide only when most hands agree. If time is short, skip the photograph and give the one-line rule instead: water moves faster on the outside of a bend, so that bank wears away first. Write the key word, erosion, on the board and ask the class to copy it into their notes before you move on.

139 words: about 64 seconds at 130 words a minute, plus about 20 seconds for the question. That fits a 90-second slot.

Teaching from slides? SHARA for teachers covers marking up a lesson as you go.

When notes can’t help: point at the slide while you present

Speaker notes are for you. They cannot point at a number on screen, circle a step or follow your voice. A free-forever overlay can:

• Free forever: a cursor halo with a click flash, the Pen, Laser, Arrow, Text and Eraser.
• Free for your first 14 days: Live Zoom, the lens and Spotlight, for the small print on a dense slide.
• Over any app: the ink sits above PowerPoint, your browser and the call, so one tool covers the whole talk.

Mark up a slide while you talk with SHARA

1. Install SHARA free from the Microsoft Store. There is no account, and it waits in the background for a hotkey.
2. Hold Ctrl+Space to open the Wheel, then choose the Draw slice and pick Laser or Pen.
3. Point at the number or step your note is about, and draw while you say the line.
4. Choose Erase on the toolbar to clear the ink before the next slide.
5. On a call, share your entire screen, not one window, so your audience receives the ink. See how to share your screen on Teams.

The screen annotation page lists every drawing tool, and PowerPoint shortcuts covers PowerPoint’s own pen keys.

When SHARA isn’t the right fit

SHARA does not hold, show or edit your notes: Presenter View does that. It is Windows only, and after the 14-day trial its zoom and shape tools are a one-time upgrade. If you present from the web version of PowerPoint, you still need the desktop app to see your notes on screen.

Speaker notes in PowerPoint: FAQ