Delivering a Presentation with a Projector – Presentation (Senior 3 ICT) | Ganzaa

Presentation

Lessons

Senior 3 · ICT

Presentation

5 lessons

Lesson 5 of 5

Delivering a Presentation with a Projector

50 min

“No signal”

It is the school open day. Parents are seated, the head teacher has introduced the S3 ICT club, and the projector shows a blue screen with the words “No signal”. The presenter unplugs the cable, plugs it in again, opens the wrong file, and finally finds the slides five minutes later, with his speaker notes showing on the big screen for everyone to read.

Every one of those problems can be avoided with ten minutes of preparation. This lesson connects a computer to a projector, sets up Presenter View, controls the show from the keyboard, rehearses the timing, and covers the skills of speaking to an audience.

Definition

Projector: an output device that shows a computer's display as a large image on a screen or wall.

Duplicate: a display mode in which the projector shows exactly what the computer screen shows.

Extend: a display mode in which the projector is a second screen, so the computer and the projector can show different things.

Presenter View: a PowerPoint view, on the presenter's screen only, showing the current slide, the next slide, the speaker notes and a timer, while the audience sees only the slide.

Rehearse Timings: a PowerPoint tool that records how long you spend on each slide while you practise.

Connecting the computer to the projector

Connection	What to know
HDMI	The usual connection today. Digital; carries picture and sound in one cable.
VGA	Older, often blue, with 15 pins and two screws. Analogue; picture only, so sound needs a separate audio cable.
USB-C or Mini DisplayPort	On many thin laptops. Needs an adapter to HDMI or VGA, if the projector has no such port.
Wireless	Some projectors and screens accept a picture over Wi-Fi (in Windows, Windows key + K). Useful, but test it first.

Switch on the projector first. A lamp projector needs up to a minute to warm up.
Connect the cable from the computer's output port to the projector's input port. Push it fully home and tighten the screws of a VGA plug.
Choose the matching input on the projector with its Source or Input button (for example HDMI 1 or Computer 1).
On the computer, press Windows key + P and choose Duplicate or Extend. The other choices are PC screen only and Second screen only.
Sharpen the image with the projector's focus ring, set its size with the zoom or by moving the projector, and correct a trapezium-shaped picture with keystone correction.

Worked example 1: solving “No signal”

Work from the simplest cause to the hardest, testing after each step:

Check	Why
1. Is the projector's source set to the port in use (HDMI 1, not HDMI 2)?	The commonest cause: the projector is looking at an empty input.
2. Is the cable pushed in firmly at both ends?	A half-inserted plug sends no picture.
3. Windows key + P → Duplicate	The laptop may be set to PC screen only.
4. Try another cable, or another port	Cables and ports do fail.
5. Restart the projector, then the computer	Clears a confused connection.

In the open-day story, step 1 would have fixed it in seconds: the cable was in HDMI 2 while the projector showed HDMI 1.

Presenter View and controlling the show

With the display set to Extend, PowerPoint shows Presenter View on your screen and the full slide on the projector. (Check Slide Show → Use Presenter View, and set Monitor to the projector if the two screens are the wrong way round.) To practise Presenter View on a single screen, press Alt + F5.

Mock-up drawn by Ganzaa. Only the large slide on the left appears on the projector; the timer, next slide and notes are for the presenter's eyes.

Key	During the slide show
F5 / Shift + F5	Start from the first slide / from the current slide
N, Space, →, Enter, Page Down	Next animation or slide
P, ←, Backspace, Page Up	Previous animation or slide
A number, then Enter	Go straight to that slide (for example 5, Enter)
B (or .) / W (or ,)	Black or white screen, to draw attention to yourself; press again to return
Ctrl + L / Ctrl + P / E	Laser pointer / pen / erase the pen marks
Esc	End the show

Rehearsing and setting up the show

Slide Show → Rehearse Timings starts the show with a timer. Present aloud; click to move on. At the end, PowerPoint gives the total time and asks whether to keep the timings. The time for each slide then appears under its thumbnail in Slide Sorter view.
Slide Show → Set Up Slide Show: choose Presented by a speaker (full screen) for a talk, or Browsed at a kiosk (full screen) for an unattended show that loops until Esc is pressed. Under Advance slides, choose Manually or Using timings, if present.
Hide Slide keeps a slide in the file but skips it in the show, for example a back-up slide for questions.

Worked example 2: fitting five minutes

The ICT club has a 5-minute slot. Rehearse Timings records these times for its seven slides, in seconds: 45, 50, 40, 55, 50, 35, 30.

