It’s happened to many of us, and we probably all dread it…
That moment when you’re about to start an important presentation…
The audience is watching, waiting, the tension is building…
You speak your opening words, go to change your first slide…
And the IT simply refuses to work.
Press, poke, even thump, do as you might, and however desperately, the presentation simply will not budge.
Aaaaaaaarrrggghhh!
I mention this not to trigger nervous sweats and nightmares, but because I saw it happen last week.
A presenter was giving an address to a large and prestigious conference.
She welcomed the audience, went to change slides, and launch into her talk…
Only for nothing to happen.
No matter what she pressed, or tried, nothing.
In fairness, she handled it well.
Made a joke, asked if the crowd had been enjoying the conference so far, talked about what a common issue IT problems could be…
Generally filled time, and kept the audience on side while the IT department came to the stage, worked their magic...
And after a couple of minutes everything was well.
But! It was an awkward hiatus, to say the least.
I knew the speaker had handled it incredibly well, because she got a round of applause when everything was fixed.
And the rest of the talk went smoothly, and indeed very well.
But the whole episode left me thinking about what to do in the event of such a horror.
The answer is that I always have a contingency plan.
Like the best of provisions, it’s simple.
But on the few occasions I’ve had to use it, I can happily say it has always worked.
The key is tapping into the common experience of the audience.
What have they all been doing, thinking, or feeling that you can use?
And, critically, what stage of the presentation are you at?
The most common problems tend to come at the start.
If I had a issue with the IT then, I would ask for a technician to help me sort it out…
While I tried to entertain, or at least distract, the audience.
So, I might ask them something like:
- Let’s do a quick recap on what you’ve heard so far at the conference. What's struck you the most?
If I was the first speaker, or doing a solo event, I might ask:
- What do you hope to get from this talk? What are the key points you'd like to be addressed?
But if I do ask the audience a question, I’m always careful to make sure I still have control of the discussion.
So I would ask people to contribute briefly, in a couple of sentences, in no more than 10 or 15 seconds.
That way it’s a pacy interaction, which retains interest, but leaves me managing how the session goes.
And, importantly, I can cut the discussion short any time the tech gets working again!
If the IT fails at some point during your talk, the problem becomes rather easier.
While the technical team fix it, you can do a brief recap of what you've covered.
Or again ask a question, perhaps along with lines of what's the most resonant point you’ve heard so far?
However much you may hope never to need it, it’s always wise to have a contingency plan ready.
I have a couple of more extreme tricks, which I can usually get away with.
But a word of warning:
These only work if they're consistent with your character, and I will commonly clown around.
Which means the audience aren't discomforted or just plain baffled by what I do.
I like to have a flipchart and marker pens on stage with me, even if I don’t use them as part of a talk.
They can commonly be useful for the question and answer session which follows.
But they're also a handy safety net.
If you really can’t get the slides going, and need to illustrate something, perhaps regarding data, you can draw what the slide would have looked like.
In a simplified form of course!
And by making a joke of the lack of a proper slide, you can usually get away with it.
My absolute last resort, if the situation is desperate…
Is to start singing Monty Python's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life...
And then asking the audience to join in.
Happily, I haven’t had to use that one yet.
But maybe one day.
Although hopefully well towards the end of my career!
