Helpful hints: Presenting with Keynote and Mac

I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro and love it! The graphics are amazing and I have never had so much fun laughing with my daughter in the iphoto booth, using the crazy features available. The MacBook Pro is worth every penny!

If you ever use your MacBook Pro in a presentation, there are some things to know before getting in front of your audience. In order to use an external projector, you will need to purchase a VGA mini adapter. Other versions of Mac have different sized ports, so don't rely on your friend's VGA adapter (note: this one is from experience).

Setting up the Presenter view is a bit confusing. First of all, you will need to open "Keynote preferences" and select "Slideshow". At the bottom, "present on secondary display" should be checked. Next you will want to select "Presenter Display" and check "Use alternate display to view presenter information". From this screen, you can also "Customize Presenter Display" and make the presenter display appear just as you wish. You can re-size windows and move windows around by dragging and dropping.

Once you arrive at the presentation, you will want to remove the "mirror" setting. I have heard of more that one horror story, where the Keynote presentation displayed perfectly on your Mac at home, in practice-mode. However, at the live presentation and connected to a projector, the audience saw the presenter display, rather than the slide show view. AKA, your worst nightmare! The Mirror setting forces both devices to show the same display, instead of allowing the presenter to see the presenter display and the audience to see the slide show. To change the mirror setting, connect the mini VGA adapter and go to the "Apple" icon in the upper left hand corner of your screen. Click on "System Preferences" Under the "Hardware" section, select "Displays", then "Arrangement" (this will only appear when connected to the external projector or monitor) At the bottom, uncheck the box that shows "mirror displays" and close the window. Now, you can have your presenter view on your computer and the slide show for the audience to view.

The little things you learn from "live" presentations!

image courtesy of Northside Education Center in El Campo, TX