As a leader, you want to make your presence known to your stakeholders and presentation are a great opportunity for this. Speaking at a conference gives you credibility to your administrators. Giving a workshop for teachers shows them how you can support them in their jobs. