PowerPoint 2013: Reviewing Presentations

Lesson 27: Reviewing Presentations

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Introduction

Before presenting your PowerPoint, you might decide to ask someone else 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


Optional: Download our practice presentation.

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 on the area of the slide where you want the comment to appear.
  2. Select the Review tab, then locate the Comments group.
  3. Click the New Comment command.


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013Clicking the New Comment command
  4. The Comments pane will appear on the right side of the window. Type your comment.


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013Typing a comment
  5. Press Enter or click anywhere on the slide to return to your presentation.

Added comments show up as small thumbnails rather than full-sized notes. To read a comment, click the thumbnail to open the Comments pane.

Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013Clicking a comment to open the Comments pane

To edit a comment:

  1. Select the comment you want to edit by clicking the comment thumbnail.


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013Clicking the comment thumbnail
  2. The Comments pane will appear. Click the comment to edit it.


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013Clicking the comment
  3. Make the desired changes.


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013Editing a comment
  4. Press Enter or click anywhere on the slide, and the comment will update to reflect your edits.


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013The edited comment

To respond to a comment:

  1. Click the thumbnail of the comment you want to edit. The Comments pane will appear.
  2. The selected comment will be highlighted. Click Reply...


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013Responding to a comment
  3. Type your comment.


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013Typing the response
  4. Press Enter or click anywhere on the slide. The new comment will appear below the original comment, and a new thumbnail will appear on the slide.


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013The finished response

To delete a comment:

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


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013The Delete Comment command

To delete multiple comments, click the Delete drop-down arrow and select Delete All Comments and Ink on This Slide or Delete All Comments and Ink in This Presentation.

Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013Deleting all the comments in a presentation

Comparing presentations

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

To compare two presentations:

Before you start, you'll need to have one version of the presentation open. When you're ready to compare, you'll select the second version.

  1. Select the Review tab, then locate the Compare group.
  2. Click Compare.


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013The Compare command
  3. A dialog box will appear. Browse for and select the desired file.


    Screenshot of PowerPoint 2013Browsing for the desired file
  4. Click Open.
  5. The Revisions pane will appear, allowing you to compare the two presentations.

Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn how to review comments and changes using the Compare feature.

edit hotspotsusing the Compare feature

Heading

Review Changes in the Slides Pane

Some changes, like Inserted or Deleted slides, will show up on the Slides pane. Click the revisions icon to see the change, then click the check box if you want to accept it.

using the Compare feature

Accepting Multiple Changes

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

using the Compare feature

Compare

To compare your presentation with another version, click the Compare command. Next, locate and select the desired file.

using the Compare feature

Next Change

Use the Next command to view the next change in the presentation. You can also click Previous to go back to the previous one.

using the Compare feature

Ending the Review

When you're satisfied with the changes you've reviewed, click End Review. Only the changes you've accepted will be applied to the final presentation.

using the Compare feature

Revisions Pane: Slides

The Slides tab actually lets you preview the revised slide, so you can see the changes in action (as opposed to the Details tab, which only lists the changes).

using the Compare feature

Revisions Pane: Details

The Details tab lists every change that has been made to the current slide, as well as any comments. Click a change to see its location on the slide.

using the Compare feature

Review Changes on the Slide

Click the revisions icon anywhere it appears on a slide to see the changes that were made in that spot. To accept a revision, click the check box beside it. To reject a revision, leave the box unchecked.

using the Compare feature

Challenge!

  1. Open an existing PowerPoint presentation. If you want, you can use our practice presentation.
  2. Select text on any slide, and add a comment.
  3. Edit the comment you just added.
  4. Delete all comments in the presentation.

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