Speaker notes are an essential part of creating an effective PowerPoint presentation. They allow you to add additional information and details for your reference that won’t appear on the slides themselves.
When it comes time to present, you’ll want to print your slides along with the speaker notes so you can refer to them while presenting. Here’s how to do it in PowerPoint.
Access the Print Menu
To access the print menu:
- Open your PowerPoint presentation
- Select File > Print (or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + P)
Choose “Notes Pages” Under Print Layout
Under the Settings section:
- Click the dropdown arrow next to Full Page Slides
- Select Notes Pages under Print Layout
The preview pane will now show one slide per page with notes printed underneath.
Additional Print Options
You can customize additional print settings as needed:
- Slides – Print all or select specific slides
- Copies – Choose number of copies
- Color – Print in color, grayscale, or black & white
- Collated – Collated or uncollated
Print Slide Range
To print a range of slides:
- Click inside the Slides field
- Enter slide numbers separated by commas (e.g. 1,3,5-12)
Print Handouts
To print handouts:
- Select the dropdown arrow next to Notes Pages
- Choose the desired Handouts layout
Handouts print multiple slides per page with space for notes.
Preview and Print
Once you’ve selected the desired options:
- Review print preview
- Click Print
Tips
- Print 1 test copy first before printing multiple copies
- For presentations with lots of text, put details in the speaker notes rather than on the slides
- Use landscape orientation to save paper
Following these steps will allow you to successfully print your PowerPoint slides together with speaker notes for easy reference during your presentation.
