Powerpoint presentation preparation and LCD display modes

[zChris]

I just finished yet another poweroint presentation and just wanted to share what I though was a pretty amazing thing I discovered just today.

I normally setup my display to do mirroring after an unfortunate incident when I first switched where all the VP's in my company was waiting for me to display my slide show while being treated to a juicy Hed Kandi Wallpaper in full screen.

However, I was playing around with the modes again while preparing for a presentation a while ago when I turned off mirroring mode. I just learned how to change the wallpaper of the extended desktop display that was showing on the projector (which I changed to one of our company ads) as I wanted to make some changes on the presentation without showing it on the projector.

However, I was pleasantly surprised when I ran the slideshow in extended desktop mode when the full screen presentation went up on the extended desktop and the presentation tools came up on the mac's LCD display! This was particularly useful for me as I was actually running two presentations and didnt want the audience to see the usual switching from one presentation to another as you would normally see on a PC.

When I pressed escape after finishing the first presentation, the full screen on the projector changed back to our corporate ad as wallpaper while I was able to switch to the new ppt window and launch the new ppt presentation (without the audience seeing a thing) which again showed full screen on the extended desktop and presentation tools on the mac's LCD.

I guess its kinda mababaw but it really amazes me how someone would think of doing something like that and implementing it perfectly! The result was a seamless view by the audience of the two ppt prezos with our corporate ad as a segue.

Wala lang, just a neat trick that perhaps some other newbies may find useful. I was using ppt 2004 btw.

chris

[Edited on 9-9-2004 by zChris]

[bagac]

so how did you change the wallpapeer on the extended desktop?

[S13]

Originally posted by bagac
so how did you change the wallpapeer on the extended desktop?

just go to Desktop and Screen Saver in System Preferences while you're in dual-display mode. each display will have their own preference panel and you can choose different desktop pictures (that's what we call wallpapers on macs) for each of them.

[Arel]

Nifty tip, Chris! Thanks!

[elbert]

Originally posted by S13

Originally posted by bagac
so how did you change the wallpapeer on the extended desktop?

just go to Desktop and Screen Saver in System Preferences while you're in dual-display mode. each display will have their own preference panel and you can choose different desktop pictures (that's what we call wallpapers on macs) for each of them.

Take note, you'll be able to access dual display mode only if a secondary display is connected to your computer.

Tip: there's simple way to toggle between dual display and mirror modes--just hit the F7 key.

[Edited on 9-10-2004 by elbertc]

[cryptonomikon]

Btw, if you turned off the default mode of the function keys, then you'll have to press and hold down the "fn" key and press F7 with it

Here's another useful dual display trick that you can use during meetings and workshops. I facilitate a lot of workshops and during discussions to form agreements, I take down digital notes on the projected screen (eg, if you're using TextEdit, just click on your TextEdit window and drag it to the 2nd screen). Since the notes are projected, everyone can make corrections and agree on the final notes in real-time.

I can then use my laptop screen to view files I only want to see for myself (eg, the workshop schedule).

[Kiko]

What I could not do is project powerpoint presentations from windows (in bootcamp). I had several ppt files which were made prior to my switch to mac, they were done with powerplugs add on which enhanced the transitions of the slides. I just could not get the computer to project from windows. What I did was open the files in powerpoint in tiger. I was able to project but without the enhanced transitions since there was no powerplugs installed in the mac OS. I tried keynote but the 3d effects were not that many.