When making a presentation on your computer, you tend to think about how it looks only in that application, but as soon as you plug it up to a projector… things tend to look a little different. Here are a few tips and tricks to help combat this issue.
When putting your slides together, make sure to use large and bold fonts. It’s also a good idea to use highly-contrasting colors, and high-quality graphics to keep things clear and easy to see for all of your guests in the back of the room. While making your presentation, it is possible that you are working with a specialized color scheme that isn’t always the exact same as what is available across all platforms. This is one of the many reasons that it is best to keep your slides simplified.
When deciding which format to bring your presentation in for an event, I always suggest having multiple available (flash drive copy and loaded up on a computer). It is ALWAYS a good idea to send a copy of your presentation to your A/V provider 48 hours prior to your event so that it can be tested with the same equipment that will be used at your event. This will give us an opportunity to point out or fix any potential issues.
Along the same lines of keeping things clear and easy to read, try to be sure that your fonts are centralized and don’t go to close to the edge of the screen. You work hard on putting these presentations together and nobody wants any words cut off! One of the most common issues we run into while playing presentations are when videos are added from streaming sites such as YouTube. The videos may work great on your personal computer at home on your wifi, but when you are at a venue with a room full of people who all have devices connected, it’s quite a different story. It is a very risky decision to trust a venue’s wifi for a video embedded in your presentation. It is always a good decision to download the video, and have it available on a local file so that it won’t have to rely on wifi at all to play properly.
Lighting can play a huge role in how your presentation looks on screen. Natural light can wash out a projection image easily with the most commonly used projectors. Make sure to scope out what the lighting situation is during the time of day that your presentation will be shown. There are a lot of factors that play a part in whether or not your presentation is a success. When working with event professionals it’s always encouraged to ask plenty of questions as well as share as many details as possible. We are here to share our knowledge and help in anyway that we can! Call us up any time and we look forward to working with you on your events.
