Speakers, What To Do When Your Computer Locks During Your Presentation
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 once when I was giving a presentation to a group of architects, engineers and contractors. The worst part was that my talk, Lessons from the Movies: Negotiating and Drafting Construction Contracts, absolutely required the use of a computer. 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.
- Embrace "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?
Image: Filippo Minelli
