[This post is chock full of all sorts of wonderful things going wrong during a series of presentations at an academic conference. This brief passage represents just a sliver of a very entertaining story]

And the other problem was that, impelled by some irresistible psychological imperative (I saw [...]]]> Gub doo gia bee? (Language Log)

[This post is chock full of all sorts of wonderful things going wrong during a series of presentations at an academic conference. This brief passage represents just a sliver of a very entertaining story]

And the other problem was that, impelled by some irresistible psychological imperative (I saw this later with several other speakers), he instinctively pointed the remote projection controller at the screen, desperately trying to get it to respond. But the computer he should have been pointing the remote at was ten or fifteen yards away on a table in a totally different direction. It was just too counterintuitive to turn 180 degrees away from the screen, so his back was toward it, in order to change the screen image. We humans are simple mammals, and we imagine that what we are focusing on is where the action is. So his clicking away with the remote was not being detected by the computer, and even if it had been detected, he would have had no idea whether anything had happened to the screen as a result.

Presentation Tip: First Impressions Matter (Professionally Speaking…)

Be prepared, with AV equipment checked, handouts sorted and slides ready. If you seem disorganized and rattled over logistics, your audience may assume that your presentation will be equally disorganized.

How to recognize someone for their service to an organization when they can’t be present in person (Conferences That Work)

• A week before the event, Nancy and I set up a test call with me calling from the laptop I would be using at the conference. It was good we did this, because it took a while to get Nancy’s camera working. We arranged for her to start Skype when she arrived at work, thirty minutes before we would start the recognition ceremony.

…

• About twenty minutes before the call, Nancy was not showing up as connected on Skype. I called her from my cell and she assured me Skype was running. I restarted Skype on my machine & this time she appeared. Phew! During the next few minutes, I muted our audio while the audience assembled.

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Categories: Might Have Missed List, Pre-presentation, Problems with Audience, Problems with Content, Problems with Equipment, Problems with Light, Problems with People, Problems with Software, Problems with Sound, Problems with Staging, Problems with Time, Problems with Venue
Tags: audience, before, conference, first impressions, presenting, remote, skype, slides, speakers, technology

"Might Have Missed List (07/17/11)" was originally posted on Breaking Murphy's Law on July 17, 2011. Copyright 2011 Lee Potts and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0. All other rights reserved.

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Your preso toolkit (Presenting is Simple)

The first time I burned my fingers changing out a lamp in an overhead projector was a salutary lesson for me. From then on, I always carried a glove in my presentation bag. Over the years, the contents of my bag have evolved to reflect the [...]]]>

©iStockphoto.com/anthonyjhall

Your preso toolkit (Presenting is Simple)

The first time I burned my fingers changing out a lamp in an overhead projector was a salutary lesson for me. From then on, I always carried a glove in my presentation bag. Over the years, the contents of my bag have evolved to reflect the technology that I am using and every now and then, I sit down and strip out items that I no longer use. But it’s still a fairly long list…

Lesson learned #1 – Turn off Twitter during a work presentation. (Cec’s Babblings)

But I think I could have considered this presentation as not completely disastrous if I hadn’t committed any more mistakes… mmmmm… yeah, it would still have been ok if I hadn’t forgotten to turn off my twitter application…
But yeah.. the issue with these background applications is that they not always stay in the background and guys, you had a lot to tweet about on Friday afternoon!

So I learned a lesson during what will be the worst presentation I would have ever made in my professional career:  always, always, always turn off twhirl before a meeting.

Through the ears of an attendee… (Pulse Staging and Events)

Whenever we provide AV for an event, I always log on to monitor the Twitter stream. I  derive two benefits.

1. Quality Assurance. It’s like being able to hear the event through the ears of my audience. If a certain area can’t hear the music or someone has problems seeing, we can adjust our settings or at least let the event organizers know so they can try to remedy the situation. It’s one more way we offer a value add as an AV company. Nancy Zavada of MeetGreen actually wrote a blog post about this from the viewpoint of being an event planner checking things out remotely, jumping on Skype and alerting her team on the ground. Awesome!

25 considerations for choosing a venue for your event production (Sound n’ Sight)

You may or may not go on the site visit, so here are the questions you the Producer will need answered specifically.

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"Might Have Missed List (04/03/11)" was originally posted on Breaking Murphy's Law on April 03, 2011. Copyright 2011 Lee Potts and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0. All other rights reserved.

