The Electronic Presentation Cheat Sheet

1. Stay center stage
2. Create effective screens
3. Prepare the equipment

First and foremost, you and your company have spent a fortune buying electronic equipment and creating exciting presentation screens. But it is not the equipment that counts - it is your audience and your relationship with them.

Many people think that they can "hide behind" the technology, but it is not true. You need to be a living breathing person up there in front of everyone. Your audience will react favorably if they sense you have put some thought into caring about their interests. First and always establish a rapport with the audience. It is you they have come to see and hear, not your fancy computer presentation. Always begin and end your talk with the lights on you.

Create Effective Screens

Once you've picked your software program you'll have a choice of colors, clipart and movement features. You may want to use them all, but don't. It will be distracting and take the focus from your main point. Here are key questions to answer so your screens are simple and effective.

Is an electronic presentation that includes movement appropriate for this audience? You could use your laptop but not do transitions and builds.

What type of atmosphere do you want to create - conservative, information, upbeat? Each calls for a different transition and build combination.

Will the movement or picture contribute to the communicating power of the visual? Or are you adding decorative pictures and motions that will create distraction?

Have you included no more than three different build effects througout the presentation?

Have you varied your screens? Don't do a build on every screen. Don't show six pie charts in a row.

Prepare the Equipment

Imagine this scenario. Two hundred people are in an audience waiting for your laptop presentation. You can't get it to work. You never get it to work.

Here's a checklist you should use so you minimize equipment problems.

1. Presentation must be saved on a disk in case you have to use another PC.
   
   
2. If it is not possible to organize a backup PC plan, carry overheads or paper copies that can be made into overheads. I recently carried 70 colored overheads just in case the laptop crashed.
   
   
3. Schedule sufficient time at the presentation location for a complete rehearsal.
   
   
4. Travel with the following items:
   
   
   • Extension cord and powerstrip.
   • Name and phone number of audiovisual contacts in the city where you are presenting.
   • A regular mouse in case your remote malfunctions. My remote mouse stopped working and so I used the regular mouse. My presentation never stopped.
   • A pointer and spare batteries for it.
   • An extra electrical cord for your laptop.
   • A surge protector that you put into the electrical plug before plugging in the computer.
   
   
5. Make sure your screen saver is turned off.
   
   
6. Know which keys to press so you can show visuals simultaneously on the screen and on your laptop.
   
   
7. Turn off the power-saving feature.

  Copyright © 2000, Wilder Presentations