The Top Gadgets for Business Presentations

As the digital era that we find ourselves in evolves, we are presented with an increasing amount of opportunities to ‘wow’ people in business with innovative and powerful presentations.  Gone are the days where a strong opening and closing slide sufficed.  There is now an abundance of hardware and software gadgets, free and for a cost, available on the market.  Let’s take a look at the top gadget for business presentations.

Hardware

There are a number of hardware gadgets available, which facilitate innovative business presentations.  These include mobile operating systems such as Smart Phones and Tablets, portable routers which act as Wi Fi hotspots and finally, a wireless mouse which navigates a presentation on either a Mac or Windows device.

Smart Phones

Presenting information at conferences or meetings is possible via your smartphone.  In fact it can be used to enhance the presentation.  The following features facilitate this:

• Presentation apps – There are dozens of apps which enable you to view PowerPoint or OpenOffice presentations on your smartphone, (Android, iPhone, or Windows). You can create a new presentation via ThinkFree, Office Mobile, DocumentstoGo, or QuickOffice Pro.
• Connecting to a big display – Via HDMI out ports
• Use the phone as a presentation remote control
• Timer so you can manage the time of your presentation
• Presentation annotations
• Sound Effects
• Voice Recorder

Tablets

Tablets have overhauled the way we conduct business on many levels, including delivering business presentations.  Their unique selling points are that they allow customers to interact with the presentation, illustrate stunning graphics and spectacular sound quality which will set your presentation apart from the rest.  Additional features include:

• Flexibility – You can either create a slideshow using an app like Keynote or you can simply place a collection of files in a folder and pull them up individually as you speak. The information you need is accessible anytime and you won’t have to walk over to a table to click or type on your laptop.
• Incorporate media – Your tablet can allow you to present photos of new products etc, show videos of how products are made and used, PDFs or even YouTube clips.
• Environmentally friendly – Following your presentation, you can email a copy of the slideshow or files to anyone who wants to see the information, instead of passing out paper hand-outs.
• Interactivity – Tablets are great for one-on-one or small group presentations. Your colleagues can operate the tablet if they so require. This creates an interactive experience which leads to better learning.
• Creative – Using a tablet gives the impression of being innovative and pushing boundaries, setting you apart from the competition.

Mi Fi (4G)

MI-FI is short for mobile WiFi and is a great mobile wireless solution. Broadband speed averages 600kbps-1.4Mbps for downloads and 350-500kbps for uploads. It supports up to 10 WiFi enabled devices at once including laptops, tablets and mobile devices.  Features include:

• Being able to deliver presentations anywhere, eliminating the need to visit coffee shops with WiFi
• Great for people who work remotely i.e. sales people visiting customers and demonstrating new products
• Mi-Fi units connect to the fastest 4G connection on the planet via mobile providers or retailers that sell other mobile devices
• Units are small and portable so will fit in your laptop bag easily
• Smaller individual Mi-Fi units are available that plug directly into the USB port of any device

Logitech Cube Mouse (910-002516)

The Logitech Cube is a wireless mouse with many additional benefits than a traditional mouse.  It has smoother screen movement, is always ready regardless of your location and the receiver is less likely to be lost.  It has a cord but also has wireless functionality.  Additional features for the smooth delivery of presentations include:

• Can fit in your pocket or clip onto your keychain
• Its design is sleek and minimalist
• It points, clicks and scrolls-like a traditional mouse
• You can play and pause your entertainment
• Controls volume
• It’s easy to look at Facebook or conduct Google searches-thanks to the smooth-scrolling app

Software

There are plenty of online tools available for download or purchase in order to enhance the delivery of business presentations.  The drive behind sourcing these tools should be selecting the gadget which creates the most innovative presentation with the best audio visuals.  The following applications achieve just this.

Google Docs

Google Docs is an increasingly popular tool in business generically however it is also becoming an integral gadget for delivering business presentations.  This main reason for this is that it is free however it has the following advantages:

• It facilitates uploading audio-visuals such as images and videos
• It allows users to collaborate in real time, meaning that last minute edits, or brain storming sessions are simple
• It is easy to add text and create presentations
• It has a major advantage over PowerPoint in that you can allow anyone to see or edit your presentation
• This is extremely useful for global organisations as it provides a central platform where information can be shared and manipulated
• You can also upload your own PowerPoint files for sharing

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the use of computing resources (hardware and software) that are delivered as a service over a network (i.e. the Internet). This is a great gadget for business presentations for the following reasons:

• You can access the presentation from any PC anywhere in the world as long as you have a connection to the internet and a web browser.
• Offsite data redundancy is stronger than the backups most business users have in place meaning that if your hard drive crashes or if your lose your pen drive or computer, you don’t need to worry that your data has gone missing with it.
• Operations are streamlined
• Hosting costs and resources are reduced
• Overall it’s a safer place to store important information like your presentation

Zoho Show

Zoho show is a popular browser and app based presentation tool, it allows users to easily create and deliver presentations on the move. This is great for users who are refining their presentation on the move and is the perfect way to add last minute changes. There are many reasons that this gadget is great for business presentations.  These include:

• You can access your presentations from anywhere
• You can import presentations with any format
• Its quick and easy to use and make amendments
• You can publish presentation in blogs/ websites
• Presentations can be shared so that you can collaborate with your team across the globe
• You can incorporate audio-visual including images, animation and video and slide transition effects.
• Broadcast your presentations anywhere in the world including to audiences in different time zones

Slideshare

Though not strictly a gadget, Slideshare is one of the most popular tools for presentations.  It is almost like a social network for presentations, with users being able to share their slides with millions of users. Features include:

• Content can be spread virally via things like blogs and social networks. Some users have found an increase in traffic and social signals due to their presentation being referenced and discussed in blog posts and social signals, this sort of exposure reaffirms that the speaker is an expert in their field, and subsequently can lead to new business and new, important business contacts.

• Anyone can view the presentations/ documents

• Documents can be downloaded and manipulated for individual benefit

• Documents can be embedded in presentations, blogs, PDFS you tube etc.

The hardware and software gadgets which enhance business presentations illustrated are really just a handful of what is available on and offline today.  Study the gadgets unique features and benefits before choosing one for your business presentations.  For example someone wanting to share their presentation globally will need a different gadget to someone who wants to track the hits the presentation receives.  However whatever the desired outcome, there will be a great gadget to achieve this.