How to Present on Microsoft Teams with Discreet Notes

Delivering presentations on Microsoft Teams often forces a frustrating compromise. If you launch full-screen PowerPoint Presenter View, it takes over your entire display, hiding your attendee video tiles. If you share your whole desktop, you risk broadcasting your private notes to everyone on the call.

Here is how to set up an ergonomic, professional presenter workflow that keeps your notes private, right near your camera lens, while retaining full visibility of your audience.

The Core Rule: Share the Window, Never the Screen

In Microsoft Teams, the sharing tray provides two distinct sharing modes:

• Screen Share (Desktop): Captures everything displayed on that monitor, including notification popups, background utilities, and floating windows.
• Window Share: Tells Teams to capture only the pixels rendered inside a specific application window (such as PowerPoint or Google Chrome).

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

1. Configure PowerPoint for Windowed Browsing: In PowerPoint, open Set Up Slide Show (under the Slide Show tab) and select Browsed by an individual (window) instead of full screen. This runs your slide show in a regular scalable window.
2. Position Slides & Teams Side-by-Side: Place your PowerPoint slide show window on one half of your screen and the Teams meeting gallery on the other half.
3. Launch Your Teleprompter Overlay: Open Glance and place the floating prompter window at the top center of your screen, directly underneath your webcam lens.
4. Initiate the Share: Click Share in Teams, choose Window, and select the PowerPoint slide window. Verify the red or green bounding border surrounds only PowerPoint.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Smooth Control

Switching windows with your mouse during a live Teams talk looks clumsy. Instead, use keyboard controls:

• Advance Slides: Keep focus on your presentation window and use Spacebar or Right Arrow to advance.
• Scroll Notes: Use Glance's global hotkeys or automatic Voice Sync to pace through your talking points hands-free as you speak.