Do you give presentations as part of your job? What if you could draw directly on your slides while standing in the audience?

For a while now, I have been using some fun technologies that allow me to make my presentations much more engaging.

What You Need

• AppleTV
• A wifi router
• An iPad (I use an iPad Mini Retina because its size is perfect for walking around)
• An HDMI to VGA converter (if the projector is VGA)
• Keynote for IOS (I was using SlideShark, but now you can write on Keynote slides)
• A stylus

The Hardware Set-Up

For this to work you do NOT need an internet connection. I never like to rely on hotel wifi, as it can be spotty and unpredictable. This is why I bring my own wifi router.  This “beams” a signal that is used to connect all of the devices together.

I find it best to get all of the AppleTV settings done while at home connected to a TV. Once they are done, you never have to worry about them again.

Turn on your wifi router and your AppleTV. In the AppleTV setting, connect to the SSID of the router. It will complain that you don’t have internet. Don’t worry. Just accept it anyway.

Be sure to turn off the screen saver and any sleep settings. You don’t want AppleTV going to sleep during your presentation.

Next, enable wifi on your iPad and connect to the SSID of the router. Then  select “AirPlay” from the control center to connect to the AppleTV. Select mirroring and you should see your iPad screen on the TV/projector.

NOTE: If you presentation requires internet access, you will need to get an Ethernet cable to plug into your wifi router. If you are just showing slides/drawings, you don’t need internet.

The Software Set-Up

Now it is time to get your presentation ready.

I used to recommend SlideShark, but Apple just released an update to Keynote for IOS which is awesome.

Having Fun

Now you are all set.

When everything is connected, go to your Keynote presentation on the iPad. You can draw right on the slides. You can quickly change slide order on the fly without anyone in the audience knowing. It is a brilliantly powerful application.

When drawing on the slides, you can use any stylus. I use the Adonit Jot Script which operates via Bluetooth. It allows me greater precision when writing. But it can be a bit flaky (quite flaky actually) at times since it turns off when you don’t use it. Therefore have a regular stylus as back up just in case.

And because you don’t rely on wires, you can draw on your iPad while walking around in the audience. Trust me, this is a very cool experience…for your and the audience.

This approach creates a much more dynamic feel for the presentation. You can get more intimate/close with the audience. And the drawing process gives the appearance of spontaneity. I find that audiences are much more engaged when I use this approach.

There is so much more I could say about this set-up. Give it a try. If you have problems, post a comment here on the blog.

No more boring presentations!

See updated post with some newer tec\hnologies.