Open Day Presenter Instructions

Even a beautiful deck fails if the presenter races, skips Q&A, or has no plan when the projector sleeps.

Dr. Helen Marsh presents NorthgateOpenDay.pptx at 10:30 in the Main Hall. She follows speaker notes, pauses after tour times, takes questions at the contact slide, and James Okonkwo has a PDF handout ready if Slide Show crashes.

This lesson is the human side of Open Day — the slides support Dr. Helen Marsh; they do not replace her voice. Practice once with Presenter View and a timer. Aim for two minutes per content slide, not thirty seconds.

Speaker notes are your script, not extra slides. Write full sentences you can read at a glance:

Tour schedule slide notes: "Mention sports block tours leave every thirty minutes from the Main Hall. Pause. Ask if anyone needs step-free access — direct them to Reception."

Keep notes under the slide in Normal view. The audience never sees them when Presenter View is set up correctly. During the live talk, read the full script from speaker notes in Presenter View on the laptop — not from extra text boxes on the slide.

Pause after each major bullet — count silently to two before advancing.

Face the audience, not the screen. Glance at Presenter View on the laptop; do not read bullets with your back to parents.

One click per idea. If a slide has three bullets with animations, advance once per bullet while you explain it.

Dr. Helen Marsh rehearses with Slide Show → Rehearse Timings once, then switches live sections back to On Mouse Click.

End the formal section on a Contact slide with email and website visible.

When a question repeats something on a hidden backup slide:

• 1Answer briefly in your own words
• 2Offer to show the backup slide if many parents need the detail
• 3Point to the handout for forms and deadlines

Train staff to repeat questions so the whole hall hears them. Use bullets as headings — expand with examples in your own words rather than reading every bullet word-for-word.

Technology fails. Prepare before Saturday 14 March 2026:

James Okonkwo exports NorthgateOpenDay.pptx as PDF the night before and stores a copy on a second device. Assign a floor manager to watch for raised hands, pass the mic, and restart Slide Show if needed.

Printed handouts help parents who miss details; they do not replace speaker notes for the presenter. PDF handouts show tour times and contact details parents can read after they leave the hall.

Example — Recover from a frozen show: If Slide Show freezes mid-talk: press Esc, reopen the file, then Slide Show → From Current Slide to jump back without restarting from slide 1. Rebooting the laptop takes minutes — try restarting the show first.