Making Presentations in PowerPoint
General Thoughts on Making Presentations
- Open
and test all applications that will be accessed in the presentation before
you start the presentation. Particularly, preload websites so that you
donÕt have to wait for them to load while you are making the presentation.
This also assures that your internet connection is working. Learn to use
Command-tab to jump among open applications.
- Have
the entire presentation running before viewers see the screen (or as best
as you can do). There is nothing less entertaining than watching someone
try to make his or her computer work on the big screen. Better projectors
have a button on the remote that makes the screen go black and then brings
the lamp back on instantly. You can accomplish the same thing by putting
the projector in Standby mode but it may take a couple of minutes for the
lamp to come back out of Standby. On some projectors if you leave to lens
cap on to prevent viewing the lens cap can get very hot. I usually set a
water bottle or similar object on the table a few inches in front of the
lens instead o using the lens cap.
- Turn
off the presentation (period and comma keys) if you are talking with
viewers about something that isnÕt currently being supported by the slides
you made.
- End
with a black slide. There is a setting for this in PowerPoint/Preferences/View. If you donÕt end with a black slide PP jumps
out of presentation mode and goes back to editing. This violates the donÕt
let the viewers see setup idea.
- Practice.
It just takes time to get comfortable with all of the possibilities.
Learn Keyboard Shortcuts
- Using
the help menu search for Keyboard Shortcuts. Then click on Keys for
running a slide show.
- Add a
few at a time. You wonÕt remember them until you use them frequently.
- Particularly:
Use the left and right arrow keys to advance slides
Type Ō.Ķ to make the screen go black. Hit it again to bring the
presentation back
Type Ō,Ķ to make the screen go white.
Command-tab brings up the selection of open applications
Control-click brings up the Presentation tools menu
Control-H hides the pointer
Remote Controls
- These
work best when you donÕt have to do any thing other than go through a
series of slides.
- Commercial
PP remotes cost around $25 to $40.
- A
wireless mouse gives you a bit more control although they require a flat
surface to do any more than advance slides. Prices can run from $25 to $60
or more.
- The
remote that comes with the new Macs is limited but it works.
Unfortunately, for the time being it only directly works with Keynote.
Open PP presentations in Keynote and they should work fine as long as you
donÕt have any elaborate animations in the presentation. Alternatively,
applications are beginning to appear that allow the Apple remote to do more things. As
of today (9/21/06) I am using Remote Buddy (about $12) (http://www.iospirit.com/index.php?mode=view&obj_type=infogroup&obj_id=23)
Highlighting
- Teach
yourself to use the progressive reveal tools in PP (On bulleted slides
using Custom Animation).
- The
best way to highlight is to make an object that appears to point to
something or make a new slide that graphically includes the emphasis.
- Use
the pen tools in PP by either bringing up the Presentation tools
(Control-click) or using the keyboard command (Command-p). The pens are
limited and difficult to use without a mouse. Erase pen drawings by
hitting the ŌeĶ key.
- Applications
are appearing that give you more control over highlighting. An example is
OmniDazzle ($15)
(http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidazzle/).
- For a
effective, single command highlighting tool I recommend Mousepos (free) (http://www.boinx.com/mousepose/).
It takes a little practice to set the circle size to what is best for you.
Zooming
- Best
to make a second object or new slide with the objects on which you want to
zoom larger than the original. This way you can retain a high resolution
of the enlarged areas.
- Using
the Universal Access control panel (System Preferences/Universal Access) turn on zoom. The first time you do this go to
Zoom/Options and set Maximum
Zoom (for me about 1.5 is a good setting) and Minimum Zoom (leave at 0). I
leave the keyboard command to zoom at the default but you may want to set
your own.
- Using
Zoom enlarges the whole screen so the resolution gets ugly pretty quickly.
This can be reduces a bit by setting the contrast (again in the Universal
Access window) to about one notch above normal. DonÕt forget to move it
back when you are done.
Mirror Displays
- When a
projector (or external monitor) is hooked to the computer the system looks
to see if the same image should be shown on all connected displays
(mirrored) or not. On the Mac go to System
Preferences/Displays/Arrangement to
find the command to turn mirroring on and off. The Arrangement tab will
not appear in the displays dialog box unless an external display is
connected to the computer.
- If in System
Preferences/Displays you select Shows
displays in menu bar an icon will
appear in the menu bar from which you can directly turn mirroring on and
off. Again, this choice will only be available when an external display is
connected.
- DonÕt
lose the interface adapter (dongle) that came with the Mac computer. I
suggest you know where you can get a second one quickly (your co-teacher
down the hall?).
- Sometimes
you will hook up the projector and be baffled because the presentation is
on your computer but not going to the projector—turn mirroring on.
Presentation Tools
- In PP
with Mirroring turned off select Slide Show/View Presenter Tools. There are some cool features here but for me
the main one is to be able to go directly to any slide in the presentation
without having the viewers see that I am doing anything. You may find
other features like being able to read notes on each slide more valuable
to you. Experiment for yourself. There are times when I donÕt use the
Presenter Tools screen because it is more to think about than I need.
- The
presenter menu (pointer and pen control) will not appear when you are in
Presenter Tools mode because you need the pointer to do things in the
Presenter Tools screen. If the cursor appears in the presentation just be
sure to move it off of the slide image in the Presenter Tools window.
- If
Mirroring is turned off and the projector is connected to the computer PP
automatically shows the Presenter Tools. This can be frustrating if you
donÕt want them. Remember to turn mirroring back on to solve this problem
Keyboard Control
- Look
for software that will let you set up your own keyboard commands. IÕm
currently using Spark (free) (http://www.shadowlab.org/Software/software.php?sign=Sprk).
It is nice in the middle of a presentation and you realize you have
forgotten to open an application a head of time to be able to bring it up
from the keyboard. Other wise you have to leave the presentation and go
find the application via the finder. And, designing keyboard controls for
yourself for the most common things you do will save time in the long run.
Ask if you need help: Jim Carroll (carroll@up.edu)