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Effective Presentations Using The Latest Technology - Preparation
by Mary Waldera, October 3rd 2006
 About
Mary Waldera
Mary Waldera heads MCW & Associates,
a provider of presentation related services to organizations
and individuals for customer events and projects. Services
include presentation content editing and design, on-site
speaker support at live events, and PowerPoint training sessions.
Prior
to starting her own business, Mary worked for over 20 years
as a Visual Communications Designer for Johnson Controls,
Inc., a Fortune 100 company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Mary is a regular speaker at Concordia College, a member
of the Presentations Council of InfoComm International, Network
Soho, a B2B only networking group that focuses on business
education, resources networking and referrals, and Octodea,
a Milwaukee-based partnership of independent professionals
and small companies.
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Introduction
Even the professional speaker or salesman can use some tips on
preparing for and giving a presentation. I’ve coached and
edited presentations for celebrities, top executives, sales teams,
government leaders, and advisory committees to the FDA in Washington
DC, and know how important preparation is to pulling off a successful
meeting.
If you find yourself involved in an all day long meeting or a
conference that lasts several days with multiple speakers in a
large venue setting, or even if you have a few speakers at client
meeting, there are several things you can do to prepare for and
equipment you can use to pull off a professional, informative,
and well-executed presentation.
Set up a slide review meeting the day before the show (or several
in the weeks leading up to show). This review meeting enables you
and the other speaker to practice and review each other’s
presentations so that you are presenting on a united front. If
a question is asked by the audience during the presentation, you
will be able to easily defer the question to the appropriate speaker.
A slide review meeting will also ensure adherence to your agenda.
Use one laptop with all presentations loaded on to it in one folder.
The most professional presentation is a single presentation that
combines all separate presentation in one you can put “breaker” slides
in between with the company’s logo or meeting theme and a
speaker title slide. Note that in Power Point 2000 or later versions
you are able to keep the original backgrounds and layouts of each
separate presentation, even if they are combined. “Break” slides, “Lunch” slides “Q&A” slides,
etc. can also be added.
A main show computer as a well as a backup computer should be
used in case of technical difficulty. If the main computer goes
down, a switcher can be used to seamlessly go the backup computer.
The backup computer can also be used to show a video or a DVD that
cannot be embedded.
Use a remote control to give your presentation, even in a small
meeting situation. Small, wireless mice can double as a remote
and some even have laser pointers built in. Practice is very important
when using a remote control or wireless mouse, so get set up early
and make sure it advances your slides.
Be careful with the laser pointer. They are useful to draw attention
to an important point on the screen, but continuous use will diminish
the importance, and swirling it around can be very distracting.
Instead animations of arrows or circles or text color changes to
bring out the important parts of your presentation.
Get a professional to help if you are not proficient with either
the presentation software or technology. An investment in a Presentation
Manager and one or more audio visual support people is worth the
cost when a large sale is on the line or anytime you or your company’s
reputation is at stake.
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