Comments on: When Technology Fails

By: Michele

Michele — Sun, 20 May 2007 18:27:21 +0000

I am a professor at 3 Nashville-area universities, and I regularly force students to practice presenting while I foul up their technology. Now I can also hand them a copy of a blog from a CEO that preaches the same thing I do in class. Thanks, Mike!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 04 May 2007 14:51:29 +0000

One time I attended a contest for Toastmasters. It was at a local county building with public access. In the middle of one of the speeches, a guy walked into the room playing a trumpet. If you’ve heard one, you know it’s very loud. All the speaker could do was stop until some of the participants escorted the guy out the door. Then the speaker calmly picked up where she had left off and continued with the speech.

By: Brian Penney

Brian Penney — Fri, 04 May 2007 06:30:15 +0000

This is a common enough problem that some grad schools actually teach to it through variations of a certain exercise : one has to give a talk on a carousel of slides that one has never seen before. Although this is usually done for edification or entertainment (such sa the department Christmas party) the lesson is very good: be prepared to talk no matter what the projector throws at you!

By: Dave Anthold

Dave Anthold — Fri, 04 May 2007 00:09:10 +0000

This is so true. I like being prepared and whenever I feel rushed and miss doing certain routine things like checking, I always get a little wary that something will go wrong. Being flustered certainly doesn’t help the situation. Thanks for the observations.

By: Scott Schwertly

Scott Schwertly — Thu, 03 May 2007 23:42:56 +0000

I love this quote from Guy Kawasaki:

“If there’s no projector when you show up for a meeting, it’s your fault. If your laptop and the projector don’t work together, it’s your fault. If the bulb blows out in the middle of your pitch, it’s your fault. If you start slowly, seem disorganized, and look dishelved, it’s your fault.”

Here are some other practical tips:

1. If you have an iPod, save your presentation on it. There is a program called iPresent It which will allow you to use your iPod as a back-up.
2. Bring extra batteries for your presentation remote
3. Double tie your shoes
4. Bring an extension cord
5. Bring back-up speakers
6. Never use a handkerchief if you are sweating. Use your hands instead.

By: Josh D

Josh D — Thu, 03 May 2007 21:53:35 +0000

thanks for that, I enjoyed reading it!

By: Joshua

Joshua — Thu, 03 May 2007 19:36:22 +0000

I’m surprised one of your suggestions wasn’t “4. Use a Mac.” Okay, I kid, I kid. But there’s nothing worse than seeing MSN messenger pop ups during a powerpoint or spyware, etc.. just completely take over a computer and cause it to lock or misbehave during a presentation.

I find many business PC users are not quite “up” on their computers and their little IBM laptops have more malware on them than actual useful software. I’ve seen more presentations destroyed by this than I can count. I think a big thing is to have a company laptop that only gets used for presentations and nothing else. A clean machine, reducing the risk of a disaster by 80%.