Written by Giving a presentation is a bit scary for most people. For me, my 2 main things that scare me are:
1. Do I know my topic well enough? This is a common enough concern. I’ve been told that as long as you know 10% more than the people in the room, then you are the expert. What happens if one of your attendees knows 10% more than you!?!? This is a good topic to discuss, but today’s topic will focus on …
2. What issues will I have due to my low vision? Using someone else’s laptop that is set to a small resolution is a problem. Being able to “monitor” the room while you talk can be difficult. Someone raising their hand in the back of the room may get missed. There are a number of issues to consider when presenting with low vision.
Before I go any further, let me talk to you about a presentation that I gave to about 500 people several years ago. It was for a very large software company and the topic was very technical. I knew the presentation, so I felt good on that front. Equipment wise, a laptop (that I had never used) was setup for me to give the presentation. This was great except for the fact that the laptop was working properly and the lighting in the room was very low. I am computer savvy, but I need to see what I am doing. After messing around for a few minutes, a person from the crowd came up to help me. And, of course, the show went on.
- Notify the host of the event that you have will need assistance. I hardly ever ask for help, but this is one of those scenarios that you need to make sure you have support. For me, I just want help with getting thing started. The presentation is projecting correctly. The microphone is working.
- Familiarize yourself with the equipment that you will be using. Prior to the presentation, ask the host to allow you to use the equipment well before your presentation. This will mean that you will need to arrive early or take time away from your lunch. Spending the 30 minutes required to make sure you feel comfortable with the equipment.
- If you need the equipment to be setup a certain way, tell the host to setup the equipment accordingly. For example, a laptop can display on both the overhead projector and the laptop screen. This mode works well for me.
- When taking questions, notify the audience that you may have trouble seeing them raise their hand. Depending on the size of the audience and your eyesight, you may want to ask the host to assign a person to help you.
- Keep good eye contact with your audience even if you can’t see them. You want to engage your audience and a great way to do this is to look at them and speak to them. If you are in a large room, look towards the back and speak to them even if you can’t see them. The key point is that you want to bring the entire audience into the conversation and not those in the front row.
Now, get out there and present!
