When Technology Fails
We have no idea how much we rely on technology in our lives until it fails us. When it fails, it is like losing one of our arms. As an event planner, about 90% of my work is computer-based, which makes it incredibly convenient to work at home, on the road, communicate with people far away, work on presentations, and basically run my life. However, there are times when technology fails and it is important to know how to deal with that.
I was at a meeting last week where one of my co-workers, Kelley, was giving a presentation on behalf of the Dean. We are going to be completing a strategic forecasting as a school and we were receiving a brief about the process. Unfortunately for Kelley, the computer was not displaying her PowerPoint... then it was, but the remote to advance the slides was not... then the mouse and keyboard weren't working... then it was. It went on like this the entire presentation.
Kelley, the professional that she is, vowed to push forward without the visual presentation to supplement her message. Over the course of the 30 minutes that she spoke, the PowerPoint worked intermittently. I noticed how distracted it made Kelley as she struggled to try and give us the message. On one hand she did not need to rely on the PowerPoint to give her presentation, but on the other hand it did help her outline her topics. I could tell that Kelley was torn on whether or not to abandon the technology altogether. She continued to fight with it throughout the presentation. I think she was relieved when she managed to fumble through the presentation with the broken technology. While it didn't go as planned, she did the best she could with what she had.
This situation could happen to any of us. I have had our audience response system fail for my faculty in the past, and luckily they adapt to the situation as it arises. As a planner, I always test the technology in advance to ensure that it works, but technology can surprise you. Here are some tips for when technology fails.
I was at a meeting last week where one of my co-workers, Kelley, was giving a presentation on behalf of the Dean. We are going to be completing a strategic forecasting as a school and we were receiving a brief about the process. Unfortunately for Kelley, the computer was not displaying her PowerPoint... then it was, but the remote to advance the slides was not... then the mouse and keyboard weren't working... then it was. It went on like this the entire presentation.
Kelley, the professional that she is, vowed to push forward without the visual presentation to supplement her message. Over the course of the 30 minutes that she spoke, the PowerPoint worked intermittently. I noticed how distracted it made Kelley as she struggled to try and give us the message. On one hand she did not need to rely on the PowerPoint to give her presentation, but on the other hand it did help her outline her topics. I could tell that Kelley was torn on whether or not to abandon the technology altogether. She continued to fight with it throughout the presentation. I think she was relieved when she managed to fumble through the presentation with the broken technology. While it didn't go as planned, she did the best she could with what she had.
This situation could happen to any of us. I have had our audience response system fail for my faculty in the past, and luckily they adapt to the situation as it arises. As a planner, I always test the technology in advance to ensure that it works, but technology can surprise you. Here are some tips for when technology fails.
- Know your material. There was a time that technology wasn't an essential part of our lives. The best presenters know their materials in, out, and through. This allows you to remain calm in the event that something unexpected happens during your presentation.
- Practice, practice, practice. It is important to take the time to review your presentation repeatedly. In graduate school I had to teach a lesson for almost 3 hours!! The idea of presenting something for 3 hours was daunting. I didn't think I could speak for that long. After I knew the material and organized my presentation I began to practice, and practice, and practice. My presentation was very well received. Everyone learned a lot about entertainment law during those 3 hours and it was a success.
- Think about the "what if?" The instance I described above was just one of many things that could happen during a presentation. It is vitally important that you are prepared. Whether the microphone stops working, the PowerPoint slid`es won't display or advance, or materials you wanted to provide weren't printed on time, you should think about what could happen.
- Visualize. I'm sure you're heard imagine the audience in their underwear when you have to give a speech, but I'm not sure that this technique is used all that often. The point of doing something like this is to put you at ease knowing that you are not as exposed as the people you are speaking to. However, when I say visualize I really mean think about how you will give the presentation. It is similar to meditating and provides a calming effect when you have to give a speech.
- Have a back-up plan. This refers to the "what-if" scenarios. Not only do you have to think about the problems that could arise, you also need to think about how to solve them if they do happen. Knowing your back-up plan can help keep you calm in what will likely be a stressful situation. Thinking about completing a presentation without these extra tools will be vital. Surprisingly, your audience may respond even better without the technology and materials to supplement your speech.
- Use your experience. The more you do presentations, the better you will become. If you've had a microphone squeal at you in the past and you survived, you have some tools on how to deal with this type of situation. Bad situations are temporary. If you can learn from a glitch in the past then you are more prepared to deal with it in the future.