Controlling presentations with intuitive gestures and multiple touch ought to make presenting more natural and relaxed. But are the new touchscreen tablets a breakthrough in presentation technology, or an interesting diversion? Apple, Microsoft and Google have each come up with their own solution and, not surprisingly, seem to have widely differing opinions on what we all need. 
Several of my clients have needed to demonstrate their software systems. My Configurative system allows us to create a full simulation of almost any system. It uses realistic, dummy data to bring the functionality to the presentation without the complexity of connecting ot a live system.
If you've ever been frustrated by PowerPoint's inability to deliver that great presentation idea, you'll understand what led me to develop Configurative. It's the name I gave to the presentation system I've built over the years, and I have to confess to a significant degree of pride in what it can do. Come and see what I mean...
are you sitting comfortably?
In general it's a good idea to keep things fairly low-key, and to make sure the presenter always has something to do. Background music and sound effects will probably be intrusive, and asking your audience to "watch this video" is guaranteed to leave all of you feeling uncomfortable.
Demonstrate and Interact
The relaxed atmosphere of a small presentation makes it a great environment to make it into a more interactive process. So you could demonstrate your software product in detail, as HSBC Merchant Services do, or invite the audience to experiment with the numbers, as Domestic & General do. We can even set the system to capture the audience's responses, either for analysis and upload back at base, or to build a personalised proposal for your customer.
fit for purpose
PC or Mac?
A new, sleek laptop is a status symbol, and there are few things sleeker than a MacBook. So should you go down the Apple or the Windows route? This is a good point to make a brief mention of technologies.
Like the 1960s Lambretta/Vespa disputes, the war between Mac and PC users is unlikely to end soon. I'll declare myself straight away as a PC man, but in fairness it's really down to personal preference. Mac is slicker, PC is more versatile.
PowerPoint vs. Keynote
Apple's Keynote presentation software has earned itself a well-deserved reputation. Overall it has the edge on Microsoft's ubiquitous PowerPoint. But, as for everything Apple, it has the disadvantage that you won't find it on every machine. To overcome this, Apple proudly boasts import and export to and from PowerPoint. A great idea if only it worked.
Anyone who's tried to share presentations across different versions of PowerPoint will attest to the fact that PowerPoint itself isn't that great at importing and exporting its own files, so Apple can't really be blamed if their implementation shows glitches. If cross-platform presentations are important to you then you have to test very carefully that Keynote and PowerPoint agree about how things should look...
...or choose Configurative
Configurative, the presentation software I developed in-house is a genuinely dual-platform solution. Using it, we can produce presentations that work exactly the same on Windows or Mac's OS. In fact, if you let us know in advance that it's what you need, we can even build it so that you can drop your memory stick, CD or DVD into either computer and get exactly the same, slick, polished presentation.taking the tablets
The new generation of touch-screen tablet computers has introduced a completely new set of variables to the small-audience presentation equation. Frustratingly, there are few cut and dried answers.
You can see our views on whether to adopt tablet technology, and which type to go for if you do, on our Tablet Presentations page.