By the end of this lesson you will be able to
- Start a slideshow, move between slides and use presenter view to see your notes and timer.
- Rehearse a talk and judge whether it fits the time you have been given.
- Make a deck easier for everyone to read by checking contrast, adding alt text and fixing reading order.
- Export a deck to PDF and choose a safe way to share it.
- Check a deck for private details such as hidden notes before you send it.
A good deck can still go wrong on the day: the projector shows the wrong screen, the talk runs twenty minutes over, or someone in the room cannot read your slides. A little preparation prevents almost all of this. In this lesson you will practise presenting, make your slides usable for people with poor eyesight or who use a screen reader, and send the deck to others in a safe, tidy form.
Running the slideshow and using presenter view
When you press F5 the program switches from the editing view to the slideshow: the slide fills the whole screen with no menus. Press the Right arrow, Space or Enter to go to the next slide, the Left arrow to go back, and Esc to stop. Everyone can do this with just the keyboard, so you do not need a mouse or a special remote.
If your laptop is connected to a projector or a second screen, you can use Presenter view. The audience sees only the slide. You see a private screen with the current slide, the next slide, your speaker notes and a clock. This is where the notes you wrote in the last lesson become useful. You need two screens for it, because one screen must show the audience and the other must show you.
Now showing: Three things to do this month
Notes: Say thank you first, then mention that Joseph will fix the tank on Saturday.
- Marker 1: Current slide
- Marker 2: Next slide, small
- Marker 3: Your speaker notes
- Marker 4: Timer
- Marker 5: Go to the next slide
Read this figure as text
A simulated presenter screen showing the current slide, a smaller next slide, speaker notes and a timer.
A simulated presenter view window. Marker 1 is the current slide, shown large, titled Three things to do this month. Marker 2 is the next slide, shown small, titled The site. Marker 3 is the speaker notes area with the words: Say thank you first, then mention that Joseph will fix the tank on Saturday. Marker 4 is the timer showing 04:10 elapsed. Marker 5 is the Next slide button. The audience sees none of this, only the current slide on the second screen.
Start the show and turn on presenter view
Presenter view needs a second screen or projector. With one screen you can still run the slideshow and rehearse.
LibreOffice Impress on Ubuntu 24.04
Step 1: Start the slideshow
Open your deck. Press F5, or open the Slide Show menu and choose Start from First Slide.
You should see: The first slide fills the screen. Esc returns you to the editing view.
Step 2: Turn on the presenter console
Connect a second screen. In Ubuntu open Settings, then Displays, and set it to Join Displays (extended) rather than Mirror. In Impress open the Slide Show menu and tick Presenter Console (the item is also found under Slide Show Settings in some versions).
You should see: On your laptop you see the current slide, the next slide, notes and a clock. The projector shows only the slide.
Step 3: Rehearse timings
Open the Slide Show menu and choose Rehearse Timings. Speak through your talk and click to move on at the moments you would normally change slides.
You should see: A timer counts in the corner of the screen. When you finish, the program asks whether to keep the times.
PowerPoint on Windows 11
Step 1: Start the slideshow
Open your deck. Press F5, or open the Slide Show tab and choose From Beginning.
You should see: The first slide fills the screen. Esc returns you to editing.
Step 2: Turn on presenter view
Connect a second screen, then press Windows key + P and choose Extend. In PowerPoint, on the Slide Show tab, tick Use Presenter View and choose which monitor shows the slides.
You should see: Your laptop shows the current slide, next slide, notes and a timer. The projector shows only the slide.
Step 3: Rehearse timings
On the Slide Show tab choose Rehearse Timings. Speak through your talk and click for each new slide.
You should see: A recording toolbar shows the time for each slide and the total. At the end PowerPoint offers to save the timings.
Timing your talk
Most talks run longer than the speaker thinks. A useful guide is about one to two minutes per slide, so a ten-minute slot suits roughly six to eight slides. Rehearse out loud at least twice with a clock. If you are over, remove a slide instead of speaking faster. It is better to end a minute early than five minutes late.
Making slides accessible
An accessible slide can be used by people with low vision, colour blindness or a screen reader, and by people looking at a poor projector in a bright room. Good accessibility also helps everyone else. Three habits do most of the work.
- Strong contrast. Colour contrast is how different the text colour is from its background. The web accessibility guidelines ask for a ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 for normal text. Black on white is very high. Light grey on white fails. Do not rely on colour alone: if a chart uses red and green, also use labels or patterns.
- Alt text on pictures. Alt text is a short written description attached to a picture, chart or diagram. A screen reader reads it aloud for someone who cannot see the picture. Describe what matters: Bar chart: the water tank costs the most at 60 dollars. Mark purely decorative pictures as decorative where the program allows.
- A sensible {{reading-order|reading order}}. A screen reader reads the objects on a slide in a fixed order, which may not be the order you see. Use layouts with real title and body boxes so the title comes first. If you added extra items, check the order.
- Pale grey text on white
- Picture with no description
- Random reading order
- Tiny text
Many people will miss the message
- Dark text, plain light background
- Alt text on meaningful pictures
- Title first, then body
- Text 24 point or larger
Easy to see and hear for everyone
Read this figure as text
Two columns comparing a slide that is hard to use with one that is accessible, across contrast, pictures, order and text size.
Two columns. Left, titled Hard to use: pale grey text on white; a picture with no description; objects in a random reading order so the screen reader reads the footer first; text smaller than 18 point. Verdict: many people will miss the message. Right, titled Accessible: dark text on a plain light background; alt text on every meaningful picture; the title first and then the body; large text at 24 point or more. Verdict: easy to see and hear for everyone.
Add alt text and check reading order
Menu names change between versions. If one is missing, right-click the picture and look for Alt Text or Description.
LibreOffice Impress on Ubuntu 24.04
Step 1: Add alt text
Right-click the picture. Choose Properties, open the Description tab (some versions offer Description directly on the right-click menu) and type a short description in the Description or Alternative text field. Click OK.
You should see: The picture now has a text description attached. It does not appear on the slide.
Step 2: Check the order
Click the first object on a slide, then press Tab repeatedly. Each press selects the next object, in the order a screen reader will follow.
You should see: The title is selected first, then the body, then any extras. If the order is wrong, select an object and use Format, then Arrange, to bring it forward or send it backward.
Step 3: Run the accessibility check
In recent versions open Tools and choose Check Accessibility (Ubuntu 24.04 includes LibreOffice 24.2). If you cannot see it, check by hand with this lesson's table.
You should see: A sidebar lists problems such as missing alt text, with the slide number.
PowerPoint on Windows 11
Step 1: Add alt text
Right-click the picture and choose View Alt Text (or Alt Text). Type a short description in the panel that opens.
You should see: The description is stored with the picture. It is not visible on the slide.
Step 2: Check the order
On the Home tab choose Arrange, then Selection Pane. The pane lists the objects. PowerPoint reads them from the bottom of the list to the top, so the title should be at the bottom.
You should see: You can drag items up or down to change the order.
Step 3: Run the accessibility checker
Open the Review tab and choose Check Accessibility.
You should see: A panel lists errors and warnings, such as missing alt text, and offers a fix for each.
Exporting and sharing
The deck file (.odp or .pptx) is meant for editing. If someone only needs to read or show it, send a PDF instead. A PDF looks the same on every computer, cannot easily be changed by accident and opens without any presentation software. You will learn more about PDFs in the next module. The reverse also matters: if someone will edit the deck, send the original file.
- Step 1: Finish deckSave the editable file
- Step 2: CheckNotes, alt text, private details
- Step 3: ExportSave as PDF
- Step 4: Open the PDFLook at every page
- Step 5: ShareEmail, link or USB
Read this figure as text
A five-step flow: finish deck, check notes and accessibility, export to PDF, check the PDF, share it.
A flow of five steps. Step 1, Finish the deck, with the editable file saved. Step 2, Check notes and accessibility, remove anything private. Step 3, Export to PDF, using File then Export as PDF in Impress or File then Export then Create PDF in PowerPoint. Step 4, Open the PDF and flick through every page. Step 5, Share it by email, a link or a USB drive.
Export your deck to PDF
LibreOffice Impress on Ubuntu 24.04
Step 1: Open the export dialog
Open the File menu, choose Export As, then Export as PDF.
You should see: A dialog with PDF options appears.
Step 2: Check the options
On the General tab, leave All pages selected. Click Export, give it a name such as garden-practice and save it in your practice folder.
