Presenting is a different job from editing, and RixSlides gives it its own tools: SlideShowView runs the deck full screen, PresenterView gives you a private dashboard on your screen while AudienceView shows only the slide to the room, custom shows let one file carry several versions of the talk, and show ink lets you draw on live slides. Together they turn presentation day from a memorization test into a guided performance.
Start the show
- Connect the projector or second display and set it to extend, not mirror — that is what makes the split-view possible.
- Press F5. The show starts in SlideShowView on the audience screen.
- With two displays, PresenterView appears on yours and AudienceView on theirs, automatically.
- Advance with click, arrow keys or a presenter remote; press Escape to end.
One display works too — the show simply fills it, and you present without the dashboard.
What each view shows
The split is the point:
- PresenterView (yours): the current slide at a glance, a preview of the next slide so transitions never surprise you, and your speaker notes in readable size. Media playback state and the build progress of animations appear here too, so you always know whether the next click reveals a bullet or starts a video.
- AudienceView (theirs): only the slide, full screen, nothing else. No notes, no thumbnails, no interface.
Practical habits: put cue words in your notes rather than sentences — you will glance, not read — and check the next-slide preview before finishing a point so you land the transition instead of stumbling into it.
Custom shows: several talks in one file
A custom show is a named, ordered subset of slides inside the deck:
- Define custom shows from the slideshow menu — for example "Board 10-min" using slides 1-8 and "Full walkthrough" using all 40.
- Launch the one the meeting needs from the same menu.
- The deck stays one file: one master, one set of styles, one place to edit.
This replaces the traditional mess of "final_v3_SHORT.pptx" copies. The long version and the short version cannot drift apart, because they are the same file.
Show ink: draw while you talk
Show ink turns your pointer into a pen during the show:
- Underline the number you are quoting.
- Circle the region of the chart the question is about.
- Strike through the option you are ruling out.
Ink lives in the show, not in the file, so your deck is unchanged when you sit down. It is the fastest audience-engagement tool in the set — a live circle on a chart beats a prepared animation for answering "what about this region?"
A pre-show checklist that takes five minutes
- Run the slide QC agent — overflow found on stage is overflow found too late.
- Click through the deck once in SlideShowView, checking every build and media cue.
- Play any audio or video and confirm levels.
- Confirm extend mode and that PresenterView appears on the correct screen.
- Pick the custom show this audience gets, and start.
What to explore next
- Animations and transitions for the builds you will be clicking through.
- Audio, video and 3D for media cues in the show.
- Slide QC agent as the last check before you present.