How to Record a Presentation With Speaker Notes Visible: A Complete Guide

Recording a presentation while keeping your speaker notes visible is one of those tasks that sounds straightforward — record the screen, read the notes, done — but falls apart the moment you actually try it. Either your notes are hidden behind the fullscreen slide, your recording captures the wrong window, or your audio doesn’t sync with the slide transitions. Here’s how to get it right.

The core setup: two screens vs. one

The cleanest solution, if you have it available, is a two-monitor setup:

• Monitor 1 shows your slide in presentation mode (what your audience sees)
• Monitor 2 shows the presenter view with your speaker notes, a slide preview, and a timer

With ScreenKit, record Monitor 1 only. Your notes are on Monitor 2, visible to you but not captured. This is the professional approach and the simplest to execute.

If you only have one monitor — or you’re recording on a laptop — the workflow is slightly different, covered below.

Recording with Google Slides presenter view (single screen)

Google Slides’ presenter view opens in a separate browser window rather than a fullscreen overlay. This makes it possible to have both the presentation and your notes visible simultaneously on a single screen.

1. Open your presentation in Google Slides.
2. Click the dropdown arrow next to the Present button and choose Presenter view.
3. This opens two windows: the full-screen presentation tab (what you’ll record) and a smaller presenter window with your notes.
4. Position the presenter window on the portion of your screen that won’t be captured — typically to one side or in the corner if you’re recording a specific window rather than the full display.
5. In ScreenKit, choose Record specific window and select the Google Slides presentation tab. Your presenter window stays outside the capture area.

Tip: Use the Google Slides timer in the presenter view to pace your delivery. The recording will capture your slides in real time, so pauses and transitions show up naturally in the final video.

Recording with PowerPoint (single screen)

PowerPoint’s presenter view is designed for dual-monitor setups and takes over the full screen in single-monitor mode. To record with notes visible, you have two options:

Option A: Use the rehearsal recording built into PowerPoint

PowerPoint’s Record Slide Show feature (found under the Slide Show tab) records your presentation with your face, your voice, and your slide transitions — all without needing a separate screen recorder. It doesn’t record your notes panel, but the notes are visible throughout the recording process in the recording studio view. This is the best approach if you want a self-contained recording you can export directly from PowerPoint.

Option B: Use ScreenKit with a window recording

1. Start PowerPoint in Reading View (View → Reading View) rather than fullscreen presentation mode. Reading view shows your slides at a fixed size inside the PowerPoint window, not fullscreen.
2. Open the Notes panel at the bottom of the PowerPoint window (View → Notes).
3. In ScreenKit, record the full desktop or the PowerPoint window. Your notes panel is visible inside the recorded area.

The trade-off: Reading View doesn’t look like a live presentation — your slide transitions may behave differently and the aspect ratio won’t fill the screen. If a polished presentation look is important, use Option A.

Getting clean audio while reading notes

The biggest audio mistake in recorded presentations: reading notes in a monotone. A few techniques help:

Use bullet points in your notes, not full sentences. Full-sentence notes invite word-for-word reading, which sounds flat. Bullets give you the key points and let you speak naturally.

Mark your pauses. In your notes, add a // or [pause] wherever you want to let a point land before advancing. This prevents rushing through dense slides.

Set your microphone level before you start. ScreenKit’s audio input level meter in the pre-recording settings panel shows you whether you’re peaking. Aim for levels that sit around -12 dB when speaking normally — enough headroom to handle emphasis without clipping.

Checking your recording before you share it

Once your recording is done, play it back at 1.5× speed before exporting. At normal speed, it’s easy to miss small sync issues or moments where your voice fades. At 1.5×, timing problems and audio dropouts become obvious quickly.

Check three things specifically:

1. Slide transitions: do they align with when you meant to advance?
2. Audio consistency: any sections where your voice drops out or the level spikes?
3. Notes bleed: if you recorded on a single screen, is any part of your notes panel visible in the captured area that you didn’t intend to share?

If everything looks good, export from ScreenKit and upload to your chosen destination. The default export is MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio — compatible with Google Drive, Loom, YouTube, and most LMS platforms without any conversion.