Projection screens can come in different types and sizes such as front, rear, wide screen, reflective, solid, or non-solid. Projection screens come in handy for recreation purposes or business uses, when you need to hold a conference or presentation. There are a variety of brands in the market that deal in projection screens, with the most well-known being Draper, Epson and Da-Lite.

Front projection screens are by far the most popular, since rear projection screens often require building a projection booth. However, for specialized or high-end applications, rear projection screens have several advantages such as the ability to display quality images in near-normal room lighting, eliminating distractions from the projection equipment, and allowing the presenter to walk in front of the screen.

A projection screen is a device which consists of a support structure and a usually white and somewhat reflective surface that is used for displaying projected images for the viewing audience. These screens can be installed for use in a conference room, with a home theatre, a movie theater, painted on the wall, or as semi-permanent or mobile. Screen surfaces of the white matte variety are the most popular for computer projections because of their ability to display high levels of detail. Glass-beaded or pearlescent surfaces are not recommended for computer displays, but they have very good performance with video images.

Gain is the measure of reflectivity of the projection screen surface. A screen with high gain will reflect more light back to the audience, allowing the room lights to be brighter without washing out the image. However, the tradeoff with high-gain screens is a loss in the viewing angles, with the audience members seated at a perpendicular angle to the screen being able to view the images better than those at other angles.

Pull-down screens have a multipurpose uses. They are very convenient, because you do not need too much space to install the screen. This can work well for conference rooms for the same reason. Electric screens are those that can be mounted on the wall or ceiling. These projection screens are usually large in size and are quite similar to pull-down screens. However, instead of the screen being pulled down manually, an electric motor lowers and raises the screen. This can be done through a wall-mounted switch or a remote control. Certain projectors are equipped with an interface that connects to the screen. This mechanism automatically lowers the screen when the projector is switched on and raises it automatically when the projector is switched off.

These days, portable projection screens have become an extremely convenient option for people to travel out of office to deliver presentations. A portable or a mobile screen can be pulled down onto a free stand, and are used when it is impractical or not possible to mount the screen to a ceiling or a wall. They are user-friendly and can be assembled in matter of minutes. Portable projector screens are also quite affordable because of the increased competition and number of available options. The lightest projector screens are very easy to carry around.

• Room lighting – Whereas a dark room is usually preferred, in most business settings some lights need to be on in order to take notes and audience interaction. The more lights that need to be turned on, the brighter the projector you’ll need.
• Room size – In a large room with many people, the image needs to be larger and the projector further from the screen. The larger the room and image, the brighter the projector needs to be.
• Usage – Projectors used for training and working groups, where much detail needs to be seen, need to be brighter than those used for graphics and video, which are more likely to be seen in a dark room.
• Projection Screen – A high-quality projection screen provides substantial light reflection, enhancing even a low-brightness projector’s image.  

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• LCD Projectors - Liquid Crystal Display projectors. Also known as LCD projectors, create images by light projection through transparent LCD panels. They usually have three separate panels for red, green and blue colors. However, single-panel models are in production that are more portable and less expensive. However, the contrast and resolution in these models is lusually lower. In general, LCD projectors produce high contrasts and good colors that result in a good image quality even in dimly lit or partially lit rooms. However, since light is projected through small pixels, the resulting picture can look blocky or pixilated; this effect is known as the “screen door” effect. The number of pixels in a chip of the LCD determines the image resolution of the LCD Projector. 
• DLP Projectors - A Digital Light Processing, or DLP projector, creates images by the projection of light through a transparent chip into a minute mirror. This results in high definition and high quality images. They are great for both home theater and office use. And unlike LCD projectors, they do not produce a screen door effect. DLP projectors produce very high quality pictures and images with high contrast and vivid colors while at the same time using very little energy. 
• Native resolution - This is the measure of the standard image in pixels that is projected on the screen. Higher resolution results in higher detail in displaying pictures, but projectors featuring high resolution is significantly more expensive. When you select a projector you have to take into account requirements such as live feeds, full motion video or standard PowerPoint slides. To find out how your presentation will look at a certain resolution, use your computer monitor to get a rough idea of the level of detail that can be displayed. The most common resolutions available in modern projectors are: SVGA (800 x 600) and XGA (1,024 x 768). These resolutions should suffice for most types of business presentations. 
• ANSI lumens - This is the common scale that is used to determine the brightness of a projector. 1,000 lumens is the minimum amount of brightness for a small meeting room with the lights on. 2, 000 or higher lumens is better suited for presentation venues that are comparatively smaller, and lumens more than 3,500 is good for rooms that are larger. 
• Video Format Capability - The video format of a digital projector determines the kind of video data it can accept. Normally, most projectors on the market offer all three kinds of video formatting, namely NTSC, PAL and SECAM.

