PowerPoint 2010

Reviewing Presentations

Introduction

Lesson 2

Before showing your PowerPoint presentation, you might decide to ask someone to look over it. The two of you might even collaborate on a presentation. If you were revising a hard copy of a report, you might add comments in the margins or compare your rough and final drafts side by side. You can also do these things in PowerPoint using the Comments and Compare features.

In this lesson, you will learn how to add comments and compare two versions of a presentation.

Reviewing presentations

Have you been asked to work with someone to create a PowerPoint presentation? Or perhaps you've created a slide show and want another person to view it to make sure everything looks polished. PowerPoint's Comments and Compare features make it easier for you to collaborate with others on the content of your presentation.

Optional: You can download this example for extra practice.

Commenting on presentations

When you are revising or collaborating on a presentation, you might want to make notes or suggestions without actually changing anything on the slide. Using comments allows you to take note of anything on a slide without altering the slide itself. Comments can be added and read by the original author or any other reviewers.

To add a comment:

  1. Select the text , or click the area of the slide where you want the comment to appear.
  2. Select the Review tab, and locate the Comments group.
  3. Click the New Comment command.
    The Insert Comment command The Insert Comment command
  4. Type your comment.
    Typing a comment Typing a comment
  5. Click anywhere on the slide, and your comment will appear.

Added comments show up as small thumbnails rather than full-sized notes. To read a comment, hover your mouse over the thumbnail.

Hovering the mouse over the thumbnail to read the comment Hovering the mouse over the thumbnail to read the comment

To edit a comment:

  1. Select the comment you want to edit by clicking the comment thumbnail .
    Selecting a comment to edit Selecting a comment to edit
  2. Click the Review tab.
  3. Click the Edit Comment command.
    The Edit Comment command The Edit Comment command
  4. Make the desired changes.
    Editing a comment Editing a comment
  5. Click anywhere on the slide, and the comment will update to reflect your edits.
    The edited comment The edited comment

To respond to a comment:

  1. Right-click the comment you want to respond to.
  2. From the drop-down menu, select New Comment .
    Responding to a comment Responding to a comment
  3. Type your comment.
    Typing the response Typing the response
  4. Click anywhere on the slide, and the new comment will appear below the original comment.
    The original comment thumbnail and response The original comment thumbnail and response

To delete a comment:

  1. Select the comment you want to delete.
  2. From the Review tab, click the Delete command.
    The Delete Comment command The Delete Comment command

To delete multiple comments, click the Delete drop-down arrow and select Delete All Markup in the Current Slide or Delete All Markup in the Current Presentation .

Deleting all the comments in a presentation Deleting all the comments in a presentation

Comparing presentations

If you are collaborating on a presentation or asking someone to review it, you might want to use the Compare feature. This feature combines two versions of the same presentation, allowing you to see all of the differences between the two and decide which changes to include in the final version of your presentation.

To compare two presentations:

  1. Select the Review tab, and locate the Compare group.
  2. Click Compare . A dialog box will open.
    The Compare command The Compare command
  3. Browse for and select the desired file.
    Browsing for the desired file Browsing for the desired file
  4. Click Merge .
  5. Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn how to review comments and changes using the Compare feature.
labeled graphic

Review Comments

Compare also allows you to view comments from the person who reviewed your presentation. To read a comment, click the comment thumbnail .

Reviewing Pane: Details Tab

In the Reviewing pane , the Details tab lists every change that has been made to that slide, as well as all of the comments. Click a change to see its location on the slide.

Reviewing Pane: Slides Tab

In the Reviewing pane , the Slides tab lets you view the revised version of each slide. Click the slide to see a larger preview of what the revised slide will look like in your presentation, or click the check box to accept all revisions to the slide.

Accept Multiple Changes

In addition to reviewing changes individually, you can accept multiple changes at once. Click the Accept drop-down arrow and select either Accept All Changes to the Current Slide or Accept All Changes to the Presentation .

Next Change

Click Next to view the next change in the presentation. You can also click Previous to view the previous one.

Compare

To compare your presentation with another file, click Compare , then browse for and open the desired file.

End Review

When you are satisfied with the changes you have accepted, click End Review . Only the changes you have accepted will show up in your presentation.

Review Changes on the Slide

Click the revisions icon anywhere it appears on a slide to see the changes that have been made in that spot. Check the check box next to each revision you want to accept . To reject a change, leave the check box unchecked.

Review Changes in the Slides Tab

Some changes, like inserted or deleted slides, will show up on the Slides tab on the left. Click the revisions icon to see the change, and click the check box if you want to accept it.

Using the reviewing features safely

If there are any comments in your presentation, you should remove them before sharing the final version with anyone you are not collaborating with. Comments can reveal confidential information that could lead to embarrassment or make you or your company appear unprofessional.

It's a good idea to double-check your presentation using the Document Inspector . The Document Inspector can tell you if there are any comments or other hidden data in your presentation that you may need to remove.

To use the Document Inspector:

  1. Save your presentation.
    Saving the presentation Saving the presentation
  2. Click the File tab to go to Backstage view .
  3. Select Info on the left side of the page.
    Viewing presentation information in the Backstage view Viewing presentation information in the Backstage view
  4. Click the Check for Issues command. A drop-down menu will appear.
  5. Select Inspect Document .
    The Check for Issues drop-down menu The Check for Issues drop-down menu
  6. Click Inspect .
    Starting the inspection Starting the inspection
  7. The inspection results will show an exclamation mark for any categories where it found possibly sensitive data, and it will also have a Remove All button for each of these categories. Click Remove All to remove the data.
    Removing potentially sensitive data Removing potentially sensitive data
  8. Close the dialog box when you're done.
  9. From Backstage view , click Save to make the changes permanent.
    Saving the presentation in the backstage view Saving the presentation in the Backstage view

Challenge!

  1. Open an existing PowerPoint presentation . If you want, you can use this example .
  2. Select text on any slide, and add a comment .
  3. Edit the comment you just added.
  4. Delete all comments in the presentation.
  5. Run the Document Inspector to find and remove hidden data.