Disqus - Latest Comments for leepotts

Re: Bookmarked: SharePoint Saturday Raleigh… (SharePoint Brain Freeze)

leepotts — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:35:47 -0000

Luckily, this didn't actually happen to me, I just bookmarked Josh's blog post. I do agree with you that presence of mind is crucial. Grace under pressure can get you through a lot and help you from making this worse. However, I hesitate to pass judgment on the situation. Sometimes there is just too much going on for a speaker to deal with, especially if they are also dealing with AV issues as well as giving the presentation. I just want to share stories so others can be aware of what an happen.

Re: Big screen blue screen of death

leepotts — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:33:14 -0000

Thanks for taking the time to write that all up, Rick. It really brings it all back for me and those are really great tips and suggestions for anyone who is going to have to deal with these situations. Back when I was doing this sort of meeting they would usually schedule a reception for the speakers that overlapped the slide working session the night before the show. Needless to say things could get pretty interesting as the evening wore on folks went back and forth from one to the other. But that's a story for another day.

Re: Bookmarked: Presentation nightmares (British Airways Business Life)

leepotts — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:54:38 -0000

Rowan, I've been trying for a couple days now to come up with a response adequate to your comment and I have to admit, I got nothin'. However, I do have a mental image I wish I didn't have.

Re: Hypotheticals

leepotts — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:56:04 -0000

Here's one answer that showed up in my feed reader this morning:

"And prepare for the worst in AV problems. I once heard Denis Reggie present an entire program without one slide when the AV system blew up. He never missed a beat and the audience never cared. His message was solid and he knew his material so well that he didn’t need his slides!"

(http://mei500.com/blog/2009/10/so-you-think-you...)

Of course not everyone is capable of pulling something like that off.

Re: How To Be A Better Presenter

leepotts — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:33:48 -0000

Show up early and make sure all the technical aspects of the presentation are taken care of. It’s hard to give a good presentation if you flustered and starting 15 minutes late because you couldn’t get your presentation to work on the venue’s AV system.

Re: Bookmarked: Presentation nightmares (British Airways Business Life)

leepotts — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:40:23 -0000

Did it make you feel better knowing you aren't the only person it's happened to?

Re: Don’t Kick the Bucket

leepotts — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:09:15 -0000

Can't go wrong with bread and water.

Re: A rapid cascade of events

leepotts — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:07:44 -0000

My equipment table was once set up next to the seam between two sections of an airwall that wouldn't close all the way. The gap was only a couple inches but it let in enough noise to make it difficult to follow the speakers on my side of the wall. On the other hand the slight breeze that also came through the crack kept me more comfortable than I would have been in the overheated room.

Re: Don’t Kick the Bucket

leepotts — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:03:49 -0000

Hope she's okay and was able to find help. You can do everything in your power to eliminate the possibility of external factors causing a disaster but sometimes there's nothing you can do against the internal.

Re: Rick Pillars: Rehearsal, Rehearsal, Rehearsal

leepotts — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:53:05 -0000

The folks at Evil Genius Media + Events seem to know how do it the right way (http://evilgeniusmedia.wordpress.com/2009/01/30...

"Consider a group of people at your event who you have possibly never considered as VIP’s and single them out for special treatment. The food and beverage staff, the venue staff, the cleaners, security and Audio Visual staff etc.

"Always treat these guys like they are VIP’s. I always include them in the allocation of guest gift packs if there are any, I always schedule meal breaks and spend that little extra on a staff meal if warranted, and I always ensure they are fully briefed about the event.

"Why would I do this ? Let me tell you a short story."

Re: 10 reasons why Presentations are going to make it big in 2009: You

leepotts — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:11:16 -0000

Thanks for the mention, Christophe, glad you find the Overheard on Twitter posts useful. I like doing them because Breaking Murphy's Law is all about using narrative to help avoid presentation problems and many tweets are tiny, concentrated, highly evocative stories told in 140 characters. It often surprises me how these tiny slivers of shared experience can put you right there in the moment with the writer. I agreee with you in that a large part of why this happens has to do with the authenticity the format encourages.

I'm really enjoying the "10 Reasons" series and I'm looking forward to what you come up with next.

Re: PowerPoint Design in 2009: “Very Superstitious…

leepotts — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:56:23 -0000

Is that anything like not knowing what you don't know?

Re: Obligatory year-end retrospective post 2008

leepotts — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:53:13 -0000

Hi Laura,

Happy 2009 to you too.

I was worried you might be more appalled than honored.

Just remember, I can only take partial credit for the title. They were your words, I just took advantage of them.

Thanks again for all the support you were kind enough to extend to BML as I've been getting it off the ground.

Re: The Weekly Might Have Missed List (01/04/09)

leepotts — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:50:12 -0000

Hi Lara, glad you enjoyed your visit, thanks for stopping by. Be sure to let me know if you have any good presentation mishap stories you would like to share with the BML community. Any stories of mishaps averted and Murphy's Law broken would be welcomed as well. I'm sure you've seen one or two presentations or speeches go wrong.

