Printing Google Slides is a simple and practical operation. In certain scenarios, you may need not just the slide content, but also slides with speaker notes. If you print them out, you can still practice even offline. At the same time, this can also provide more detailed information for those reading the Google Slides. To ensure that you get the best printing results, we will provide a detailed explanation in this blog about how to print Google Slides with speaker notes. Whether for personal reference, internal communication within a team, or formal document archiving, you can obtain satisfactory output results by trying the specific printing steps.
Table of Contents:
Step 1: Access and Prepare
Step 2: Configure Print Format
Step 3: Preview and Execute Print Job
- Tips for Printing Google Slides with Speaker Notes
- FAQs about Printing Google Slides with Speaker Notes
Why You Might Print Slides with Speaker Notes
- As Practice Materials: When giving a speech or presenting a work report, it is essential to practice presenting the content of Google Slides. Compared to the digital version of Google Slides, printed materials provide fixed physical and tactile cues through the paper's material to assist in remembering the text information. Therefore, under favorable conditions, printing Google Slides with speaker notes as practice materials can enhance your understanding and memory of the specific content. After practicing, you can stand on the stage of the speech with a more confident posture.
- As a Backup Plan: During our presentations or reports, we may encounter some unexpected situations that prevent Google Slides from playing as scheduled. For instance, there could be network failures or power outages. In these cases, distributing printed Google Slides is one of the solutions. You can use it as a backup plan to prevent any unexpected interruptions during your speech or presentation. And you can choose to distribute slides without notes to the audience, and distribute slides with notes to the speaker to achieve a distinction effect.
- As Archived Materials: In some formal settings, such as training sessions and presentations, printing the slides with speaker notes can serve as a complete document for archiving. Compared to electronic files, the paper version of Google Slides is more conducive to archiving. Moreover, it will not have display issues due to software versions, device compatibility, or accidental operations. Printing the speaker notes together can also help maintain the long-term completeness of the relevant content.
How to Print Google Slides with Speaker Notes
Selecting “Print” directly in Google Slides yields a version without speaker notes. If you need a version with speaker notes, some additional steps are required. The specific steps are not very complicated. And we will walk you through the process of printing Google Slides with speaker notes. You can also quickly learn the setup method by watching the video below.
Step 1: Access and Prepare
- Enter Google Slides through the browser, and then click on the slide you want to print.
- After opening the slide, please make sure that the speaker notes are displayed normally.
- If the speaker note section is not shown at the bottom of the slide page, please click on the "View" option in the top menu bar. In the drop-down menu that appears, you need to find and check "Show Speaker Notes".
- Before printing Google Slides, content checking is indispensable. You can click the slide thumbnails on the left to toggle and check the contents of each slide in turn. Make sure that all the content (including the speaker notes) is complete, accurate, and free of spelling errors.
Step 2: Configure Print Format
- After confirming that the content of the slides is correct, you can then proceed to set the printing options. Please click on the "File" option. Find and click "Print Preview”.
- Note: Please do not use the shortcut keys Ctrl + P / Command + P directly, as it may cause the formatting settings to be skipped.
- In the print preview, you will see a drop-down menu that shows "1 slide without notes".
- Click on the drop-down box, find and click on “a slide with notes”. After checking this option, the speaker notes will be displayed below the slide content. When printing, they will be printed on the same sheet of paper.
Step 3: Preview and Execute Print Job
- After completing the above settings, please continue to check the content of each slide on the print preview page. You can focus on checking whether the speaker notes at the bottom of each page are fully displayed.
- If there are any content that needs to be modified, please exit the print preview page and make the adjustments. After the adjustment, you need to repeat the above operation to enter the print preview page and check the relevant settings.
- After previewing and confirming that all the page contents are correct, please click the “Print” button on the menu bar. Then you can set and carry out the specific printing tasks.
- In the print dialog window, you will see the following setting options. You can make your choice according to your own actual situation. The preview page on the left side will be adjusted according to your selection, so that you can visually see the printing effect.
- After the settings are completed, simply click the "Print" button at the bottom right corner to start the printing process.
Tips for Printing Google Slides with Speaker Notes
1. Custom Pages
- For pages with long speaker notes, the remarks may also be truncated. You can choose to print these pages with long speaker notes first to check if they meet your expectations.
- In the print dialog window, find “Pages” > click “Custom”. You can use a combination of commas and hyphens to input any pages (such as 1, 3-5, 8), achieving highly customizable and precise printing.
2. Save as PDF
- If you are worried that the content on the slides might shift, you can choose to save the slides with the speaker notes as a PDF file and then print it. Saving the document as a PDF file is one of the good ways to create materials with a fixed format that cannot be easily modified.
- In the print dialog window, find “Destination” > click “Save as PDF”. After clicking the "Save" button at the bottom right, you will be able to obtain the PDF format of the slides.
3. More Pages Per Sheet
- If you are only going to use printed slides as practice material or if there is not a lot of content on the slides, you can try printing more than one slide on one page. Printing more slides per page can save a lot of paper, as long as it doesn’t affect readability.
- In the print dialog window, find and click “Pages per sheet”. You can see that there are many options to choose from. Please choose the appropriate one according to your needs.
FAQs about Printing Google Slides with Speaker Notes
1. Why are there blank pages in the printed Google Slides materials?
Blank pages sometimes occur due to hidden formatting characters or page breaks. In Google Slides, although there is no explicit page break function, long notes may automatically be paginated, resulting in unexpected blank areas. Please carefully check each page in the print preview. If you find blank pages that shouldn't be there, go back to the note editing, adjust the content length or format.
2. Why can’t I see or print the speaker notes in the shared slides?
This is because Google Slides sets “speaker notes” as private content for the presenter by default. When you share a file as a “viewer”, your permissions are limited to viewing the final slide pages. The system will automatically hide all note information. To view speaker notes, the file owner must evaluate your sharing permissions to “commenter” or “editor”. Or, you can ask the file owner to save the slides with notes as a PDF file and then share it with you.
3. How will embedded videos in Google Slides appear when printed?
Videos in Google Slides appear as static preview images with a video icon when printed. The configured video title is also displayed. However, the playable video link is not printed. It is recommended to explicitly note in the speaker notes: “Video demonstration included here—please refer to the digital version,” along with the video link or storage location.
Summary
The process of printing Google Slides with the speaker notes is relatively simple, but the details involved cannot be ignored. After mastering the printing points we mentioned above, you will be able to obtain the paper slide materials that meet your expectations. These materials not only contain the complete content of the slides, but also come with detailed speaker notes. They can help you be more composed and confident during your speeches or presentations, ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the information conveyed.
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