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Just Before Your Talk
Be sure you confirm with your company contact the time you'll meet. Find out what to do should your contact arrive late. There is nothing worse than sitting in a company lobby and having only one contact. Many times the equipment is not there and you will have to find the person who is supposed to bring it to the room. That can take time. Set up equipment. Run through your slides one time to make sure everything is working and the colors on the slides look like the colors they are supposed to be. For example, golds can turn bright yellow and watermarks can disappear.
The Room
Here is some advice specific to the room in which you will present.
Check the Room Layout. Change the room layout if it is not conducive to your presentation style. Move the chairs around. It's your speech. Set up the room so you have the best chance to succeed. Most people set a room in a rectangle, but it should be set in a cone. Here are some room guidelines. Let's say a screen is eight feet wide by six feet tall. The front row needs to be at least twice the screen height away from the screen. Thus, the front row should never be closer than twelve feet from the screen. The back row should never be more than six times the screen height away from the screen. Consequently, the back row shouldn't be more than thirty-six feet back from the screen. There is a rule of thumb for width too. The front row should never be more than four times the screen width, thirty-two feet wide. The back row should never be more than eight times, sixty-four feet wide.
Check Screen View. If the screen is not large enough, put it on a table or chair. That way the people in the back of the room can see the bottom of the screen.
Fix the Lighting, if Possible. Lighting features in some rooms can be fantastic. There are buttons that turn off different portions of the room's lights. Or the lighting can be horrendous, with bulbs that shine on your screen and blur out your messages. Be brave. Ask the hotel to undo the lights that are shining on the screen. In a company conference room, unscrew the bulbs yourself.
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The Laptop
Here's some advice specific to the laptop you're using to present.
Plug in the Laptop. Have the battery charged just in case you need it for a little while. But don't wait to go on while running only your battery. Plug it in somewhere to rehearse. And then plug it in again when it's your turn to present. There are too many stories about batteries going dead while someone was waiting to speak. Boot the laptop ahead of time. Here's a story one presenter shared: "I just gave a real-time show. I waited until I got into the room to boot up my machine. Windows NT doesn't boot very fast and I was awkwardly standing there trying to keep my sweat from showing."
Turn Off Certain Functions. Turn off the screen saver function. The easiest way to do this is to right-click (using the right mouse button) on your Desktop, go to Properties, then Screen Saver. Also, turn off little pop-up boxes that say things like, "Your battery is now fully charged." Be sure the projector's screen saver is off as well. Turn off the sound. Most people dislike the sounds of bullets flying in. If that's the only sound you plan to have, then turn it off, unless you are speaking to your neighborhood seven-year-olds.
Position the Laptop and Yourself. Position the laptop screen outside the projector's light path and people's view. Plan two places to stand so you don't block people's view of the screen and the slides.
Move or Tape Down Cords. Position and tape down the cords so that you won't trip over them. After a speech one presenter we heard from had people come up telling her that they were worried she was going to trip over a cord. Tape them down for your audience's peace of mind. As much as possible, hide the wires and cords so the audience doesn't see them before seeing the screen. One person shared this story: "The presenter was not conversant in the medium he chose to present with. He kicked the power cable out of the wall, losing the screen images, then wasted time trying to get the programs back. Worse yet, he showed the first several slides only to himself as if he hadn't yet seen them."
Test Your Power Source. Make sure both ends of the power supply cord are plugged in. Then make sure the power source is really on by seeing if your battery is on. Don't give your presentation off a battery. Always use the power supply. If you plug your cord into a podium, be sure the power is on. We heard about one CEO who was presenting, when midway through the low power battery signal went on with a loud beeping sound. Everyone had thought it was plugged in. So the CEO continued while someone else got down on hands and knees and moved the plug to the wall outlet. Fortunately, there was an outlet nearby.
Don't Undo Once Connected. After you have set up the equipment and tested it, don't disconnect. That can sometimes cause things not to work. Also, if the colors look funny on the screen, one of the cords may not be totally plugged in. This said, some people turn their computers off and on just before doing a presentation to free up the RAM so the presentation runs more smoothly.
Have the Presentation on the Screen. Know what keys to press so the presentation is shown on the screen. This is usually Fn plus the display function key.
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