What do you do if you encounter technical difficulties during your presentation and how do you avoid them in the first place?
The first thing you want to do when you encounter a technical problem while presenting is not to look panicked or sound panicked. I realize this is the time when you are most panicked so what I’m asking you to do seems hard, but realize that I am telling you it’s OK to FEEL panicked—just don’t tell or show anyone. For example, one day I was giving a PowerPoint presentation and I had forgotten to plug my computer in. Since this was an all day training presentation, the computer went dead in the middle of my presentations.
I could have blurted out “Oh my God, I’m a fool! I forgot to plug in my power chord!”
But I didn’t. Inwardly I’m thinking I’m Homer Simpson saying “d’uh” to myself and thinking about slapping my hand to my forehead. But outwardly I continued talking about the subject at hand. Then I threw a question to an audience member. While he was talking, I quickly opened my computer bag, pulled out my power cord, plugged in the computer, turned it on, and hoped the PowerPoint presentation would come back alive in a couple of minutes. It did! And no one in my audience had any idea there had ever been a problem.
More Insights from TJ Walker & Jess Todtfeld
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Upcoming Events
March 30, 2010
9:00 pm
During this TeleClass TJ will discuss:
- How to create action when you speak
- Body language: A few small changes equal big results
- PowerPoint: How to avoid putting people to sleep
- The best ways to quickly put your presentation together
- The secret to knowing every message and every PowerPoint slide without memorizing them!
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