How to use Presenter view in Google Slides

The past couple of years have seen a shift in most industries from in-person to digitally delivered presentations. For seasoned presenters and newbies alike, this move comes with the joint complications of presenting to an online audience and getting used to unfamiliar tech. Talk about spinning plates! This blog post covers how to use Presenter view in Google Slides, so that you can be more professional and feel more confident when presenting online.

For tips on how to improve your online presentation skills more broadly, check out our handy guide to moving presentations online.

How to resize and move the Presenter view window in Google Slides

How to time slides in Google Slides

How to present in Google Slides Presenter View

How to use Google Slides Q&A

How to present Google Slides with notes

Presenter view displays your slides to your audience in one window, and shows you your speaker notes in a separate window. This feature really only works if you have two screens. Without a second screen, the Presenter view window obstructs the view of your slides, so make sure to check that your audience can only see the presentation itself and not your personal speaker notes before you begin presenting!

Here’s how to get Presenter view up and running:

1. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Present button in the top-right of your screen.
2. Select Presenter view.
3. The Presenter view window opens and your presentation will start to play.

How to resize and move the Presenter view window in Google Slides

To resize the Presenter view window in Google Slides, hover your cursor over any of its corners or sides and wait for the double-sided white arrow to appear. Then click and drag to alter the window to your preferred size and shape. To move the window across your screen, click and hold the very top of the window. To maximize the window to fill your screen, click the maximize button – this sits between the minimize button and the close window button.

Once you’re happy with the size and position of your window, you’re ready to start presenting.

How to time slides in Google Slides

On the left-hand side of the Presenter view window, you’ll see a timer that automatically starts ticking the moment you begin presenting. Press Pause to stop the timer, and Reset to restart it.

The timer button can be especially useful for rehearsing your presentation, or if you need to keep an eye on the clock to make sure that you’re not running out of time during your presentation.

How to present in Google Slides Presenter view

Below the timer, there’s a drop-down bar and a preview window showing the slide you’re currently on. If you click on the bar, you get a list of all your slides and can jump to any place in the deck. To advance from one slide to the next, just click the Previous or Next buttons below. These buttons also provide a visual preview of the previous and next slides, so you always know what’s coming up as you’re delivering your slides, helping you give a seamless presentation.

How to use Google Slides Q&A

Presenter view also has a great interactive feature called Q&A that lets audience members ask questions without interrupting your flow. Q&A can be accessed via the Audience tools button on the right-hand side of the Presenter view window.

To begin a Q&A, follow these steps:

1. Click Start new to begin a new Q&A session or, if you’ve already started a Q&A session, resume by selecting Continue recent.
2. Under the bar Accepting questions from…, there’s an on/off switch. When the switch is on, the bar will turn blue to let your audience know that you’re accepting questions.
3. Click this switch again to turn questions off.

A URL appears at the top of the blue bar in your presenter window and across the top of your presentation when Q&A is on. The audience can use this link to submit their questions at any point in the presentation, as long as Q&A mode is on.

This URL takes the audience to a separate tab on their browser where they can ask questions either publicly or anonymously.

Top tip: Send a copy of the link via email or paste it into the chat function of your online call to save your audience from having to type out the URL themselves.

Once someone has submitted their question, it appears in your Presenter view window under the Audience tools tab.

Hitting the Present button interrupts your presentation, and the question will appear on the screen for the audience to see. To return to your slides, press Hide.

Audience members can also up or down vote questions by clicking on the thumb icons. This allows your audience to interact with each other, and lets you know which questions are the most common.

How to present Google Slides with notes

Presenter view shows you your speaker notes on the left-hand side by clicking the button at the right-hand side of the window next to Audience tools.

If you’re struggling to read the text clearly, you can use the plus and minus buttons to adjust your font size.

Now you know how to use Presenter view. Your fingers can dance across the keyboard as you present with panache! To find out about other ways to present your Google Slides deck, such as Present on another screen, or how to download your deck in an alternative format, why not check out our Ultimate Guide to Google Slides. Or, if you need to present on a non-standard sized screen, our How to change slide size in Google Slides post might have the answers you’re searching for!