There may be a time when you want to print a hard copy of your presentation and ask a
friend to look over it for you.
You could both write your comments in the margins, and even compare the print-out side
by side with an earlier draft.
Wouldn't it be easier if you could do that electronically?
In PowerPoint, you can - using two features called Comments and Compare.
I'm going to go to the Review tab right away so I can show you what I mean.
Let's say I'm collaborating on this presentation with a couple of coworkers, and I want to
make a suggestion about this slide without actually changing it.
I'll just add a comment by selecting the item I want to reference, and then clicking the
New Comment command.
Now type your question or comment.
I really do like this graphic.
Then click anywhere outside the box when you're done.
Now anyone can view the comment by clicking the thumbnail with my initials, or just hovering
over it.
It looks like someone also left a comment for us.
Let's see what it says.
It's from the person who wrote the presentation.
I'm going to go ahead and reply by right-clicking the thumbnail, and choosing New Comment.
See how they're sort of stacked on top of each other?
It's just as easy to edit your comment if you make a mistake or think of something else.
Just select it, then go to Edit Comment.
If you change your mind and want to delete a comment - like the first comment I made
- no problem.
Click here to open the Delete menu, and you can delete multiple comments (also known as
markup), or just the comment you have selected.
I think I'm getting the hang of this.
But I know we have one other person working on the presentation, and he's already saved
his own version with a couple of minor changes.
We can decide whether to keep or discard those changes using a neat feature called Compare.
All you need is the presentation you have openů and then a copy that's been modified
in some way.
Click Merge, and PowerPoint combines and compares the two presentations to come up with a list
of changes that were made - that's over here on the Details tab.
This is still my copy, but now we have some comments from the other version too, and a
place to address the revisions.
Just click this icon anywhere it appears on your slide, and check the revisions you want
to keep.
I'm going to go ahead and accept them all.
When you're done, click the End Review command.
And take note of the fact that any unapplied changes will be discarded.
Now it's important to use review features safely, specifically comments.
You should always remove them before you share your final draft.
Anything left behind could make you or your company look unprofessional.
That's why I like to double-check my presentation using the Document Inspector in the Backstage
view, to see if there's anything personal that I may want to remove.
Just save your presentation.
Then Check for Issues, Inspect Document, and Inspect.
The results will have an exclamation mark next to anything that might contain sensitive
information, like comments and annotations.
I'm going to Remove All to take care of that.
And I'm going to remove this personal information too , just to be safe.
Now you can save again, and rest assured knowing that your presentation has been reviewed,
revised, and resolved of any comments or data that you might want to keep private.
Your PowerPoint is ready to send!