Ctrl-Alt-Delete: What Do You Do When Your Presentation Goes Bad?
You have a captive audience for 45 minutes. You've worked hard on your presentation: slides, transition, talking point, and animation. You are introduced. You click on the first slide. Nothing. Your computer locks and you feel the sweat trickle on your brow as you hit, ctrl-alt-del.
This exact scenario occurred this afternoon as I was speaking at the Nashville Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute. The worst part was that my talk, Lessons from the Movies: Negotiating and Drafting Construction Contracts, absolutely required the use of a Powerpoint presentation. So, there I stood, with two locked computers, a presentation that focused exclusively on movie clips, and a captive audience.
What should you do? Here are some tips when your presentation goes bad:
- Prepare for the "bad" before the presentation. Since I had problems with a similar presentation, I thought I was prepared by bringing two computers. Little did I know (or expect) that the second computer would not work either. Luckily, I printed out my presentation earlier in the day and had some written notes on the slides. I was able to adjust the presentation based upon my written notes.
- Implement "humility" in your presentation. When the first laptop went down, I chuckled. When the second laptop went down, I smiled. (I admit, I was not too happy on the inside!) Although I had some written notes, this mishap gave me an opportunity to show the real me. Rather than movie scenes, I talked about my marriage and children, which provided some good examples of negotiating and drafting contracts. I talked about my move from Washington to Nashville, which provided some good talking points about reputation and integrity. In other words, you can turn a bad situation into good by opening your own "book of life" and sharing some experiences. Be humble. They will understand.
- Remember the "point" of your presentation. Of course, a presentation that has embedded video clips may be "more polished" than the previous speakers at this event. However, you are presumably speaking because you have something to say ... some words of wisdom ... some advice. Understand that "you" are the presentation, which may help prepare you for those occasions when the laptop fails.
Question: What tips do you have for when the presentation goes bad?
Going in I remember Jesus had no modern technology - and so consider if content is strong and am strong in conviction, anything technology might add is bonus...
Glad you recovered! I was at a presentation recently in which the speaker froze when the powerpoint froze. He then proceeded to blame the "machine" for breaking and admit that he had not read the presentation. Awkward.
Its imperative that a speaker print out his slides in case the whole thing freezes.
Did your presentation have video clips included? I have never seen a slideshow with a video clip included work properly.
@Gary Good perspective. I generally say that the powerpoint is the icing on the cake. If the cake is bad, people won't care about the icing (...unless you are my wife who only eats the icing...)
@Chris Thanks for the comment. I've done imbedded video presentations many, many times without trouble. This week, I had two crashes that I think was due to a virus. Someone heckled from the audience, "Get a Mac!" Too funny.
I have, more and more, been trying to do presentations without Powerpoints at all.
I can do a lot of this when I am teaching classes. But conferences, local meetings, etc. seem to expect that one has such a presentation format. Part of it is being able to put something in Proceedings so people feel they "get something" from the event, even if they do not actually attend (all) the talks.
For me, many people's slide copies hold little meaning without the talk behind them.
Great idea to print out the presentation w/ notes. I'll be presenting in a couple of weeks and will take this idea with me.
It also reminds me of a presentation where the presenter could not move forward when her technology failed her. That presentation was on creativity!!
I think the main point is - to be a prepared speaker will take you farther than anything. You're right, they are there to hear you speak and presumably about a topic for which you are the expert.
Thanks for the insight!
@Scott and @Amy, thanks for the comments. The wake-up call for me was to actually "prepare" for catastrophe. Ask, what is the worse thing that could happen? And then have a back-up plan!