Using the presenter view

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Using the presenter view

FreeOffice: The Presenter view is not included in SoftMaker FreeOffice.

In this section, you will become familiar with the "Presenter view". This is a useful tool when running a slide show on a second display, for example, a projector: If it is enabled, the audience sees the normal slide show, while the presenter himself sees useful additional information on his own display – such as his notes on each slide.

Prerequisites for using the Presenter view

The Presenter view can only be used if the following prerequisites are met:

A second display must be connected to the device used.

The slide show must be played in normal full-screen mode and not in window or kiosk mode. (For more information, see Slide show set up.)

The Presenter view must be enabled (see next item).

For help with problems related to using the Presenter view – for example, the settings for displaying the screens – see Troubleshooting at the end of this section.

Enabling/disabling the Presenter view

The Presenter view can be enabled and disabled as follows:

Ribbon tab Slide show: In the command group Display, you will see an option called Presenter view, which allows you to enable or disable the Presenter view. If there is a check mark in front of the entry, the Presenter view is currently enabled.

Options: Alternatively, the Presenter view can also be enabled and disabled in the options. To do so, choose the ribbon command File | Options options_icon, switch to the View tab and enable or disable the option Use presenter view.

Enabling the Presenter view has the following effect:

If you now start a slide show (for example, with the command Slide show | Start start_slide_icon), the two displays of the device used show the following views:

Second display: The slide show itself is played here.

Primary display: The Presenter view with advanced functions and information for the presenter/speaker is displayed here. The next section will reveal what additional content you can find here.

Elements of the Presenter view

In the Presenter view, the primary display shows the following content:

Timer

In the upper left corner, you will see a timer that starts as soon as you start the slide show. It displays the current runtime in hours, minutes and seconds.
You can use the pause button to its right to pause or resume the timer at any time.

Current slide

The large area in the left half of the screen shows the current slide in the slide show that is running.
In this area, you can also interact with the slide show – just like during the "normal" running of a slide show. For example, a left click in this area (or pressing the space bar) advances the slide show to the next slide, and a right click opens the context menu with further options for interaction and navigation. (For more information, see Slide show interaction.)

Toolbar

Directly below the current slide, some tools for operating the Presenter view are displayed.
presenter_view_stripe
From left to right, these individual icons have the following functions:
Drawing tools: When you click on this icon, you can choose between different drawing tools (pen, highlighter, etc.) and draw with them in the slide. This allows you, for example, to highlight certain components of a slide during the slide show.
Alternatively, you can also right-click on the current slide to open the context menu for the slide show and select a drawing tool there. (For more information, see also Slide show interaction.)
Swap monitors: This option swaps the display on the primary monitor with that on the secondary monitor. This action is undone by clicking on the icon again.
Show slide sorter on/off: This option switches the slide sorter (shown at the bottom of the screen) on/off.
Show next slide on/off: This option switches the preview of the next slide (shown in the top right corner of the screen) on/off.
Black screen and pause: This option displays a black screen on the second display and pauses the timer. This function is intended for pausing. Clicking on the icon again ends the pause.
End show: This option ends the slide show.

Slide x of y

Below the current slide, the Presenter view shows which slide is currently displayed and the total number of slides in the slide show.
By clicking on one of the arrows, you can switch to the previous/next slide.

Next slide

A preview of the next slide is displayed in the upper right corner.

Notes

The large area in the right half of the screen displays your notes for each slide.
Note: Notes cannot be edited in the Presenter view. For information on adding and editing notes, see Adding notes.
The two icons below presenter_view_font_uppresenter_view_font_down can be used to change their font size.

Slide sorter

At the bottom of the screen, you can see an overview of all slides of the slide show.
If you click on one of the slides displayed there, the slide show jumps directly to this slide.

To exit the Presenter view (and thus also end the slide show), click on the End slide show icon on the toolbar or press the Esc key.

Troubleshooting

As mentioned at the start, some prerequisites must be met to use the Presenter view. If the Presenter view does not work on your system, please check whether you successfully performed the following steps:

1.Connect a second display
The Presenter view only works with (at least) two monitors. Thus, if you have not already done so, connect an additional output device to the second graphics port of your system.
Your device should automatically detect and use the second display by default. You can check this in the display settings of your system.

Note for Windows users: In the display settings of Windows, make sure that the option Extend these displays is selected for Multiple displays.

2.Configure Presentations to use two displays
Whenever you connect a second display, Presentations detects this automatically and displays slide shows on the second display by default.
If this doesn't work: Go to the ribbon tab Slide show | group Display and make sure that the dropdown menu Display contains one of the following set values: Auto (recommended), Display 2 or Display 3.
You will also find this setting under File | Options options_icon, View tab, option Display.
Note: If the entry Display 2 does not appear in this list, then the second display was either not recognized by your system or your system was not correctly set to use multiple monitors. Open the display settings of your operating system to correct this issue. (For more information, see also the previous point.)
3.Play the presentation in normal full-screen mode
The Presenter view is only available if the slide show is played in normal full-screen mode (that is, neither in window mode nor in kiosk mode).
Thus, choose the ribbon command Slide show | group Manage | Set up show and ensure that Presented by speaker (full screen) is selected for the option Mode in the dialog box.
4.Enable the Presenter view
If all of the above prerequisites are met, but the slide show is still not started in Presenter view, you should check whether the Presenter view is enabled at all. You can do so by choosing the ribbon tab Slide show | group Display and ensuring the option Presenter view is selected. This allows you to enable and disable the Presenter view. A check mark in front of the entry indicates whether or not the function is currently enabled.