fbpx

6 must know technical tricks that will make you look like a presentation pro

Written by Matteo Cassese

6 must know TECHNICAL TRICKS that will make you look like a PRESENTATION PRO

Do you feel confident when you are close to a computer?

I ask you this because I see that there is often a disconnect between the presenter and his tools. What do I mean? I often see presenters struggling to put their slides on screen, saying – as a disclaimer – that they are no “Powerpoint experts” and appearing clueless in front of their own slideshow.

If you are not confident with your computer or slideshow software you may think that it’s a good idea to separate yourself from it. In other words you may try to excuse or explain your lack of knowledge by distancing yourself from the technology.

I am sorry but that makes you look like a fool. Most of the knowledge you need to display a Powerpoint presentation can be easily memorised the first time you do a presentation. Learn these keyboard shortcuts and you will look like an advanced presenter.

Let’s begin with the first and most important keyboard shortcut: assuming you are on Windows pressing the F5 key while your document is open in Microsoft Powerpoint puts your slides fullscreen. Simple, fast and easy!

14-presentation-hero-powerpoint-pc

Alt+Cmd+P will do the same in Apple Keynote on a Mac.

7-presentation-hero-keynote

 

Shift+Cmd+Enter will do the trick on Microsoft PowerPoint on Mac (but if you are on a Mac you should just not use Office and stick with iWork).

8-presentation-hero-powerpoint

In all these programs there are some common keyboard tricks: either hitting the space bar or the right arrow will let you go to the next slide.

You just need to know another little shortcut: if you hit the B key your screen will go black. B is for black and W, you just guessed it, makes your screen go white. This is very useful if you want your audience to momentarily concentrate on you, an not on your presentation.

If you do more than one presentation every couple of months invest 50 bucks on a remote. I just got a new one from Logitech that also has a timer on it to keep track of the time discreetly: it just buzzes in your hand every five minutes to let you know that time is passing. Here’s the model I got.

This minimal technical knowledge and a simple technological wonder like a remote can easily increase your technological confidence and make you look like a real presentation pro.

Want more presentation advice for free? Subscribe to Presentation Hero right now.

Seminars and Workshops

We provide presentation skills training courses that help you convey a clear message, organize your thoughts, lay out your slides, and deliver a TED-level presentation.

Donate and support Presentation Hero!

If you’ve found this content useful or used it in a corporate environment feel free to make a donation. Choose the amount that feels right for you.

Grab our special offer!

We provide presentation skills training courses that help you convey a clear message, organize your thoughts, lay out your slides, and deliver a TED-level presentation.

You May Also Like

Recent Posts from the Blog

7 Comments

  1. Eam

    Don’t forget. Type the slide number and press enter to go directly to the slide. Very useful when you want to skip a bit when short on time.

    Reply
    • matteocassese

      Awesome tip Eam. Thanks!

      Reply
  2. Craig Hadden

    I enjoyed your viewpoint, Matteo. If the speaker struggles with their laptop, the audience feels uncomfortable, and as you say that’s not a good start.

    If you’re presenting in front of people around a desk (in a business situation), you might like this 2-step way to start your slideshow automatically when your laptop starts:
    http://remotepossibilities.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/how-to-start-a-high-stakes-presentation-instantly/

    (I prefer that to pressing F5, because F5 often means your audience sees PowerPoint’s own window, which is typically cluttered with buttons, thumbnails, slide notes, etc.)

    You might also like the technique I suggest for showing a relevant slide for every new question in Q&A – no matter what people ask! (Please just search my blog for “hypnosis” to find out that one.)

    Would love to hear your thoughts on those tips. And by all means leave a back-link to your own post if you’d like to.

    Thanks for improving presenters’ technical literacy – there’s plenty of need for that!

    Reply
    • matteocassese

      Hi Craig, thanks for linking your post and I like your techniques.
      I’m curious: how do you pull off the “question time” trick?

      Reply
        • matteocassese

          Right. I think that Q&A is a good time to have your twitter handle and email address on screen. Printing a cheat sheet and preparing more slides does seem to me a little like an over optimization 🙂

          Reply
          • Craig Hadden

            Yeah, my tip’s most useful online. If your webinar’s Q&A goes for 5 or 10 minutes, people will zone out if the same slide’s staring at them the whole time.

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save your peers from bad presentations

What if all your presentations were fun and exciting, always obtained results and were unforgettable for your audience? Join a workshop, an online course or inquire about our 1:1 coaching.

Who is Matteo Cassese?

Hi! I’m a marketing consultant and an enthusiastic entrepreneur with experience working for multinational companies (Warner Bros.), teaching at a university (Link Campus University), and consulting for entertainment companies (Netflix). I’m a scholar of storytelling and have dug deep into screenwriting techniques, mythology, and trans-media narratives. This passion is translated in the simple structure template that you get in all my courses. In my free time I enjoy driving cars (fast).

“If you’re gearing up for your next pitch and you’re not already using Presentation Hero, you either are a genius or… you’re doing it all wrong.”

Andrea Volpini

Founder & CEO, Wordlift

“[Presentation Hero] has already changed thoroughly the way I deliver my presentations. Guess what? I just arrived from a 3 hours presentation that made my audience fall from their chair. True story! People immediately signed up. After lunch I was confirmed to become their partner in sales development.”

Francois Laporte

Financial Consultant

“Incorporating Presentation Hero into my Public Speaking class yielded tangible results in the quality of my students’ presentations. From planning to slide creation to delivery, Presentation Hero guided students through the entire process with accessible videos and a well-founded theoretical framework.”

Stephanie

Professor, John Cabot University

“In collaboration with Matteo we are able to develop presentations for our clients with a proven methodology. It gives us a firm structure through which we create better, engaging presentations. What’s more; our clients become better, more confident presenters themselves!”

Roelof Hengst

Partner, Winning by Design

I want to redeem my free 30 minutes consultation

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This