Why don’t more presenters use a remote control?
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve sat through presentations where the presenter has continually had to walk in front of their projector to access the laptop keyboard and change their slide. Shirts or dresses don’t make good projection screens and it gives the impression of an unprofessional and ill prepared presenter. Another disadvantage of using the computer keyboard or mouse to change your slides is that you are forced to stay close to the keyboard, severely limiting your ability to get in amongst your audience and interact with them physically as well as verbally.
The answer is so simple it beats my why so many people don’t use it. Buy a wireless remote control ! There are lots of different models out there and but they all do basically the same thing. They consist of two parts, a receiver “dongle” that plugs into the USB port of any laptop, and a small transmitter which you hold in your hand as you present.
If you only need to advance your slides backwards and forwards I recommend the Kensington Si600 Wireless Presenter with Laser Pointer . It has four clear and simple buttons. Next slide, previous slide, blank screen and laser pointer. It’s small. compact, reliable and costs less than £30 from Amazon.
if you need to be able to mouse over a slide to use hyperlinks etc, you’ll need a more sophisticated remote with the ability to control the onscreen cursor via a trackball, mouse-pad or gyroscopic sensor. The cheapest one I have come across so far is the 3M Wireless Presenter Remote Mouse & Laser Pointer and the neatest is probably the Gyration . So there you have it. If you haven’t got a remote then get one now and free yourself up to present more naturally and more effectively.