Re: The Weekly Might Have Missed List (01/04/09)

leepotts — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:28:49 -0000

Thanks Brad, it was a great post. I especially enjoyed the flaming Elvis suit bit. I'll see what I can come up with for the carnival but have to admit is isn't something I deal with very much. Thanks for the invite.

Re: Why Twitter can't be conversational for me (Scripting News)

leepotts — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:29:03 -0000

Thanks for getting this out there, I agree completely. Without DM, which removes a conversation from the larger community's discourse, real conversation is very difficult to be part of or to follow.

Re: Playing Hurt

leepotts — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:39:32 -0000

Hi Laura, Thanks for the comment, glad you liked the post.

I think I'm mainly concerned about the situations involving a speaker who can't be sure which course of action will bring about "the most constructive outcome with the least possible damage to players along the way."

Extending the sports analogy further, I ask you to consider that an athlete makes their living by understanding every nuance of the way their body works and by spending a great deal of time conditioning it for peak performance. If someone this well attuned to the intricacies of their physical capabilities can't always be depended on to make an accurate decision, what chance does a mere presenter have?

Re: Playing Hurt

leepotts — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:43:47 -0000

Thanks for the great comment Laura.

You might not have been hallucinating. I think one of the things that makes it tough is that an attributes valuable to both high performance athletes and high performance speakers is a highly developed "can do" or even "do or die" attitude. Left to themselves, they will almost always make the call to to go in. That's why a team that is presenting needs to identify someone with enough power and common sense to both make the call and to make the decision stick.

Maybe it's possible for solo presenters to come up with a well thought out list of no-go situations that will help guide them to the right, not just lucky, decision. As much as it is possible, These no-go situations should be ones that can be measured accurately and objectively (i.e., I will not present if I have a fever of more than 103 degrees two hours before the presentation is scheduled to start).

I have to admit, committing even that one no-go rule to "paper" somehow makes me doubt how effective this tactic will be in actual practice.

Re: Playing Hurt

leepotts — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:04:08 -0000

Interestingly enough, Scott Hartnell, one of several Philadelphia Flyers playing hurt, scored a go ahead goal against Vancouver with a broken big toe while I was writing this post.

Re: 75+ tools for your next event

leepotts — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:14:23 -0000

Hi Julius, Please consider adding Breaking Murphy's Law (http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/) to any future versions of this list that you might be publishing. Although, at first glance, it seems to be aimed at presenters, I'm committed to making BML a site that's also useful to those who make presenting possible. Thanks, Lee

Re: What I wish Santa had left under the tree…

leepotts — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:23:07 -0000

I wish I did this Christmas post -- http://www.megfowler.com/2008/12/27/13-things-i...

Re: Breaking Murphy’s Leg

leepotts — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:51:07 -0000

Hi Some One, thanks or stopping by. Sounds like your pre-presentation ritual is meant to break you out of routine instead of providing the comfort of a routine.

Re: The Weekly Might Have Missed List (11/30/08)

leepotts — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:26:43 -0000

Thanks for stopping by, banquet manager, I'm glad you like BML. I've really enjoyed reading the stories on your site. One of the things I really like about my job is that it gives me a chance to see the life of hotels that goes on behind the scene and in the middle of the night. There's so much going on that an ordinary guest never gets to see.

If you have any good stories involving a presentation mishap that you might have been witness to, please let me know. I'd love a chance to publish it as a guest post.

Re: The world’s worst wet T-shirt contest

leepotts — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:42:50 -0000

Thanks for the comment "Bedd". It's a good story and, if you don't mind, I'd like to use it in a full-blown blog post in the next week or so.

Re: The Weekly Might Have Missed List (11/16/08)

leepotts — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:34:49 -0000

Thanks Lisa, hope you find them useful. BTW, I'm always looking for presentation disaster stories, please feel free to send any others you might have in. It's been a while since I did a guest post.

Disqus - Latest Comments for leepotts

Re: Bookmarked: SharePoint Saturday Raleigh… (SharePoint Brain Freeze)

Re: Big screen blue screen of death

Re: Bookmarked: Presentation nightmares (British Airways Business Life)

Re: Hypotheticals

Re: How To Be A Better Presenter

Re: Bookmarked: Presentation nightmares (British Airways Business Life)

Re: Don’t Kick the Bucket

Re: A rapid cascade of events

Re: Don’t Kick the Bucket

Re: Rick Pillars: Rehearsal, Rehearsal, Rehearsal

Re: 10 reasons why Presentations are going to make it big in 2009: You

Re: PowerPoint Design in 2009: “Very Superstitious…

Re: Obligatory year-end retrospective post 2008

Re: The Weekly Might Have Missed List (01/04/09)

Re: The Weekly Might Have Missed List (01/04/09)

Re: Why Twitter *can't* be conversational for me (Scripting News)

Re: Playing Hurt

Re: Playing Hurt

Re: Playing Hurt

Re: 75+ tools for your next event

Re: What I wish Santa had left under the tree…

Re: Breaking Murphy’s Leg

Re: The Weekly Might Have Missed List (11/30/08)

Re: The world’s worst wet T-shirt contest

Re: The Weekly Might Have Missed List (11/16/08)

Re: Why Twitter can't be conversational for me (Scripting News)