Presentation Backups on the Road

As a speaker and entertainer, I’m meticulous about backups so that I can provide the highest quality presentation given nearly any situation. Having backup options gives you margin should something go wrong…and it can. It also increases your confidence to know that you are fully prepared so that you can give your best.

In many of my presentations I use Apple’s quality Keynote application on my MacBook Pro to display background slides. My system of backups allow the presentation to continue in case something goes wrong.

Here are some things that could go wrong and the backup solutions I have to cover the problem:

1. If my computer would fail to boot (hard drive or software installation problem) – I have a mobile hard drive with a complete, up-to-date, and tested BOOTABLE backup of my entire hard drive. I would connect this hard drive via FireWire or USB2 and startup my computer with that. This copy is made using SuperDuper.
2. If my computer would fail to turn on (completely unusable) or I’m unable to connect my computer to the projector for some reason –  I have a copy of the presentation copied to a USB thumb/flash drive (formatted for Windows) in both Keynote, PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF format. This can be copied to another Macintosh with Keynote…or even a Windows PC running PowerPoint or Adobe Acrobat Reader in an emergency. I also place a copy of my presentation on my DropBox…so it is available remotely even if my computer and thumb drive were stolen.
3. If no computers are available to run the presentation – My iPod/iPhone also has an export of the slides from my presentation transferred from iTunes. This way I could run the presentation off of my iPod using the video out. I also have a copy of the presentation with the iOS version of Keynote on my iPad. Using the correct video cables I could run the presentation from this device.

This should give you an idea of how to plan for many unexpected presentation situations. As mechanical devices hard drives fail all the time, emergencies happen, or your laptop could be stolen. Fortunately, I haven’t had to use these options…but I feel confident and assured that “the show will go on”.