netbook public speaking

My wife asked me to give a talk to her group. I used my Asus 901 netbook for the first time in my talks.

I do a lot of public speaking but this is the first time actually with the computer in front of me. My speaking topics are all in my computer anyway. The documents that support the topics are in the computer too. Any questions from the group I can search key words and drop right in the topic.

I used my netbook in a split screen. Yes, small but doable. On the left were my talking topics set up as tabs. On the right were the documents that support my talks in tabs. For instance if I talk about five job requirements overseas (tabbed as visa, income, housing, family/friend support and health), on the right are tabbed documents to support each topic tab. When I hit the visa tab I get the documents that refer to visa requirements. When I hit the health tab I get the documents that refer to national health programs.

It's sort of a Powerpoint on the screen for me to use or a database with linked documents. It functioned well. I could hold the netbook in my left hand while I talked, scroll with the track pad as I needed and click on tabs with the cursor. If I had a stand in front of me I could have used a wireless mouse.

I don't know who uses a computer to give talks. Maybe a college professor? A politician? Maybe you? How does a computer help you prepare or make a presentation? Are you a nutritionist with lots of topics and lots of supporting documents? A fireman who talks to schools?