5 Technology Tips For Presentation SUCCESS

I use my computer all the time for my presentations. Even today, I’m one-fourth of a panel discussion at an At The Top strategy session, and I have 4 slides. But I’m never worried that I’m going to run into any serious problems, mostly because I have a Mac and use Keynote (Apple’s presentation software), and never have to suffer the ignominy of a PowerPoint crash.

But that doesn’t make me completely immune, just lucky so far. And Stever Robbins’ (Get-It-Done Guy) latest podcast, How to Use Your Computer in Presentations, reminded me that things can still go wrong, even if you are using the best computer in the world (not Apple. Just my computer. Possession is nine-tenths of awesomeness.)

Stever’s five tips are useful, and God knows I’ve used them many times (except for #4. I don’t do handouts).

Tip #1: Prepare Your Computer for the Presentation
Tip #2: Have Websites Ready to Go
Tip #3: Use Screen Shots Instead of Live Sites
Tip #4: Give People Handouts with Critical Elements
Tip #5: Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse

But I have my own tips, even a couple I’m swiping from Stever.

1. Get a Mac. If you make a living giving presentations, or you’re trying to be a professional presenter, get a computer that’s not prone to virus attacks, crashes, and glitches. And I know, I know, there’s Windows 7, and Macs aren’t immune, and blah blah blah. But that’s not my point. A Mac is less likely to suffer these things, and less likely to crash then a Windows machine. You can decrease that possibility if you combine this with tip #2

1. Only use your computer for presentations. You hear a lot of stories about someone’s PowerPoint crashing and revealing several embarrassing photos or websites they were visiting right before the presentation. While you can clear your web history and disk cache, and keep those “special” photos hidden in a secret folder, your better bet is just to never visit those kinds of sites or collect those kinds of photos. Or at least don’t put them on your presentation computer.

   I’ve said before, if you don’t want skeletons in your closet, don’t stick the bodies in there in the first place. But if you must, just stick them in a different closet. Remember, if you’re trying to make a living through public speaking, you need to keep your computer in excellent working order. If you do a lot of work on your laptop, and you have the occasional problem, get a second presentation computer, keep it clean and pristine, and you’ll avoid those crashes and oops moments.

1. Upload your slide deck to SlideShare.net before you give your presentation. I’ve been in rooms before where they had everything hard wired in, including the computer, and I was forced to use their system instead of my own. While I could export my deck to a PowerPoint version, this really screws up the formatting and fonts. Instead, I can upload my deck to SlideShare, log on to the system (since their computer is already safely connected to their network), and pull up the deck in full presentation mode. It means I have to stand next to the keyboard to change the slides, instead of using a remote, but I don’t have to futz around with creating a PowerPoint ready version of each talk I give.

   Later, you can give people the URL to your deck, rather than wasting the paper on creating 50 copies of handouts, and giving them out to the 20 people who showed up. Upon which time, they will be stuffed into their conference bag, thrown on the floor next to their desk when they get back to the office, and promptly forgotten about until 6 months later when they’re doing spring cleaning.

1. Always carry a monitor cord with you. I always ask the organizers if there is going to be a projector available when I’m speaking. Every time except one has there been one. However, they don’t always have a monitor cord. I carry a monitor cord and a Mac adapter with me, so if I’m ever caught out, I’m safe. I’ve never needed the cord, but I always use the monitor.

1. Insist on using your own technology. This is the only way you can be absolutely sure everything is going to work. It’s your stuff, you’re familiar with it, and you know how it works. If you use someone else’s system, you’re at their mercy, especially if you haven’t used that particular operating system or setup. I’ve been in this situation before, and knew more than the technical support guy who was supposedly there to “help” me.

   I’ve avoided future problems by just asking for the projector and bringing my own stuff. Organizers are usually happy about this because it’s one less thing they have to worry about. (The tech guys might not be, and may throw a fit if you happen to unplug their presentation monitor to plug in your laptop, but if you wait until they’re not around, what they won’t know won’t hurt them.

This is what has worked for me for the past few years. How about you? What tips do you have to make sure your presentation come to a screeching halt, or your computer doesn’t crash? Leave a comment, and let me hear from you.

Photo credit: my friend Noah Wesley, co-organizer of Blog Indiana (via Flickr)