pages tagged publicspeakingFeeding the Cloudhttps://feeding.cloud.geek.nz/tags/publicspeaking/Feeding the Cloudikiwiki2021-06-11T20:43:57ZPresenting from a separate user accounthttps://feeding.cloud.geek.nz/posts/presenting-from-a-separate-user-account/
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2021-06-11T20:43:57Z2013-09-18T05:04:00Z
<p>While I suspect that professional speakers have separate presentation
laptops that they use only to give talks, I don't do this often enough to
justify the hassle and cost of a separate machine. However, I do use a
separate user account to present from.</p>
<p>It allows me to focus on my presentation and not stress out about running
into configuration problems or exposing private information. But mostly, I
think it's about removing anything that could be distracting for the
audience.</p>
<p>The great thing of having a separate user for this is that you can do whatever
you want in your normal account and still know that the other account is ready
to go and configured for presenting on a big screen.</p>
<h1 id="Basics">Basics</h1>
<p>The user account I use when giving talks is called <code>presenter</code> and it has
the same password as my main user account, just to keep things
simple. However, it doesn't need to belong to any of the UNIX groups that my
main user account belongs to.</p>
<p>In terms of configuration, it looks like this:</p>
<ul>
<li>power management and screen saver are turned off</li>
<li>all sound effects are turned off</li>
<li>window manager set to the default one (as opposed to a <a href="http://awesome.naquadah.org/">weird tiling one</a>)</li>
<li>desktop notifications are turned off</li>
</ul>
<p>Of course, this user account only has the software I need while
presenting. You won't find an instant messaging, IRC or Twitter client
running on there.</p>
<p>The desktop only has the icons I need for the presentation: slides and
backup videos (in case the network is down and/or prevents me from doing a
live demo).</p>
<h1 id="Web_browsers">Web browsers</h1>
<p>While I usually have my presentations in PDF format (for maximum
compatibility, you never know when you'll have to borrow someone else's
laptop), I use web browsers (different ones to show that my demos work with
all of them) all the time for demos.</p>
<p>Each browser:</p>
<ul>
<li>clears everything (cookies, history, cache, etc.) at the end of the session</li>
<li>has the site I want to demo as the homepage</li>
<li>only contains add-ons or extensions I need for the demos</li>
<li>has the minimal number of toolbars and doesn't have any bookmarks</li>
<li>has search suggestions turned off</li>
<li>never asks to remember passwords</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="Terminal_and_editors">Terminal and editors</h1>
<p>Some of my demos may feature coding demos and running scripts, which is why
I have my terminal and editor set to:</p>
<ul>
<li>a large font size</li>
<li>a color scheme with lots of contrast</li>
</ul>
<p>It's all about making sure that the audience can see everything and follow
along easily.</p>
<p>Also, if you have the <a href="http://packages.debian.org/stable/sl">sl</a> package installed system-wide, you'll
probably want to put the following in your <code>~/.bashrc</code>:</p>
<pre><code>alias sl="ls"
alias LS="ls"
</code></pre>
<h1 id="Rehearsal">Rehearsal</h1>
<p>It's very important to <strong>rehearse the whole presentation using this
account</strong> to make sure that you have everything you need and that you are
comfortable with the configuration (for example, the large font size).</p>
<p>If you have access to a projector or a digital TV, try connecting your
laptop to it. This will ensure that you know how to change the <strong>resolution
of the external monitor</strong> and to turn <strong>mirroring</strong> ON and OFF ahead of time
(especially important if you never use the default window manager or desktop
environment). I keep a shortcut to the display settings in the sidebar.</p>
<h1 id="Localization">Localization</h1>
<p>Another thing I like to do is to set my <strong>operating system and browser
locales</strong> to the one where I am giving a talk, assuming that it is a western
language I can understand to some extent.</p>
<p>It probably doesn't make a big difference, but I think it's a nice touch and
a few people have commented on this in the past. My theory is that it might
be less distracting to the audience if they are shown the browser UI and
menus they see every day. I'd love to have other people's thoughts on this
point though.</p>
<p>Also, pay attention to the <strong>timezone</strong> since it could be another source of
distraction as audience members try to guess what timezone your computer is
set to.</p>
<h1 id="Anything_else.3F">Anything else?</h1>
<p>If you also use a separate account for your presentations, I'd be curious to
know whether there are other things you've customised. If there's anything I
missed, please leave a comment!</p>