I’ve been working on a PowerPoint presentation recently and and found the twin monitor set-up we run for CAD a huge help. Being able to run the the application on one screen, editing content/animation/timing, while having the slide-show running continuously on the other to check the results is an enormous productivity boost.
It’s not an uncommon set-up for CAD/Graphics these days but I think a twin monitor set-up is probably the best productivity gain for any user given the low cost of screens. There are few tasks that require only one application, email + another at least, and as soon as you need two a twin screen saves loads of unproductive clicks showing/hiding windows.
Not everyone has access to the hardware for this, if you don’t this tip from the PowerPoint Blog achieves close to the same functionality on a single monitor.
The PowerPoint® Blog - Simultaneously View & Edit Presentations
