If you’ve been presenting for any length of time, you’ve experienced some sort of technical glitch in your presentation. How presenters react to technical glitches is what separates the pros from the noobs! Have a Plan B for when things go south. Here are two examples of real-life presentation glitches experienced by Mac users. You’ll learn how each presenter reacted and how they might have handled the situation better.
Glitch #1: iPad doesn’t connect to projector
Joe Presenter (not his real name) arrived ten minutes before the start of the Toastmasters meeting where he was going to deliver a speech, “How to get comfortable with visual aids.” He’d created a presentation and loaded it onto his iPad, which he brought to the meeting. Joe approached the resident presentation expert of the group with his iPad and charging cable, asking how to connect with the projector. He quickly became uncomfortable with visual aids when he was told that a power cable can’t be used to connect to a projector.
Presentation Plan B
Fortunately, Joe had printed out some photos from his presentation. He taped them onto the easel at the front of the room and referred to the photos during his talk. Problem solved!
What could he have done differently?
- Joe could have familiarized himself with the projector setup beforehand. Once he discovered that his power cable wouldn’t connect the iPad, he could then…
- …learn how to properly connect an iPad to a projector. You need an iPad VGA adapter that plugs into the dock/lightning connector on the iPad, which can attach to the projector’s VGA cable. If the projector supports Bluetooth connectivity, then Joe could use AirPlay to show his presentations.
- Practice with the equipment to see if everything’s working as expected. If not, he could’ve used a laptop for his presentation, which he knew would work based on the fact that others in his group have done it that way.
Lesson learned
Find out what technology you need, communicate with the AV experts to get their advice, and practice with the equipment before your presentation.
Glitch #2: Mac vs. PC
Jane Presenter (not her real name) is an expert picture framer who was invited to lead a breakout session for 60 people at an art conference. Jane was offered the chance for a tech rehearsal before her session, which she declined. Instead, she showed up right before the start of the session with her Macbook. Jane proceeded to fumble with the projector cable for a few minutes while the audience looked on. It turned out that she couldn’t plug the VGA cable into her Macbook.
Presentation Plan B
Jane had black-and-white printouts of her slides. Every time she made a new point, she would hold up a picture of her slide and start out by saying, “I know you can’t see this, but…” The people in the back of the room were too far away to see the pictures.
What could Jane have done differently?
- Like Joe, she should’ve learned how laptops connect to projectors.
- Like Joe, she should’ve then brought a Mac VGA adapter, which would’ve allowed her to connect the Macbook to the projector.
- If you are invited to a tech rehearsal before a big presentation YOUR ANSWER IS ALWAYS “YES, PLEASE.”
- Be prepared to speak without slides. Holding up tiny photos in front of a big audience won’t help the people in the cheap seats. Instead, she could’ve been more descriptive and painted a picture with her words.
Lesson learned
As a Mac user, always be prepared with adapters to be successful in a PC world. I’ve been a public speaker for ten years and I have never seen a Mac-friendly AV setup in any venue. Deal with it. Oh, and always go to tech rehearsals. This is when you get to talk with the AV pros and get your questions answered and your issues solved before go time.
Conclusion
Some technical glitches are accidental, and some are preventable. In these two examples, the presenters assumed that their Apple tools would simply work. Newsflash: they don’t. Be prepared, plan ahead, and have a solid Plan B!