Printing your PowerPoint slides with speaker notes is an excellent way to create handouts for your audience or have something to refer to during your presentation. However, the default print settings will only print the slides without the notes.

In this article, I’ll explain two easy methods for printing PowerPoint slides with notes on both Windows and Mac operating systems. I’ll also provide tips on customizing your print layout further to suit your needs.

Method 1: Print Using the Notes Pages Layout

The easiest way to print slides with notes is by using the “Notes Pages” print layout. Here is how to do it:

On Windows

Open your PowerPoint presentation and click “File” > “Print”
Under Settings, click the drop-down menu next to “Full Page Slides”
Select “Notes Pages” under “Print Layout”

Choose any other print settings you want like page orientation or which slides to print
Click “Print”

On Mac

Open your presentation and go to “File” > “Print”

In the sidebar, choose “Notes Pages” under the “Layout” drop-down menu
Customize any other print settings
Click “Print”

The notes will now print below each corresponding slide.

Method 2: Export As Word Document

Alternatively, you can export your presentation as a Word document with notes and print from there:

In PowerPoint, go to “File” > “Export” > “Create Handouts”

Choose to send the file to Word
In Word, delete any slide images you don’t want
Click “File” > “Print” to print the notes

While this method takes a few extra steps, it offers more flexibility for customizing the look of your notes handouts before printing.

Customization Tips

Here are some tips for customizing your PowerPoint print layout further:

Print notes only – To print only notes without slide images, select “Notes Pages” layout and delete slide images in the Word document

Add slide numbers – Enable the “Print slide number” option in Print settings
Print sections – Choose “Custom Range” under Settings to print selected slides/sections
Choose paper size – Match the paper size to your printer paper to avoid scaling

Landscape orientation – Useful when you have a lot of notes text
Pure black and white – Saves printer ink

Conclusion

Knowing how to print PowerPoint slides with speaker notes is very useful for creating presentation handouts or speaker aids. By using the “Notes Pages” print layout and customizing settings, you can easily achieve the print output you need.

The ability to export to Word also gives you more flexibility over the look of your printed notes. Experiment with these methods next time you need to print notes!