If you need to make presentations – for customers, for your team, or for your executive board – you know it can be nerve-wracking. Even the best presentation with the most insightful facts can be ruined by out-of-date presentation materials, clunky equipment and poor graphics. In a world of multi-media, there is no need for your presentations to be boring – take a look at some of these killer A/V tools and add them to your arsenal.
- Presentation Remote: Presentations feel more natural when you can walk around, interact with the audience and not be tied to a podium. A wireless Bluetooth remote is a must-have for any presenter these days, whether a traditional remote or a smartphone application which allows your phone to act as a pointer. Here’s a Tip: Your phone can also be utilized as a timer for you to stay on track and on time.
- Portable Speakers: Nothing ruins a presentation more quickly than if people can’t hear what you say – or if they can’t hear the audio on any multi-media you may include. Although most conference rooms have speakers, audio equipment is not always reliable. Therefore having your own set of quality, portable speakers that travel with you is a great insurance policy.
- Spare Thumb Drive: You may think that it is sufficient to have your presentation on your laptop or tablet, but you should always have a backup. Be sure to have access to your presentation on a thumb drive, external hard drive, or somewhere in the cloud from which it can be easily retrieved.
- Laptop Adapters: You never know what type of display equipment will be available in the room they set you up in. Depending on the age of your equipment and the age of the equipment you need to connect to, you may have incompatibility. Keeping an HDMI to VGA adapter with you will allow you to give your presentation no matter the environment.
- Interactive Applications: The best presentations are engaging and can take the pulse of your audience’s understanding. You can use polling technology software to ask your audience questions in real time, and sharing the results with them. This type of participation can help to keep the entire audience engaged and invested in what you are presenting.
There are other things you will want to make sure that you have with you when presenting, although they are far from hi-tech.
Make sure that you have a notepad and pen readily available to you, or a partner who can record questions throughout the presentation. Many choose to answer questions at the end of their presentation, but that’s hard to do if you can’t remember them. Look as professional as possible by recording questions and answering them all.
If you are not used to speaking for 20 minutes or more, you may be surprised at just how quickly your throat can dry out. Be sure to have water or whatever drink will help to keep your throat from getting dry and scratchy. Coughing and clearing your throat during a presentation is distracting to you and your attendees.
These days, being technologically ready for your presentation is nearly as important as being intellectually prepared. If you are responsible for the conference rooms in your business, you may want to consider upgrading to state-of-the-art equipment and communications devices.
Alliance IT is proud to provide quality managed services and technical expertise to small to medium sized businesses in the Sarasota area. How can we help you?