You should see: A file named garden-practice.pdf appears in the folder.
PowerPoint on Windows 11
Step 1: Open the export screen
Open the File menu, choose Export, then Create PDF/XPS Document, then click Create PDF/XPS.
You should see: A save dialog opens with the type already set to PDF.
Step 2: Save the PDF
Name it garden-practice. Click Options if you want only certain slides, then Publish.
You should see: A file named garden-practice.pdf appears in the folder you chose.
To share, attach the PDF to an email, or upload it to your cloud storage and send a link. Large decks with many photos can be too big to email. Use a link or compress the pictures. Only share with the people who need it, and do not put another person's photo or details in a deck without their permission.
Common mistakes
✖ Instead of: Plugging in the projector for the first time just as the audience arrives.
✔ Do this: Test the connection early, run the slideshow, and keep a PDF copy as a backup.
✖ Instead of: Sending the editable deck when someone only needs to read it.
✔ Do this: Export a PDF. It looks the same everywhere and leaves your notes behind.
✖ Instead of: Using pale or coloured text because it looks stylish.
✔ Do this: Choose strong contrast, and do not use colour as the only way to show meaning.
✖ Instead of: Leaving pictures with no alt text.
✔ Do this: Add a short description of what the picture shows, or mark it decorative if it carries no information.
If something goes wrong
- The projector shows my laptop screen with notes on it.
- Your displays are mirrored or the wrong screen is set for the slideshow. On Ubuntu use Settings, then Displays, and choose Join Displays. On Windows press Windows key + P and choose Extend. Then pick the correct monitor for the slides in the presenter-view settings.
- Presenter view or the presenter console is not available.
- It needs a second screen or projector. With only one screen, rehearse with the slideshow and print or keep your notes separately.
- The exported PDF is missing slides or looks different.
- Export again and check that All pages is selected. Open the PDF and look at every page. If fonts look wrong, the original fonts may not be installed on your computer.
- The accessibility check option does not appear.
- Your version may not include it. Check the points in this lesson by hand: contrast, alt text on pictures and reading order, using the Tab key in Impress or the Selection Pane in PowerPoint.
Key terms
- Presenter view
- A screen only the speaker sees, showing the next slide, notes and a timer while the audience sees the slides.
- Alt text
- A short written description of a picture, read aloud for people who cannot see it.
- Reading order
- The order in which a screen reader reads the items on a slide or page.
- Colour contrast
- The difference in brightness between text and its background, which affects how easy it is to read.
- A file type that keeps a document looking the same on every device.
Practise it for real
Reading is not the same as being able to do it. Complete these on your own computer, then tick only what you have actually done. These ticks are your own honest record: nothing checks them for you.
Rehearse, check and export a deck
Open the garden-practice deck from the last lesson. Start the slideshow with F5 and move through it using only the keyboard. Rehearse the talk out loud with a timer and write down the total time. Add alt text to the picture and the chart, check that each slide's title comes first in the reading order, and run the accessibility check if your program has one. Export the deck to PDF, open the PDF and confirm that every page looks right and that none of your private notes appear.
Challenge: contrast and size audit
Take a deck of your own, or make a three-slide one. Find every slide where the text is smaller than 24 point, or where the text colour is close to the background colour. Fix them. Then view the deck on the screen from about three metres away and note anything you still cannot read.
Knowledge check
6 questions. You need 80% to pass. Mistakes here are part of learning, and you can retry as often as you like.
Summary
- F5 starts the slideshow; arrows move through it and Esc stops it.
- Presenter view shows you notes and a timer while the audience sees only the slide. It needs a second screen.
- Rehearse aloud with a clock and cut slides to fit your time.
- Accessible slides have strong contrast, alt text on meaningful pictures and a sensible reading order.
- Export to PDF to share a finished deck, and check for private notes before you send anything.
Checklist: can you do these?
Marking a lesson as read does not prove you can do it. Skills count as demonstrated when you pass the quiz (not yet) and complete the practical tasks (not yet).
Related lessons
References and further reading
Official sources for details that can change between versions.
- Understanding contrast (minimum) (W3C Web Accessibility Initiative)
- Images tutorial: alternative text (W3C Web Accessibility Initiative)
- PowerPoint help and learning (Microsoft)
- LibreOffice Impress guides and documentation (The Document Foundation)