iPad Presenting 01: First Questions First

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OK, you have an Apple iPad of the original first generation, or the second one. You need to present in front of a small or large audience sometimes or fairly frequently, and just the thought of delivering one of your upcoming presentations using the iPad rather than the regular laptop and the ubiquitous Microsoft PowerPoint (or Apple Keynote) makes your veins pump with faster flowing blood. And for many of us, it may not even matter if we still use a laptop or a desktop machine — or not. Even if we use the iPad along with a laptop, it still is an achievement of some proportions!

Welcome to the exclusive club of many members who think exactly like you do. This series of posts was first intended to be an e-book but with rapidly changing times, we thought a series of blog posts will be more relevant. Having said that, there’s no reason why we cannot create an e-book from this entire series later. For now, let’s get back on track to take baby steps in the direction of iPad presenting.

It’s not too obvious but there are two distinct iPad presenting scenarios, and they differ by just one word:

1. Presenting on an iPad
2. Presenting from an iPad

If you are not sure which of these two scenarios you are looking at, continue reading to find out more.

1. Presenting on an iPad

Presenting on an iPad means that you use your iPad to present or share information with one or a few people. You need no connected projectors or wireless video signals, and you are happy to use the iPad screen as your primary display. You often pass the iPad to others in the audience, and they may share their iPads with you too if this is a collaborative, group presentation. Your presentation may or may not be based on slide-based programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote. In fact, you might be sharing content that is from a web site, an email, or just some notes. You may also be typing notes on your iPad as you do this presentation. Many presenters have found this approach to be a great way to work within a small group. Of course, this way of presenting also includes those who use PowerPoint or Keynote to present to others using just the iPad, again to a small audience of one or two.

2. Presenting from an iPad

Presenting from an iPad is something much larger; in fact, it is almost the same as presenting from your laptop that is connected to a projector or another external display. It’s just that you want to use your iPad as a substitute for the laptop. There are a lot of questions that people ask about this scenario, ranging from what will happen to their existing PowerPoint or Keynote slides to what sort of multimedia support they can expect on the iPad. Also, how can they open PowerPoint slides at all on their iPads? Finally, does it matter if they are Windows or Mac users?

This series of posts are about both these scenarios, and more — and some scenarios need easier and less involved solutions. Yet it is eminently satisfying to tame more difficult scenarios, so much so that it can be as much fun as winning a difficult game level on your console!

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