There are good reasons to blank out the screen during your presentation. You may be at a transition point and want to verbally begin a new section. You may be finished with the discussion of the previous image or message and don’t want it to linger inappropriately while you continue on. Or you may want to give the audience a visual pause and redirect their attention back to you.
I often build blank screens into my presentations to warn me that a transition is coming up so that I won’t prematurely disclose the next slide before I have orally set it up. There is no harm to be done — I can click right through it if it becomes unnecessary.
Create an actual blank slide or use the commands in PowerPoint or Keynote (press “B” for a black screen or “W” for a white screen) to temporarily pause the visuals in real time and give a blank screen. Many remote controls have a button that will accomplish this also.
It is another way of keeping the control of the timing and the display of the projected images so that you and your brilliance will be the proper focus of the presentation.
