Month: September 2008

This article originally appeared in my smartcompany blog on the 2nd September 2008. 

Presentations almost always have tech hiccups a recent one I attended was no exception. One presenters, Douglas Wright, had problems with some of his charts, and midway through Chris Thomas’ segment the laptop running the PowerPoint presentation decided to go into hibernation. 

This sort of thing is funny for the audience and good speakers will make a joke and move on, as Chris and Douglas did, but it can throw you off your stride or happen just as you’re about to make a killer point.

Whether you’re doing it in front of 600 people at the Melbourne Town Hall or six of your nearest and dearest, you don’t want the computer distracting from your message. Here’s 10 things to check before you stand up in front of an audience.

1. Check the power: Is the laptop plugged in and is the power on?
2. Disable power saving and screen savers: A system kicking into sleep mode is irritating enough, but I’ve seen a presentation stop when a password protected screen saver came on and no-one in the room knew the word to unlock it. Turn off all the power saving features or crank up the time settings to the maximum.
3. Turn off updates and scans: Run virus scans and system updates before the presentation. Turn off all scanners or update tools while you are presenting.
4. Don’t run any unnecessary programs: Constant “you’ve got mail” type noises are distracting, also you do not want an embarrassing instant message from your idiot brother-in-law popping up as you give your call to action.
5. Keep it simple: Exotic fonts and rare graphics increase the likelihood something will go wrong. Watch your image sizes too as well as many computers struggle with big graphics.
6. Test your presentation: Get to the venue early and test your show on the venue’s system. Just because it works on your computer doesn’t mean it will on someone else’s. This is particularly true if the venue uses a different presentation package to yours.
7. Clean up your system: If you are using your own system, give it a good clean out the day before. Clear out the browsing history just before the presentation.
8. Test your equipment before the show: If you are bringing your own technology such as mouse/pointer combo device, install it before you take the stage. The famous Bill Gates Blue Screen of Death when showing a preview of Windows 98 is the poster child for what can go wrong when you don’t test beforehand.
9. Check your connections: Personally I like to avoid accessing the net during presentations, but if you need net access, check you have it before putting your show together and test it at the venue.
10. Call for help: The moment you notice something not working right, raise the alarm. If something starts beeping or spewing toxic smoke, it’s probably a good idea to let the organiser know about it before the sprinkler system goes off.

Of course good old Murphy’s law applies whenever you stand up in front of an audience so you can’t anticipate every glitch that can happen. But at least with these points you reduce the chance of something distracting the audience from that killer presentation you worked so hard preparing.