Proper lighting produces several desired outcomes. For example, it allows the audience to see the speaker. Having a podium light helps presenters easily see their notes. The audience needs to see well enough to read workbooks and provided handouts, as well as taking their own notes. However, when using a projection screen, placing it in an area with lower lighting makes it more visible and prevents the content projected on the screen from appearing washed out.
When a speaker uses projected slides the meeting planner has two options for his microphone. A podium microphone mounted on the podium gives the presenter free hands to operate his laptop computer and control the presentation program. These mics generally come with a flexible gooseneck holder, allowing the speaker to point it in the most comfortable position. Perhaps a better audio option for a speaker using projection or other visual aids would be a wireless lavalier microphone. Worn either clipped to clothing or as an earpiece, these small mics give the presenter ultimate freedom to move about the room as desired while insuring that the audience can hear every word spoken.
The built-in speakers in a laptop computer typically do not produce sufficient volume to fill even a small conference room. When using sound in a PowerPoint presentation users need to plan to plug the computer into the sound system in the conference room to insure that participants can hear. Another option for smaller groups would be plugging a set of external speakers into the laptop computer.
With very limited usefulness outside of a small group, flipcharts generally get passed over as users opt for electronic slide presentations. Microsoft PowerPoint reigns as the most widely used presentation program on the market. Relatively simple to master, PowerPoint allows users to create slide presentations featuring a variety of backgrounds, fonts and audio and visual effects.
When selecting and setting up the screen for the visual presentation, meeting planners should remember that the bottom of the screen must be at least two feet off the floor to insure that the audience will be able to see the entire screen.
When projecting objects on the screen that might prove difficult for participants to see, having a magnification program, such as Dragnifier, on the presenter's computer gives them the ability to enlarge these areas, working like a virtual magnifying glass.