It does mean, however, that you have to be very careful to make sure everything works in the place where you give your presentation. Let's see what we need for a Powerpoint presentation:
- The presentation, stored in your Laptop, memory stick or CD / DVD.
- A Laptop or PC.
- A working beamer.
- A working remote control for the beamer if it is fixed at the ceiling.
- A cable for connecting Laptop and beamer.
- "Meaningful" contact between laptop and beamer.
- An outlet for plugging in your Laptop.
- A cable for plugging in your laptop.
- The presentation. Any of the media enumerated above may have a defect. You forgot
your stick. Your laptop was in your luggage which is now in outer Mongolia and will arrive at the place you are within the
next few days - after your presentation.
What you do: Have your presentation stored on two independent media you take along. For added security: Have you presentation as download on your Internet home page. - A Laptop
or PC
isn't there or defective.
This is easy. Take your notebook along. But even without one; if your presentation has an audience > 1, someone else will have a laptop and help you out. -
Beamer problems. This is tough.
Make sure beforehand that there is a (modern) working beamer. The emphasize, however, is on "working". All you can do is to make sure that it works before you start. The ultimate GAU of a Powerpoint presentation is that the beamer lamp blows during your presentation, or shortly before. That's it. By the time a new beamer has been found and installed, your time will be long over. The only protection is to take some key viewgraphs along and switch to the old-fashioned technique. Chances are (still) that an overhead projector will be in the room. - The remote control for the beamer is dead. This is a serious point if the beamer
is high up on the ceiling and can't be reached manually.
Sooner or later the battery of a remote is empty. If that happens when you try to turn it on, your audience will enjoy the spectacle but will not hear your presentation. The only thing you can do is to jiggle the batteries. If your lucky they come back to life enough to turn on the beamer. - No cable or defective cable. Bad connections are not uncommon. I have given more than one presentation where somebody had to hold the cable all the time to ensure good contact.
- "Meaningful" contact between laptop and beamer. So you have connected everything. You see your presentation
on the screen of your laptop, but the beamer doesn't beam. Probably the most frequent problem coming up. If it happens right
a the start of your presentation, go through this check-list:
- Laptop switched to beamer (there is some function key for this!).
- Proper input of beamer selected? Switch between possibilities with the remote for the beamer. - There is no outlet (or a long enough cable) for plugging in your laptop. Happened
to me once in some castle.
There is not much you can do. If you run your laptop on its battery, it will fail in the middle of your presentation (Murphy's law applied to hardware is: Computers patiently wait for the worst possible moment to fail). - There is an outlet but you plug doesn't fit! Be aware of the fact that your German style plug connector will not fit
into most outlets on this planet.
Bring an adapter!
