Heads Up: What To Do When The Best Planned Lecture Fails: Emergency Repairs To The Lecture and Audience to Save The Day

Transcription

1 Heads Up: What To Do When The Best Planned Lecture Fails: Emergency Repairs To The Lecture and Audience to Save The Day Perry Gerard M.D. F.A.C.R Yachao Zhang M.D. Adele Brudnicki M.D. Anthony Gilet M.D.

2 Non-Disclosure Slide None of the authors of this presentation, nor any of their immediate family members, have a financial relationship with a commercial organization that may have a direct or indirect interest in the content.

3 Introduction Getting up on stage to give a presentation can be nerve-wracking enough on its own, but what if something goes wrong? There are lots of things that can catch you off guard and throw you off while you re presenting. You spend hours practicing your speech but how can you prepare for the unpredictable? A recent survey found that more than one in five employed adults say they would do something like pretend to be sick to get out of giving a presentation. One of the major reasons for people s aversion to presenting is fear of something going wrong onstage.

4 Introduction No presenter is immune to presentation tech failure. With a little practice, any presenter can prepare herself for even the worst presentation nightmares. Studying the mistakes that others have made on stage helps you learn which behaviors to avoid when faced with challenges on stage. One thing to remember is that your audience is on your side a simple comment acknowledging the trouble helps the audience feel at ease and can relieve the awkwardness of the moment. You should always have a backup plan in advance of failures.

5 Introduction There are many challenges one can encounter in presenting a lecture. This becomes very obvious when you visit various medical meetings. Often the message of the presentation is lost because of poor preparation, slides that fail to communicate effectively, and a generally unconvincing performance by the lecturer. In addition, equipment failures can also disrupt the best prepared presentation.

6 Things To Immediately Check When Problems Occur Is the projector plugged in? Make sure the switch to the projector really is On. Is the outlet or power strip live? Do you have the appropriate cable and connectors? Is the projector set for input from the computer? Is the computer or projector sleeping? Are the display resolutions compatible? If using audio during presentation are you using the right sound jacks?

7 Tips To Avoid Presentation Failures Go to presentation site days before your presentation and meet the IT team. Let them know about your equipment, what you need and check their availability for the day of your presentation. Create a back up of your presentation and save on USB drive Create a back up of your back up Save a copy of your back up on line, and check it is easily accessible. Never count on an internet connection, you can make a screencast of website you want to show (use Snagit or Camtasia) Charge all devices before presentation, in case there is no power plug near you. Bring a power pack for devices Bring your own adapters to connect to projector, never count on the place having the adapeter you will need. Save a copy of your presentation to your phone. Check batteries in remote controls and microphones. Keep an extra bulb or projector available if failure occurs. Always test your equipment before the presentation.

8 Things you should always avoid when presenting. Try not to look confused: if presentation is not going as planned, never look confused or worried no matter what is happening on the screen. Make every attempt to stay calm and confident. Try not to get angry: if slides are not projecting or USB is not recognized, try to smile and wait patiently until it works. Do not read the slides: reading the entire pitch will lose the interest of the audience, show several ideas and and start talking. Get the right pace of the presentation: Avoid speaking to fast or slow, watch the audience for reactions and understanding.

9 Wireless Microphone Problems During Presentation Interference with Nearby Wireless Systems: Before you acquire a wireless microphone system, make sure your receivers are frequency-agile so you can switch frequencies to avoid bandwidths that are overcrowded. Consider switching to a UHF microphone system which offers less interference than VHF Weak Signal in Parts of the Venue: discover dead zones, take note of them, A diversity microphone system uses a pair of antennae to automatically switch between fading frequencies to ensure that transmission will proceed. Running Out of Battery Life: keep all of your transmitters plugged into their chargers when they re not in use. make sure to keep charged batteries on hand for quick replacement. Feedback in Certain Parts of the Room: spot potential trouble areas around your venue that may trigger feedback, in advance of the presentation. Always have extra microphones on hand to be safe.

10 Projector Problems During Presentation Loose Cables: many display problems are caused by loose cables between the computer and data projector. Make sure all cables are securely connected to the appropriate port. Remove and re-seat each cable/ connector to make sure. Projector Input Source: the input source selected on the data projector may be using a different input source than the one your computer is connected to. go into the data projector menu to change the input source on some older projectors. Power Switched On: Check that the power cord is in the wall outlet if the data projector does not turn on. Let projector cool down if overheated. Projector Standby Mode On: This standby mode keeps the projector fan running but does not light the bulb. Always carry an extra bulb!!! Projector Cover Loose: Cover can sometimes come loose. When this happens, they will power up but not turn on the bulb for safety reasons. Turn off the projector and check to see that all covers are securely on.

11 What to do when USB drive does not work Windows can t find a driver for the USB device: When hardware attached to a computer doesn't work properly, it's often because of a driver problem. When you plug in a USB device, computer automatically identifies the device and searches for a driver. If computer can't find the driver you need, it will prompt you to insert the disc containing the driver. You can often download drivers from the support section of such on line sites. The USB port is defective: Try plugging the device into a different port. If all USB ports are in use, unplug one of the other devices, and plug the problematic device into that port. There's a problem with the device: If you have another computer that is working correctly, plug the device into that computer to see if you encounter the same issue. If you have the same problem, there might be a problem with the device. Always have extra USB devices with the presentation in case USB is corrupt or gets lost. yourself a copy of presentation or carry a CD/DVD.

12 What To Do If Your Computer Freezes With PowerPoint/Keynote On Screen Let someone else work on it in the background. You lose contact with the audience when trying to fix it yourself. Familiarize yourself with the in-house IT person. Turn the projector off, disconnect the computer from the projector so the audience doesn t see what you are about to do. Press Esc to exit your slide show. If you don t exit the show, you need to try shutting down PowerPoint. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del (windows) to bring up the Task Manager and press end task button. Try restarting the computer, PowerPoint and your slide show. If the computer won t work, try project on another computer, load presentation and start again. Always stay connected to the audience