I recently attended a one-day technology conference held here in Greensboro, NC. I sat through 10 different presentations, all of which used PowerPoint or Keynote. The presentations were very interesting and well designed. There was, however, one common theme in each presentation… a stop-and-go flow. What do I mean by that? Well, each time the presenter needed to advance the slide, they would have to run back to the computer and advance it manually. The flow of their presentation was interrupted each time they advanced the slide, especially if they were 10 feet or more away from their computer.

Our salespeople have been using two easy-to-use presentation tools for about 5 years now. They are very simple to use, small enough to fit in your computer bag, and extremely durable. Our salespeople use them for everything from a large keynote with more than 300 people to a small sales presentation with 3 people.

We are not endorsing these products - we just want to arm you with tools that give you the edge over your competition. Here are the two different tools we use:

The first is the Power Presenter from Honeywell.

It’s small and easily connects to your computer using the provided USB cable. The remote has only three functions (less is more!); forward, back, and a laser pointer. There are no power cords to fight with, and the remote is a radio frequency remote, which means you don’t have to have line-of-site to your computer to advance a slide. In fact, you can have the remote in your pocket and still advance the slides. It also will work up to 150 feet away from the computer.

Pros: Easy to use, no software required, long range, small remote, carrying case
Cons: It has three pieces (usb cord, receiver, and remote), easy to lose

The second is the Logitech 2.4 GHz Cordless Presenter:

There are a couple salespeople that use this one, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. It is smaller than the Power Presenter and has a few more bells and whistles. It has a LCD timer built in - if you have timed your presentation - forward and backwards, black screen and volume control buttons, and a laser pointer. The remote is also on a radio frequency that you can use from up to 50 feet away, and the receiver stores in the back of the controller for easy one item carrying.

Pros: Easy to use, no software required, small, compacts to one unit, carrying case, no wires
Cons: Larger remote than the Power Presenter, more buttons (could be confusing to some salespeople)

If you have any questions about these two presentation tools, please leave me a comment by clicking on the link located at the bottom right of this post.