Sometimes things just don’t work out as you expect.

Like when you think it’ Friday when it’s actually Thursday and send out an email about it being Friday. 🙂

While that is a minor faux pas, what happens if you’re on stage and your PowerPoint stops working or if you’re doing a livecast online with hundreds of people watching but no one can hear you?

I guarantee you, if technology hasn’t failed you yet when doing a presentation, it simply means you haven’t done enough presentations.

I have seen supposedly “professional” speakers crumble on stage when something goes awry. They get flustered, stammer, stall, turn red, get mad, yell at the AV team or just stand on stage, not saying a word.

Watching a speaker meltdown is a very uncomfortable experience for an audience and, in most cases, is unnecessary.

Sure, if you’re speaking before 5,000 people and your mic fails, there’s not much you can do to other than wait until it’s fixed BUT, short of that a real pro handles it by just moving forward. He just keeps going.

What’s embarrassing is not that the PowerPoint isn’t working but that the damn speaker can’t do his presentation without it. Is that person really so lame and unprepared that they immobilized over a little technology glitch? Give me a break.

Some of my best results have come when technology failed. I simply said to the audience, “I don’t need it. Let me just talk to you.” And then I just went on, did the presentation and closed the sale.

There was an old commercial with the tagline, “Never let them see you sweat” and that is doubly true if you are doing a presentation.

When things go haywire, just keep moving forward and get the check.

Have a great weekend…(for real this time.)

Kick butt, make mucho DEEnero!

Dave “Today is Friday?” Dee