Exploring Contingency Options

Good presenters know, usually from experience, that not everything goes just the way you hope it will. Some presenters have enough background and expertise to be able to forget the PowerPoint presentation and give a great presentation on their own. The rest of us, however, generally depend on the slide show to make it through the presentation. For us, it's doubly important that we make alternate plans for our presentations in the event that something goes wrong.

What could possibly go wrong? I could make a long list, but these are a few things that come immediately to mind:

  • Your laptop computer develops a problem and you can't use it to show the slide show.

  • While making a last-minute change, you damage your slide show file or delete it.

  • The laptop works fine, but the projector you were promised doesn't show up.

  • Everything's working fine until the guy presenting next door blows a circuit breaker, and you lose power.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Murphy's Law says that things can and will go wrong. A little advance preparation, including options described in the following sections, can help you weather such problems.

Packaging a Presentation for a CD

I never go to a presentation without making a backup copy of my slide show. If my computer fails, I want to be able to play it on another computer if I can find one. I might have to make last-minute adjustments to the slide show, but at least I still have a copy I can adjust!

PowerPoint 2003 has added a powerful tool that enables you to package an entire presentation, or even multiple presentations, and write them to a CD. Because most computers have CD drives, this option means you can play the slide show on other computers. You can even include on the CD a PowerPoint reader, called PowerPoint Viewer, that lets you play a slide show even if the computer you end up using doesn't have PowerPoint installed.

To package a slide show for a CD, you need to make sure you have a recordable CD available and that you have a CD-RW drive in your computer. Then follow these steps:

  1. Choose File, Package for CD. PowerPoint displays the Package for CD dialog box (see Figure 14.14).

    Figure 14.14. You use the Package for CD option to write a slide show to CD.

    graphics/14fig14.gif

  2. Provide a name for the CD.

  3. Choose Options to see what choices you have (see Figure 14.15). They include the following:

    Figure 14.15. You can include a PowerPoint viewer, slide links, and even the fonts slides use when you package a slide show for CD.

    graphics/14fig15.gif

    • The PowerPoint Viewer option enables you to play a slide show even if the computer used to play the show doesn't have PowerPoint installed.

    • If you include more than one slide show on the CD, you can specify whether the shows play automatically and in which order.

    • By default, PowerPoint includes on the CD any linked files. This is important if you expect such files to appear when you play the slide show.

    • You can embed TrueType fonts if you think those fonts might not be installed on the target computer and if it's important to keep intact the ones you're using.

    • You can password-protect the files you copy to CD, either to open the slide show or to modify it. Be aware that this isn't a perfect security solution because after a person opens the slide show, even as a read-only file, he or she can modify it and save it with a new name.

  4. After you complete your choices, click OK.

  5. If you want to add more slide shows to the package, click Add Files and browse to find them. After you do, the Package for CD dialog box changes slightly, enabling you to change the play order of the slide shows (see Figure 14.16). Note that you might have greater success including all the appropriate links and graphic images if you first copy all your slide shows to the same folder on your hard disk and package them from there.

    Figure 14.16. You can package more than one slide show at a time.

    graphics/14fig16.jpg

  6. Click Copy to CD to begin the recording process.

Caution

graphics/cman.gif

If you think you'll need to depend on the PowerPoint Viewer, try it out first. The viewer has been known to render slide shows, especially animations, differently than the original. You might have to make adjustments to simplify the presentation before you play it with the PowerPoint Viewer.

On the other hand, if the target computer has a recent version of PowerPoint installed, you might be able to play the packaged presentation without any problems.


You can also package a slide show to a folder for example, on a network drive or on a zip or floppy disk (if the slide show is small enough to fit). Choose Copy to Folder and browse to the location to copy to. However, you might be surprised to find that new laptop computers are more likely to have CD drives than floppy drives.

To play a packaged slide show, insert the CD. Depending on the packaging options you selected, the slide shows might play automatically, or you might need to select Start, Run and browse to the CD. To play the viewer, you need to find and run the PPTVIEW program, which automatically displays the names of the PowerPoint slide shows that are packaged with it. Alternatively, you can use Windows Explorer to find the slide shows and open them directly in PowerPoint.

Preparing Overhead Transparencies

Data projectors are expensive and can be hard to come by. But in many businesses, schools, and convention centers, overhead projectors are pretty common. One way to prepare for a possible data projector disaster is to create overhead transparencies of key slides. Then, if you can't use the computer, you can likely find an overhead projector and use that instead.

You need to think about several considerations when preparing slides for use with an overhead projector:

  • Color slides may not look good when printed in black and white. One solution is to print in grayscale or pure black and white, which generally removes slide backgrounds. Another is to print in color.

  • Animations and media elements obviously can't print. If sequence is important for example, adding one bullet at a time you need to create sequential slides. Start by creating the finished slide, and then print, remove a bullet, print again, remove a bullet, and so on.

  • Changing transparencies is more difficult than making PowerPoint transitions. It's usually a good idea to limit printing overhead transparencies to a few key slides. This way, you'll have less to fumble with, and you'll be more likely to keep your place and not distract the audience.

To print an overhead transparency, choose File, Print. The Print dialog box appears.

Choose the options you want, such as Current Slide, Color/Grayscale, and Frame Slides. Click Preview to see how the slide will print, and then print the slide when you're ready.

You can print directly to an overhead transparency. However, be sure that you use transparencies that match the type of printer you're using. For example, transparencies for laser printers can withstand high heat without melting. Transparencies for inkjet printers dry the ink quickly so it doesn't smear. These special transparencies tend to cost more than regular transparencies, but if you use the wrong kind, you'll have a mess on your hands.

Using Handouts

Although handing out full-sized copies of each slide as handouts is generally a waste of paper, having handouts of key slides, perhaps in thumbnail or annotated format, could be a way to hedge against technical problems. It's hard to beat a technology that doesn't require electricity!

graphics/rarr.gif For details on printing handouts, see p. 313.


The Absolute Minimum

Creating a good presentation is important. But you also have to make sure you're ready to make the presentation, including ways to run the slide show and backup alternatives in case something goes wrong. In this chapter, you did the following:

  • You found out how to set up a slide show for various presentation situations.

  • You learned that you can easily jump around in a slide show, even if it's normally a sequential show.

  • You explored the use of keyboard shortcuts.

  • You learned how to rehearse and time a presentation.

  • You discovered how to make backup plans, such as writing a slide show to CD and using overhead transparencies and handouts.

In Chapter 15, "Making a Presentation," you'll learn about making a presentation, including dealing with room conditions and handling unexpected problems.



Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
Absolute Beginners Guide to Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
ISBN: 0789729695
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 154
Authors: Read Gilgen

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