It is a common thing for people to use the presentation venue’s computer to deliver their presentation. This computer is set up correctly and connected to the projector. Some people don’t want to take their own laptop with them because they don’t want to have to carry something like that around, they prefer using a USB disk instead. Whatever the reason, you’ll have to watch out for certain things. Here they are:

Make A Compatible PowerPoint Presentation File

Make sure to prepare the presentation in a way that it will open correctly when copied on another computer. Make sure to use standard fonts in your presentation. You can ask the staff about the version of PowerPoint is installed on the presentation computer. For any version of PowerPoint before 2003, please use .ppt instead of .pptx

Make Sure All The Media Files Are On The USB Disk

Make sure to Insert any pictures in the PowerPoint slides instead of adding them by copying files into PowerPoint. If you hyperlink any other files in the presentation, then copy them into the same folder.

What To Bring To This Presentation

Of course you’ll have to bring your USB disk with the presentation file(s) in it. You should also use a wireless remote control to change the slides yourself. Buy one that does not need additional drivers, so that it can be plugged into any computer. Take speaker’s notes and a printed copy of your presentations as well. If you’ve gone paperless, then keep that additional copy on your smart phone or tablet.

Delivering The Presentation On Another Computer

Take the USB disk to the presentation room. Plug it into the computer and open the presentation file. Make sure everything looks okay. Consider keeping files like these in a folder that is set as a cloud backup folder (using Dropbox, Box, One Drive, etc). This ensures that in the event that the USB disk fails for some reason, or you forget to bring it with you etc, you’ll still be able to download your presentation on your smartphone. You should be able to easily get it copied to the presentation computer via USB.

If you followed the above advice, then you should be able to give the presentation on another computer without any issues.