First tip: Make sure you have a printed copy of your PowerPoint presentation, and make sure it is in a form that you can refer to quickly. Often the best bet is to have your slides in a handout that you will give the audience, and simply make sure that you have a copy for yourself. Then before your presentation go through your printed copy and quickly number all of the slides in the exact order that they appear in your presentation. Now when someone asks you a question, and you want to refer to a specific slide, you simply glance at your printed copy and find the number of that slide. Then enter that number on the keyboard, and press enter. PowerPoint will jump ahead and show that specific slide. Then when you want to go back to where you were before the question, enter the number of the slide you want to return to and press enter again. This avoids the messy situation of having to click forward and back through all of your slides while your audience waits and you looked disorganized.

 

Second tip: When you provide a handout of your slides to an audience make sure that the slides are printed large enough and clear enough to be easily read. Not only does this make it more likely that people will actually referred to the slides in the future, it can be a lifesaver if the computer or projector crashes. If the technology lets you down you can simply continue your presentation by having people follow you in the handout. If a presentation is particularly important, I like to print the handouts with only two slides on the page. If the projector is not working you simply ask people to refer to the slide on the top of page 2 [or whatever slide you are on] and carry on with your presentation, while someone else tries to fix the technology. You don’t have to be flustered, and your level of organization will impress.