{"id":2933,"date":"2015-02-22T14:29:40","date_gmt":"2015-02-22T14:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.awareplus.co.uk\/presentation-skills-blog\/?p=2933"},"modified":"2015-02-23T09:43:04","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T09:43:04","slug":"presentation-mistakes-and-who-makes-them-warning-rude-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.awareplus.co.uk\/presentation-skills-blog\/presentation-mistakes-and-who-makes-them-warning-rude-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Presentation mistakes and who makes them (warning – rude words!)"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"big_microphone_small\"<\/a>I’ve done a lot of work in theatre, as a technician, as well as being a researcher and a presentation skills trainer. And one of the things you learn as a theatre tech is that for some visiting companies, the equipment seems to take on a mind of its own and, well, frankly, take every opportunity it can to fuck things up. Cables turn into piles of heavy, high-friction spaghetti. Rolls of tape suddenly decide that they were going to stick (and only<\/strong> going to stick) to other bits of tape, not anything useful. Electrical equipment randomly develops a hummmmmmmm that has never been heard before (or since).<\/p>\n

You know the kinds of things I mean.<\/p>\n

In the ‘jargon’ of the theatre tech, things going wrong are ‘fuckups’.<\/p>\n

As a newbie I was always interested in how the old hands new knew<\/em> which companies were going to have trouble with the equipment (fuckups) – our kit as well as the stuff that they brought with them. And it hit me one day when one of them said “Oh hell… tomorrow’s lot are a bunch of fuckups”. He wasn’t talking about the kit, he was talking about the people. As it turns out he was right. The equipment kept going wrong. For no reason. Serious. For absolutely no reason at all. None. What. So. Ever. I noticed something though.<\/p>\n

The fuckups only happen to the fuckups<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, things only go wrong to those people who aren’t prepared properly.<\/p>\n

So it is with presentations.<\/p>\n

I’m continually surprised (I shouldn’t be, I know, I know) but the number of people who turn up to give a presentation at the time the presentation is supposed to start with a memory stick and no-flipping-clue how to work the computer in the room. (No, my friend, not all computers are the same. Not even close. You need to know the way this<\/em> one works.)<\/p>\n

Or what about those people who start a presentation and half way through discover there isn’t enough paper on the flip-chart; or that the flipchart pens don’t work.<\/p>\n

And those people who don’t know how to work the lights. Or the heating. Or how to work the coffee machine.<\/p>\n

So how do we make sure that kind of embarrassment never happens to us? Here’s how.<\/p>\n

Checklists<\/h3>\n

Simple, eh? In the heat of the moment your brain will turn to mush, so get yourself a step by step list written out well in advance. Test it. Test it again in different circumstances. Give it to other people who don’t know what they’re doing to test it.<\/p>\n

Then use it.<\/p>\n

Communicate<\/h3>\n

Simple tell anyone who knows the venue what you need. Get them to confirm, item by item that things will be there. Be pedantic and fussy. Don’t let them off with ‘No problem we’ve done this before’ unless you’re very, very<\/strong> sure they have and you’re dating their sister.<\/p>\n

And even then, don’t (trust them that is, not date the sister – that’s your own business).<\/p>\n

Arrive early<\/h3>\n

Surely this doesn’t need to be said, does it? Sadly so. We always arrive at least an hour early for our gigs<\/strong>. That way, if anything doesn’t work we’ve got time to make it right. And remember, we’ve all worked as theatre techs, so there’s no bit of kit we haven’t beaten into submission at some point in our lives. And if it we allow an hour, how long should you allow?<\/p>\n

Take your own kit<\/h3>\n

It’s always easier to figure out how to plug your own laptop in than it is to figure out how to use someone else’s hardware. Sure, sometimes this isn’t possible but it can’t hurt to ask nicely. And then ask again, less nicely if you don’t like the answer.<\/p>\n

Not only do we take our out laptops (Macbook Air, since you asked) we also take our own cables, just in case.<\/p>\n

Review<\/h3>\n

We use something called the Rolfe Method of Reflective Practice, which is simplified as asking yourself the question ‘what’ three times at the end of every gig.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • what happened<\/li>\n
  • what were the consequences of this<\/li>\n
  • what can we do about that in the future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Remember those cables I said we carried? we carry them because the venue didn’t have them long enough for us once. \u00a0Just once. \u00a0And once you’ve done your review of what could have gone better, put that down as an item on your checklist, so that it can never go wrong again.<\/p>\n

    Remember, it’s not a literal universal truth but in general terms the fuckups only happen for the fuckups. ;)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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