]]> http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/2011/04/03/missed-list-040311/feed/ 0 http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/2011/03/27/missed-list-032711/ http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/2011/03/27/missed-list-032711/#comments Mon, 28 Mar 2011 01:01:32 +0000 Lee Potts http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/?p=2243 Event Signage – A Case of Bad “Sign-You-Sight-Us” (PlannerWire)

Imagine, a conference going perfect until 30 attendees walk to the wrong end of a resort hotel for a meeting only to find out that the arrow was pointing in the wrong direction. They are now late for the keynote, late for their education session [...]]]> Event Signage – A Case of Bad “Sign-You-Sight-Us” (PlannerWire)

Imagine, a conference going perfect until 30 attendees walk to the wrong end of a resort hotel for a meeting only to find out that the arrow was pointing in the wrong direction. They are now late for the keynote, late for their education session or late for a luncheon all because you did not double check.

A couple of things you can do to avoid bad “sign-you-sight-us”…..

How to look confident… even though you’re speaking in public (Douglas Kruger)

If you’re nervous about the next big presentation, try these 12 tips to create (the perception, at the very least!) of confidence:

Get a copy of the agenda, so that you know when you will be speaking, and how much set-up time is available to you. Work out beforehand whether you will need to change laptops or slides between presentations, and who can help you do so, so that you don’t have to fiddle at the beginning of your talk.

…

Thoroughly rehearse your presentation beforehand. You can do this both as a mental exercise, as well as out loud. Ever got half-way through telling a joke, then realised you had botched the set-up? That’s what tends to happen if you don’t practice a speech. You need to be familiar with what goes where. If you are able to rehearse in the actual venue, then so much the better. There is no substitute for having ‘done it already’.

…

Use checklists for anything that causes you anxiety. For example, if you have to travel to your venue, use a checklist of items to take with. If you struggle with equipment set-up, use a checklist of ‘how to’ steps. Take any measures to make your life easier on the day.

…

The MC is your friend. Get to know him or her well in advance. Bring your own intro and discuss your needs with him. Find out if there have been any unexpected changes.

Presentation Skills – Stage (Great Public Speaking)

Also check to see that any risers and stairs to the risers don’t squeak and are sturdy. You may fall down on purpose some time for fun, but you don’t want to accidentally fall if you can help it. If you do fall, use a pre-planned ad-lib like: “Give me an inch and I’ll take a fall.”

I think I found the cause of the Office 2011 toolbar bug (Idea Transplant)

I was in the process of designing a beautiful chart on my new Mac when I got too confident and decided to modify the toolbars of PowerPoint 2011 and… lost all my work again (see my previous rant about this bug)

In sbort: if you customize your toolbar in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac, the program will crash as soon as you enter slideshow mode. Googling around reveals that many users have similar problems: corrupt toolbar files that cause crashing. I decided to dig a bit deeper…

 

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"Might Have Missed List (03/27/11)" was originally posted on Breaking Murphy's Law on March 27, 2011. Copyright 2011 Lee Potts and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0. All other rights reserved.

]]> http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/2011/03/27/missed-list-032711/feed/ 0 http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/2011/03/20/missed-list-032011/ http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/2011/03/20/missed-list-032011/#comments Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:32:44 +0000 Lee Potts http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/?p=2222 YouTube — South African MP falls off chair

(Hint: Don’t ignore the any cracking noise made by the chair you are sitting on.)

SplitSider — Eight Types of Hecklers and the Comedians Who Shut Them Up

In the 2007 documentary Heckler, Joe Rogan says that “the number one thing about hecklers is 100% [...]]]> YouTube — South African MP falls off chair

(Hint: Don’t ignore the any cracking noise made by the chair you are sitting on.)

SplitSider — Eight Types of Hecklers and the Comedians Who Shut Them Up

In the 2007 documentary Heckler, Joe Rogan says that “the number one thing about hecklers is 100% of them are douchebags.” A stand-up comedian’s act depends on the audience reaction by nature, but when someone attempts to derail the performer’s work, well, that’s something a douchebag would do.

TJ Walker — Never, Ever, Ever, Ever Apologize

They complain that they didn’t have time to rehearse their PowerPoint or that their video wasn’t working with their other software or their staff didn’t prepare the right material-everything but the dog ate their speech. It’s embarrassing, and yet it happens all the time. Before you make such an egregious blunder, stop and realize one thing: Your audience doesn’t give a darn about you. They don’t car about the process you went through to creat your presentation; they just want the results of your preparation.

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"Might Have Missed List (03/20/11)" was originally posted on Breaking Murphy's Law on March 20, 2011. Copyright 2011 Lee Potts and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0. All other rights reserved.

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