The Mobile Presenter

So I wrote a checklist of things that you should take with you to your presentation. Here's how I handle that.

I originally started this blog to document my search for the best (for me) portable equipment that would allow me to give presentations easily without having too much to carry around. I soon settled on an iPad and haven't looked back since (although I'm still keeping an eye out, in case even lighter alternatives would show up).

So you've prepared your presentation, rehearsed it, and you're ready to give it to your audience. Did you check what else you need to bring with you?

If you haven't heard from the organisers, the default at most events is still that the speaker will bring his or her own device, usually a laptop, with them.

What else do you pack? Here's a checklist:

One way to make things more memorable for your audience is to involve some of their other senses, in addition to the senses of hearing and seeing. For example, have you considered making things more tangible?

Update: The promotion is now over. Congrats to the winners!

We're doing a promotion over at JavaRanch this week (Tuesday through Friday, i.e. July 16-19): Ask me a question about my ebook, Presenting for Geeks, or pretty much any other question related to presentations and presenting. I'll try to answer them all - and you'll get a chance to win a copy of the ebook.

I've linked to some of the more interesting discussions below. You can read them all over at the JavaRanch forum:

With all the preparation that goes into a presentation - the content, the slides, the technical equipment - there's one very important tool that speakers often forget to take care of.

Their voice.