Turn Your iPod into the Ultimate PowerPoint Accessory

This is the second in my series of posts on various gear that I find useful.

Many readers of this blog work in PR or marketing or for Web 2.0 related start-ups. This means you spend a lot of time preparing presentations in either Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple's Keynote. What's more, you probably also invest hours rehearsing and traveling to and from various meetings. Oh and if I were a betting man I'd say you carry an iPod. Well, whether you are on Windows or Mac with a few simple steps you can turn your iPod (even an older one) into the ultimate PowerPoint accessory. I am going to focus on PowerPoint here since it's what most people use. The process is similar for Keynote.

Getting Your Preso on Your iPod

First, you need to get your PowerPoint presentation on to your iPod. This is a snap. Head on over to ZappTek and download iPresent It. It's now available on both Windows and Mac (It was previously only available for Macs). iPresent It will take any PowerPoint or PDF file and convert it into a series of images that can be viewed as a slideshow on an iPod. It supports file tracking so you can easily update your slideshows whenever you make changes to a presentation. I have been testing the software and it works perfectly. iPresent It runs $17.95. Apple explains how to get these images on your iPod.

Using Your iPod to Rehearse

Now that you have your presentation on your iPod you need to rehearse. The iPod has everything you need to rehearse while you're on the go. This works best on either the latest fifth generation iPod or on the iPod Nano (though it's hard to see slide text on the latter). Simply navigate to the Stopwatch feature on your iPod and start the timer. Then, while the timer is still running navigate back to the Photos menu on your iPod, find your slide show and click it. You can run through the slides one by one or even run it as a slideshow complete with slide-to-slide builds. You can even keep music running in the background while you rehearse.

Hooking Your iPod Up to a Projector

Last but not least, it's actually possible to connect your iPod to a projector or a TV and run your presentation right off the device. I would test this out on different projectors before flying sans computer. This won't work with the iPod Nano. You also need either the Apple AV Connection Kit or their AV Cable to hook your iPod up to your projector. Presentation Zen (one of my favorite blogs) shows how nicely this works.

That's all there is to turing your iPod into the ultimate PowerPoint accessory.

Tags: ipod, powerpoint