Now that we've defined these terms, we'll explain how to choose a projector for your particular situation in the next article in the series.

• Outline your plans and main points before starting to work on your presentation. You must remember that the main purpose of a presentation is to share information on an interactive level with the audience. Preferably, this information is such that they cannot acquire it simply by reading a readily accessible book, article or handout. Therefore, you must ensure to cover all the main points that are of interest to your audience. The presentation should offer something different that will act as a magnet to attract the interest of your viewers, so figure out what that extra something is that you can offer to the audience to give them that "wow" factor that separates most presentations from the truly effective ones.
  
  
• Do extensive research on the background of your audience, their needs, and factors such as age and gender, their level of familiarity with your subject matter, and what their expectations might be. Take into account the purpose of the presentation in the first place, and try not to deviate from the main theme. You need to respect the fact that the viewer has also taken time out to attend your talk, so the speech should reflect appropriate effort and impart information that is appropriate to their needs.
• No matter how attractive or professional the supporting visuals to your presentation or delivery are, you will succeed only if the presentation is based on content that is informative and solid. Try not to bore the listener with too much unnecessary information; stick to simplicity. Also, be careful not to confuse simplicity with condescension; the audience shall not be taken for granted or assumed to be ignorant. This is where your research regarding the audience's background will help most.
• The structure of the presentation shall be sound, clear and forceful. Without this, even the most appealing delivery, style or visuals will fall flat. It is difficult to design an understandable structure if your objectives are not clear . It is not enough to have a rough road map or a general agenda that pertains to your presentation; it is clarity and flow that is important. In fact, the audience might get exasperated if the presentation lacks focus or is muddled.
• When you are in the process of building your content, try to visualize yourself in the place of your audience. Try to figure out what points would interest them and what answers they would like to know. If the content fails to interest you, do you really think your viewer will care about it? So plan out your speech accordingly. A presentation can be called successful if the audience remembers even three points from the talk.
• Stories and anecdotes are an integral part of a good presentation. The best presenters interweave their content and material with lots of illustrations and personal stories. These anecdotes are also easy to remember and have good recall value. However, a story or an illustration should be concise, crisp and to the point and should support the main content.

In the end, it is vital to remember that it is your level of confidence that will help you out in even the trickiest situations. The key to turn up the confidence level is to get plenty of practice and rehearsals before the actual event. That will ensure that fear and anxiety that is produced from unforeseen events is removed. This in turn will raise your level of self belief and confidence which will help you in making the best presentation possible.

• Be Prepared - The most important rule is to be prepared. The more you practice your speech, the more fluent and natural you’ll sound when the time comes. Use personal stories and examples wherever possible in your speech. These should not be included blindly, but should, in some way or another, support or emphasize your point. The examples should match the message you are trying to send through your presentation.
   
• Stay calm - Appear calm and relaxed during the course of the speech; do not give in to hyperactivity or nervousness. Also, do not focus on the audience, but on the subject matter of your speech. Use unhurried gestures such as walking patterns and small hand movements. It is important to remember that your audience takes exactly thirty seconds to judge you. Include humorous anecdotes in your speech, but unless you’re purposely trying to be overtly funny, at no point should you mimic a stand up comedian.
   
• Practice Your Body Language - You can practice voice modulation beforehand in order to adjust the tone of your voice so that it complements your message. A powerful voice makes a deeper impression on the mind of the audience. Avoid hunching your shoulders or making nervous gestures; your body language should communicate that you are comfortable and confident.. You should plan out your hand and body positions. Pick three positions, one to your right, one on center stage and one to your left to include every one on different sides of the room, Ensure that you bring along plenty of handouts and visual aids; visual displays are much more effective in communicating your message than words alone.
   
• Use Visuals - You should grab the viewer’s attention by having visuals that illustrate your main points Make sure to take advantage of the presentation software to make your points as compelling as possible. You need to have access to adequate presentation equipment, such as a good projector and a projection screen to provide an effective display surface. In some cases, multimedia presentations with sound and video may help drive your message more effectively.
   
