What to do when technology ruins your presentation

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Sometimes, all the gadgetry that is supposed to make life easier instead makes it insufferable. Especially when it comes to presentations. We hook up projectors, mics, iPads, remote controls; plug in thumb drives, speakers and more - all of which can be major assets. Maybe it's just me, but I find that when things go south with these kinds of tools, they tend to go really south.

Put aside for a moment the obvious advice that you should always practice and prepare for a presentation that uses any form of electronic device. We all know that. The reality is, if you're in the business of giving presentations long enough, eventually there will be a circumstance that you can't control - you'll get a late start to the venue or meeting, the tech guy will be sick, you name it. Preparation is the first line of defense against a presentation disaster, but at least once in a blue moon, there will be an instance in which you won't be able to prepare as thoroughly as you'd like.

It happened to me recently. I had an unforseen situation that needed attention and thus ate away the travel/set-up cushion I usually allow myself when I give my monthly presentation to my largest client. The technology gremlins were mischievous that day, and could have derailed my entire talk. The hiccups didn't, however, and largely because I employed these three tactics:

1. Force yourself to gain perspective. Seriously, unless you're this guy, or this poor girl, or heaven forbid this guy, your gaffe is not going to become the next YouTube sensation. Take a breath. You're not the first person this has happened to, and you won't be the last. Sometimes, perspective can come based on past history: In my case, I've performed in such a way for this particular audience over time that they knew the lapse was an apparition, not a pattern of unpreparedness on my part.

2. Buy time, if you're able. In my case I requested other business be tended to while I figured out why the tech gods were vengeful that day. Obviously, that won't work in every situation, but being nimble and quick on your feet will help you smooth the awkward imposition your difficulties have presented, and help return the meeting or event to a normal flow.

3. Don't compound the situation. Once my presentation finally loaded, I used the remaining time I bought to cover the projector lens and immediately skip to a slide that included a video clip. It wouldn't play. Rather than fiddling more, I went into the presentation, and simply described what the video was about when I came to that point. My announcement that I wasn't even going to try to play the video actually garnered a laugh from my audience. I've always believed the worst mistake is the one you make twice. If technology is not your friend, cut your losses and don't attempt the bells and whistles that could dig you a deeper hole.

4. Stop apologizing. Once is enough. Each subsequent acknowledgement of the technological snafus further erodes your credibility and the chances your message will be received. You'll also find it will erode your confidence and trip up the timing you've rehearsed. (PS - You did rehearse, didn't you?)

5. Nail the ending. You want your last touchpoint with the audience to be one that makes the mistakes at the beginning a distant memory. Focus your energy on leaving on a high note.

At the end of the day, mistakes happen. Nightmares don't have to. Preparing to deliver your presentation under normal circumstances is the ideal, but consider also preparing for the worst case scenario. If you give enough talks, you'll eventually need the plan.

Do more Twitter followers mean more money? A case study

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Try as we might, it's still an uphill battle to convince some folks that more Twitter followers does not invariably translate to more success in more tangible business metrics - namely, more revenue and profits.

To wit, Monday's announcement that the NBA had become the first sports league to surpass five million followers on Twitter. By comparison, that's more than double the number of followers accrued by Major League Baseball, and two million more than the NFL. You might think that the disparity online would reflect a similar discrepancy at the bottom line. After all, all followers are buying followers, right?

Wrong. The NBA is a distant third in terms of revenue of the big three major league sports leagues in America. The NFL topped $9 billion in 2010-2011, MLB $7.2 billion, and the NBA just over $4 billion. Both basketball and football had roughly the same attendance that season (at least, not nearly enough of a difference to cause a $5 billion discrepancy), so ticket sales can't be the easy explanation. There is probably a reason somewhere, but setting off in an intensive research project misses my larger point.

I'm not implying that the NBA is using Twitter incorrectly or that it could be doing something better. Clearly, they are providing value. And frankly, given that the league has had to battle the perception that it is in decline for about a decade (this, for example), the gaudy number of Twitter followers is impressive indeed.

The point is this: you can't always judge the health of a business by its number of Twitter followers. Differing customer bases and how the business is using its social accounts to build loyalty and compel followers to advocacy - among other criteria - must be considered as well. Especially in this day of followers for sale, a simple number is easy to achieve. It's the layup, if you will. The business of engagement and building a community - that's the battle in the post, to continue the analogy.

So next time you hear someone prattle on about the number of followers they have or the number of followers they wish they had, remember the NBA, and tell them that millions of fans translating into millions of dollars is not necessarily a slam dunk.

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• NBA Is First Sports League to Get 5 Million Twitter Followers

Facebook: Like what?

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I have to admit I’m a little Facebooked-out. It’s not the tool itself that’s causing my burn out; rather, it’s this constant droning I hear from businesses small and large alike, shouting at me to become a fan of their page.

Enough already. No one’s listening anymore. Least of all millennials, of whom only about a quarter actually find a brand’s Facebook page through actively searching for it. The rest hear about a page through friends or stumble upon it serendipitously. Which means that auto repair shop, library and antique store using their outdoor signage to solicit Facebook Likes (“Find us on Facebook!”) is relatively useless.

That’s not to say the mechanic, librarian or retailer doesn’t have any business being on Facebook. But now more than ever, businesses must focus like a laser on solidifying and improving the experience they’re providing on their Facebook page – or Twitter stream, or Pinterest boards – before they invite people to participate in it. By experience, I mean a brand’s ability to facilitate consumer interaction with a product or service online, which results in a desired offline behavior on the part of the consumer. Why should someone engage with you on Facebook or wherever? Exclusive content? Discounts on your product or service? Why?

The answer to the experience question is so important, because many believe we’re entering into a period of pullback in social media. Whereas for a brief period of time you could get by with the Field of Dreams approach to social media (“If you build it, they will come.”), those days are all but gone. People consumed so much content in those early social media days that now they’re starting to restrict and reduce the amount of news in their feeds. We’re like the dieter who over-indulged over the holidays and are turning a new page in the new year.

Which means random calls to “Like” a page are falling increasingly on deaf ears. Social media is moving away from being an information-sharing vehicle, and quickly toward becoming an experience-sharing vehicle. This shift received a major push when Facebook announced its open graph just seven months ago. Consumers have more power and more opportunities than ever before to express how they interact with brands – but only a finite time and space in which to do so. Some brands will be necessarily cut off, and my hunch is it will be the ones inviting people to an experience that doesn’t exist.