Reviewing Presentations PowerPoint 2010

Introduction

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

Video: Reviewing PowerPoint 2010 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.
   
4. Type your 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.

To edit a comment:

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

To respond to a comment:

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

To delete a comment:

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

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.
   
3. Browse for and select 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.

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.
   
2. Click the File tab to go to Backstage view.
3. Select Info on the left side of the page.
   
4. Click the Check for Issues command. A drop-down menu will appear.
5. Select Inspect Document.
   
6. Click Inspect.
   
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.
   
8. Close the dialog box when you're done.
9. From Backstage view, click Save to make the changes permanent.