Lessons from the road

Here is one that will send shivers down the spine of anyone that gives presentations. It happened over 10 years ago, and it is a lesson in backups…

Our work for the tradeshow was complete. Video done, tradeshow booth done, executive speech written and delivered – our role was to walk the show. We watched the executive walk to the podium for their introduction speech to 2,500+ attendees. But something was wrong – instead of delivering a powerful message, there was just awkward silence while the teleprompter tried to reset, without success. The executive had never read the speech, and did not bring a hard copy.

The moral of the story? Prepare for the unexpected, and always bring a backup to any meeting or presentation. Streamed presentations do not always work, so always arrive with a backup PDF!