Clear and Presentation Danger

Several years ago I had to do a presentation at a Sales Management Conference.  The location was the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall and there were about 150 people in the audience.  The room was opulent and ornate, all chandeliers and gilt. Massive mirrors hung on every wall, an unwelcome by-product of which was that presenters could see themselves from multiple angles.

All a little intimidating. Of more concern to me however, was that I wasn’t as on top of my material as I would have liked. I was a last minute stand-in for a colleague who had had to cry off. Would I be able to bring it to life, or would the audience find it worthy but dull?

While I fretted, the speaker before me was introduced. The Sales Director of a Beer Company; he was confident and commanding.  He even had introductory music –  ”Born Slippy” as used in the movie Train Spotting.  At the bit that goes “mega, mega white thing, mega, mega white thing,..Lager, Lager, Lager”, he ran down from the back of the auditorium and bounced up on the stage.  My discomfort was complete.  Would I look like an unknown indie band following U2?

He launched into his piece, utterly fluent, not looking at the slides, illustrating his points with well-chosen examples.

Unfortunately, these were the days of the slide carousel (younger readers might like to wiki this). He hadn’t noticed he’d started to send the slides in the wrong direction.  Now the previous speaker’s slides were coming up.  There was a ripple of audience confusion and then people started exchanging nervous glances.  Some tried to mumble words of warning.  The speaker sensed something was wrong and looked at the screen.  You could feel his horror. Why was the “wrong” presentation on the screen?   From then on, things disintegrated.

He finished a broken man, with the audience embarrassed and ill at ease.  I felt some sympathy, after all we shared a common cause.

I wasn’t at my best either, but no one got hurt and there weren’t any slip-ups. It was a bit wooden, but by comparison, it was slick.  I received warm applause, I’m sure a result of the audience’s relief.

What did I learn?  Well, by all means focus on the audience, prepare content, develop visuals aids intelligently and rehearse.  But most of all remember, relax, the audience want you to do well, they’re on your side.

If only because the alternative is just too uncomfortable.

Mike Hawthorne, Managing Director