Train The Trainer at SoftUni (Mistake 10 of 50): IDEs Not Demo Ready

10 train the trainer posts! Let’s get into something very specific for post 10 after discussing something general like the Duplicate / Extend feature in the previous one.

Mistake: The IDEs, script windows, etc. are not demo ready.

Why is this a problem: As a technical trainer you want your demos to be as simple and easy to understand from your audience as possible. Thus, if the font size of your script window is small or if when you mark a piece of code and the code becomes hard to see(many times the default settings are doing exactly that) you are not helping yourself.

Solution: A few things: 

1. Download ZoomIt and learn how to use it – when you need to show something to the audience, zoom it. The main key combination is CTRL + 1, but there is more, so spend 30 minutes learning it.
2. Prepare your IDEs / Script Windows:
   1. Bump the font size – 11pt (the default for many) is not OK! 
   2. If possible, change the color that the IDE uses when you mark a piece of code. I use yellow for SSMS. You may need some other color for your environment. (screenshots below)
3. In case you are showing a console window or something like a PowerShell window, make sure the background color and the font color contrast well. For example, on a Windows machine, I will always change the font color in CMD.exe to green. 

Here, now you are 10 steps closer to becoming a great trainer. ?

Next: Read Mistake 11: Not saying your name?

Have any comment or just want to add even more to the topic? Please do so in the comments!