• Start with an Outline - It is advisable to devote some time to making an outline of your presentation before you embark upon the project of creating slides. This will help you save time and result in a more effective and clear presentation. Always remember that presentations that are designed for screen viewing not always come out the same way when you print them. For instance, dark backgrounds may look good on screen, but they may not look the same in print. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the differences for screen versus print presentation handouts.
   
• Know Your Tools - It is extremely important to have slides that communicate your important points with the utmost clarity. In fact, it takes very little effort to go from basic to brilliant. A host of tools are provided by Microsoft PowerPoint that will keep your slides precise, consistent and professional. You should customize the appearance and positioning of the entire layout using a slide master and professionally-designed slide templates. Try to make a variety of formatting changes, and see that you space out your slides effectively. Choose images that have a purpose when you use graphics on a slide. At no point should the slides get too crowded with unnecessary add-ons.
   
• Graphics Clarify Your Message - Create diagrams and charts to emphasize your main points. Slide transitions and animation should be used sparingly and consistently. Too much of them could distract from your presentation’s content. In fact, animation should be limited to key points in order to avoid overwhelming your audience. Graphics, layouts and custom colors can do a lot for your presentation. However, a presentation that has too many disparate colors and fonts, or a misaligned flow chart will not make a very good impression.

These key points will really help in making your presentation effective. Remember that at the end of it all what matters is whether the audience has actually been able to grasp your key messages. Thorough preparation along with strategic visuals and multimedia  go a long way in making powerful presentations.

• Don't be Afraid of Looking Foolish - When you are addressing a roomful of people, the most common cause for your apprehension is the fact that you think you might end up doing something foolish in the course of the seminar; and this is where most of us go wrong. It is imperative to remember that the audience is attending the talk because you have more knowledge of the subject than them, and that they want to learn more from you. So basically, you are imparting knowledge to them. This should make you feel a lot more confident and less awkward about standing in front of them.
• Visualize Your Audience as Friends - The trick is to overcome your fear by using your imagination. Try to visualize the audience as your family and friends instead of thinking of them as strangers; this will reduce your fear quotient. If you are still not comfortable, then try to avoid eye contact with any one person in particular. Try to focus on a wall or the door at the back of the room. However, do not look at the floor or the ceiling while you are performing your speech.
  
  
• Know Your Material - The greatest boost to your confidence on stage is knowing your information well; it is vital that you research your material in great depth. At no point should you get into areas you know little about. Most of the awkwardness comes from the constant fear that you might forget the lines of your speech. In this case, it is best to prepare a small paper with all the major points that you are going to cover, noted down neatly. If you think that you are going to forget an important topic, just take a quick peek at the paper for quick reference.
• Rehearse your Speech - It helps to do some role playing prior to delivering the speech. At home, you can walk around your living room and have a thorough speech rehearsal. You can ask members of your family to sit in front of you as an audience. Ask for their feedback regarding tone of voice, pace, and depth of material. If you have rehearsed, you will feel more confident, and it will be easier for you to fall into the groove when you are actually making that speech.
• Get There Early - It is a good idea to arrive at the seminar hall where you are going to speak a little earlier than everyone else. Walk around the room and try to familiarize yourself with the room. If you're using visuals (always recommended), set up the projector and screen and make sure everything works. Few things will make you more uncomfortable than fumbling around with technical details in front of an impatient audience. Go stand on the podium and ask the staff to turn on the lights. This way you won't feel daunted or overwhelmed when you enter the room. Most of the time, people get nervous just looking at the size of the room they are speaking in. So if you get accustomed to the room, much of your nervousness will disappear.
• Mistakes are OK - At the end of the day, you have to remember that it's human to make mistakes or feel nervous, so it's okay if you fumble at some point. The people who are watching you will not think less of you for a simple mistake. In fact, they may realize that they may have done a similar thing if they were in your place, and they will empathize with you. In case you do make a gaffe while speaking, lighten up the moment with some humor. Humor is a great ice breaker and can be used throughout the speech at various points. It brings energy and interest, and makes your presentation more entertaining. If you feel you're not confident enough for a stand-up style routine, go ahead and do a quiet, self-deprecating style.

Relax, fight off that nervousness, go ahead and give a great speech. Keep in mind that to your audience you're the expert, and if you have prepared adequately, they will appreciate your sharing your knowledge with them.

Do you have any public speaking anecdotes that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear them! Please post your funny speech tales or horror stories in or Comments section.