You are invited to give a presentation. You are not familiar with the venue or room and there is no way to see it or practice in it in advance. You arrive just before your presentation. Your name is called. You walk that long, lonely walk to the podium. And you realize, Uh oh, this is a very difficult space in which to give the presentation Ive prepared. Maybe the lighting is wrong. (Too light and no way to dim the lights. Too dark and cave-like.) Maybe the acoustics are terrible. Lots of echo. Maybe its theater in the round and you didnt actually plan on presenting half the room with your derriere. Or youre wearing a high heel and now youre terrified of trying to turn around while speaking. And lets not even talk about what happens when there is a technical glitch and the projector wont hook up to your brand new Mac....because you forgot to bring the little VGA adapter and the resident tech guy just looks at you and says, Ooooooh. You use a MAC???? Thats a topic for another day..... So what to do? First, remember this: We human beings are far more adaptable creatures than we give ourselves credit for being. So, go to the podium. And consider starting by telling the truth: When I created this presentation, I had a completely different space in mind. And I am standing here today realizing that its awfully light in here and some of my slides are going to be hard to see. Let that land for a second or two. Now proceed. That is absolutely fine. First of all, great news -- I am not going to read from my slides! Second, ever slide is very simple and contains only one message. So Im going to work extra hard to make sure that message gets through. And finally I will post the entire presentation to SlideShare and give you an opportunity to view it under ideal lighting circumstances! This isnt intended as a script. Not at all! Rather, its a way of being completely present in that moment and acknowledging what is going on. Bringing the audience in on it. Asking the to go on a journey with you and promising that youll lead the way, even if the path is a little hard to see. (Or even if there is a big-ass pillar blocking the view for everyone seated in the area to the left of the stage....) Be present. Words to live by. Acknowledge the challenge. Remain confident enough that you will find a way around it. Promise the audience that. Make them part of the solution. And then set off and give a great presentation. Step away from the podium. Move around if youre comfortable. Own that space. Theyll forget all about the fact that it would all look a lot better if only there werent 42 sky lights in the conference room!
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 12:09:16 +0000
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