Total: $45 + 50 + 40 + 55 + 50 + 35 + 30 = 305$ s, which is 5 minutes 5 seconds: already over, before any pause or question. A real talk usually runs longer than a rehearsal, so the club aims for about 4 minutes 30 seconds, 270 s. It must cut $305 - 270 = 35$ s. It shortens slide 4 from 55 s to 40 s (one example, not two) and slide 2 from 50 s to 30 s (one sentence of background), saving $15 + 20 = 35$ s, and rehearses again.

Speaking to an audience

Before	During	After
Rehearse aloud at least twice, timing it.	Face the audience, not the screen; glance at the computer, not behind you.	Thank the audience and invite questions.
Arrive early; connect and test the projector, sound and video.	Speak slowly and loudly enough for the back row.	Repeat each question so everyone hears it, then answer briefly.
Bring the file on a flash disk and as a PDF, or in cloud storage.	Do not read the slides; explain them. Use your notes as reminders.	Say “I will find out” if you do not know.
Close other programs and turn off notifications.	Make eye contact with different parts of the room; use B for a black screen when you want full attention.	Share the slides or handouts if promised.

Warning

Safety with projectors

Never look into the lens while the projector is on, and do not stand in the beam facing it: the light is very bright. Projector manuals give this warning.
Cables across the floor trip people: route them along the wall or tape them down.
Lamp projectors get hot. Do not block the air vents, and let the fan cool the lamp before unplugging the power or moving the projector.
Do not leave personal files or messages open on a screen that is being projected.

GCFLearnFree (LearnFree): presenting your slide show in PowerPoint: starting the show, moving between slides, the pen and laser tools, and Presenter View.

✦

Hands-on: present your club report

Open Club_Report_YourName.pptx. Write speaker notes for every slide: a few key words or two short sentences each.
Use Rehearse Timings and present aloud. Is the total under your time limit (your teacher will give one, for example 3 minutes)? Cut and rehearse again until it is. Then set the show to advance Manually, so the timings do not run the real talk.
Hide one back-up slide that you will show only if asked a question.
With your teacher, connect a laptop to the class projector: choose the input, press Windows key + P and try Duplicate, then Extend. Check that Presenter View appears on the laptop.
Present to your group. Use at least one of: go to a slide by number, black screen, the pen.
Save a PDF copy as a back-up. Then use Set Up Slide Show to make a looping kiosk version for an open day, with automatic timings.
Ask two classmates for one strength and one improvement in your delivery, and write them down.

Practice

Define Presenter View and Rehearse Timings.
Compare HDMI and VGA connections, giving two differences.
Explain the difference between Duplicate and Extend, and say which one Presenter View needs.
Give the key or keys to: (a) start from the current slide; (b) jump to slide 9; (c) black the screen; (d) end the show.
Rehearsed times for six slides are 40, 65, 50, 45, 55 and 35 s. Find the total in minutes and seconds. Is it within a 4-minute limit?
Give three safety rules for using a projector in a classroom.
A presenter's notes appear on the projector screen, and the audience can read them. Explain the cause and the fix.
Evaluate this preparation plan: “I'll make the slides the night before, bring them only on my phone, and read the slides aloud so I don't forget anything.”

Show answersHide answers

Presenter View: a view on the presenter's screen showing the current slide, next slide, notes and a timer, while the audience sees only the slide. Rehearse Timings: a tool that records how long is spent on each slide while practising.
HDMI is digital and carries picture and sound; VGA is analogue and carries picture only. (Also: HDMI is the newer, smaller plug; VGA has 15 pins and screws.)
Duplicate shows the same image on both screens; Extend makes the projector a second screen so the two can show different things. Presenter View needs Extend.
(a) Shift + F5; (b) 9, then Enter; (c) B (or the full stop key); (d) Esc.
$40 + 65 + 50 + 45 + 55 + 35 = 290$ s = 4 min 50 s. No: it is 50 s over the 4-minute limit (240 s).
Any three: never look into the lens; do not block the air vents; let a lamp cool before moving the projector; route or tape down cables; do not show private files on the projected screen.
The display is set to Duplicate (or Presenter View's monitors are swapped), so the presenter's screen is copied to the projector. Press Windows key + P → Extend, and in Slide Show set Monitor to the projector (or use Swap Displays in Presenter View).
Poor. Making slides the night before leaves no time to rehearse or fix errors; a phone alone is a single point of failure and may not connect to the projector, so bring a flash disk and a PDF copy too; reading slides aloud bores the audience and shows poor preparation. Better: finish early, rehearse with timings, use speaker notes as reminders, and test the equipment beforehand.

1“No signal”

2Connecting the computer to the projector

3Presenter View and controlling the show

4Rehearsing and setting up the show

5Speaking to an audience

6Hands-on: present your club report