Help: Presentations Help: Presentations
Veteran teacher and trainer Joe Showker shares his thoughts on giving a great presentation
Six years of Internet safety presentations and 26 years of teaching middle schoolers have driven home the need to prepare prior to giving multi-media presentations. Many of these presentations have been given to strangers that were a bit uneasy about my topic of Internet safety for families. It's a new but vitally important topic for parents and young teenagers.
In this article I'll walk you through the preparation and implementation of an effective presentation using either Microsoft's Powerpoint or Apple's Keynote.
Presentations in schools, churches, and civic places haven't always gone smooth as they didn't have the necessary hook-ups and AV technology a college or university have. Do a little homework prior to your presentation. Find out what will be available and don't be afraid to ask for what you need. Assume they know nothing of your needs. Inform the host you'll need a table, extension cord, power strip and screen. Ask about a projector. What kind of a projection system is it?. Ask if there is a house sound system with a microphone or interface box. Try to find out what connector the projector uses (DVI vs VGA). If you have any way to check the area you'll be in prior to your presentation, do it.
Prepare your presentation for the target audience. KISS principal always works. (Keep it simple stupid.) Don't attempt to "wow" them with too many sound or moving text effects. Don't keep them too long with over detailed content. Anything beyond 50 slides better be done by an entertainer or stand-up comic or they won't invite you back. Keep your text short and use "lists" and keywords instead of full sentences.
Practice your presentation and hardware set-up prior to arriving at the venue.
Bring a Backup: Burn your presentation to a CD or copy to a thumb drive as a last resort in case your laptop croaks. Copy the entire folder with your graphics, video clips, etc. if you are on a Mac, it'll embed the graphics and video. Use the pack and go feature to get everything in one folder.
Bring installers: If you use QuickTime clips, understand that most windows machines do NOT have QuickTime. I've got a QuickTime installer for PC on my thumb drive in case that happens on location. Nothing is more frustrating than having killer video clips for your presentation and having them not work on the windows computer running the projector.
Plan a contingency: If you're using Keynote on a Mac realize that some features are limited to YOUR laptop. Not all Macs have the Keynote application. It will not look the same on a windows machine should you need to show from a CD using PowerPoint. For extra insurance, export the Keynote to QuickTime or Adobe Acrobat; understand how those programs work and make sure they are presentation-ready. Adobe Acrobat almost always reproduces your presentation faithfully -- on any system.
Plan for power. Charge your PowerBook in case your power connections are unreliable. Take an extension cord, power strip and AC adapter. Run the laptop from AC with the laptop's power charger.
Proper connections: Take the proper connectors for iBook-standard VGA, Powerbook-DVI and VGA depending on the model of projector. Higher end projectors are beginning to use the SVGA DVI connectors. If you are bringing your own projector you should know how it works.
Take audio along: If you do a lot of schools or venues that do not have built in sound systems (and you have sound in your presentation), you may want to invest in some speakers to take along. Small speakers sound amazingly good these days.
Keep the laptop awake: Turn off ALL energy saving features such as screen savers, display darken/HD spin down, and any other power management settings. Always turn off the "sleep" feature prior to a presentation. You don't want your laptop to sleep, slow down, or otherwise vegetate during the presentation.
Escape from the podium:
Use a remote slide changer like the ones from Keyspan. You can move around the front of the room and connect with the audience as opposed to being chained to the laptop. Practice using the remote away from the laptop. Get familiar with the controls so, under pressure, you're not searching for buttons. Make sure it's battery is fresh. Store it so the buttons do not get pressed in your bag, exhausting the battery.
Water: Take a bottle of water with you (aka Steve Jobs). You'll dry out as you talk. It's great for dramatic pauses during your presentation. And, ah, hmm, use the bathroom prior to your presentation.
[Sidebar: What to Eat?]
Joe Showker, is a 26 year teacher for Rockingham County Schools. He currently teaches computer literacy. He is NETS*T Certified, MacWorld NY '02 faculty, and a consultant for the UserGroup Network. He serves on the National Advisory Board for WebWiseKids.org. He has presented throughout Virginia and on Capitol Hill in Washington on the topic of Internet Safety for Families. He is a regular presenter for the Public Television WVPT National Teacher Training Institutes.
His computer classroom was the site of the 'Missing' software rollout for the Southeastern United States. Currently he is working with www.WebWiseKids.org, and Livewwwires.com, LTD in the implementation of the 'Missing' software into Virginia's middle schools. Most recently, Joe has teamed with Congressman Robert Goodlatte and the Federal Trade Commission in town meetings on Net Safety for Families.
See Joe's "Links for Net Safety" at Montevideo Middle School.
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