Your Presentation Notebook organizes the information, handouts and tools you need to lead an event or workshop. It will help you to run your presentation smoothly. You prepare it in advace of the event. During the event, your notebook becomes a guide that contains all of the props and cues you need. In it you place, in sequential order, all of your materials, notes and handouts.

Tools Needed:

• A plan of events for your presentation
• All agendas, handouts and instructions sheets
• An 8.5 x 11 notebook
• Paper
• Hole punch
• Binder clips
• Sheet savers (plastic envelopes that hold 8.5 x 11 paper)
• Word processing program

Guidelines
After you design your workshop, set-up your Presentation Notebook use the following tips:

• Logistics. Did you ever have to ruffle through a pile of papers to find the directions to your event as you were driving to it? In the front pocket of the notebook, place any information about the workshop’s logistics. File materials that will get you to the correct place at the right times and ready to begin. Include site directions, contact information, room assignments and the event schedule.
• At the Site. When you arrive often you are busy greeting people and answering questions. At the same time, you also need to set-up your activities. Therefore on first page of your notebook, lists your set-up tasks. Insert any pre-made nametags here, or if bulky, make a note to retrieve them.
• Agenda. Have you ever been in the middle of a presentation and wondered about the time it officially ended? To answer this question, insert your workshop agenda into your notebook next.
• Key Points. You probably have more information to share than time to share it. Therefore, select your most critical points. To help you to cover them, note these comments on your computer before the event. Enlarge them to a font size of 14 so you can read them with a quick glance, then print them out, hole punch them and insert in the notebook.
• Group Instructions. Do you find that your attendees ask lots of questions about group tasks? To help them and avoid repeating yourself, draft instruction in advance to provide clarity. For small groups, i.e., ten or less, on your computer, write the instructions using 8.5 x 11 paper in a large font, like 60. Otherwise, note the instructions that you will post at the event in your notebook.
• Time Yourself. In the middle of a workshop have you ever been concerned that you might not have enough time for a critical activity? This will be in your past, if you label each event segment in your notes with the time you anticipate it starting and ending, i.e., 9:30-10 a.m.
• Double Up. Days when you lead several workshops, on the same topic, are busy. To prepare, bring multiple sheets of your instructions and place them in sheet savers in your notebook. That is, if you print the goals of the workshop, make one copy for each workshop you will lead that day. In this way you are ready to start again without re-sorting papers.
• Long-Term Sharing. Since one of your workshop goals is to provide attendees information about your organization, pack extra materials in your notebook like brochures, business cards, sign-up sheets and handouts.
• Other Practicalities. To run a workshop, you will need several other tools. If your binder has room, you can also use file markers, masking tape, etc. in a sheet saver using binder clips to close the top.

For more answers, check out this Nonprofit  CEO Library.

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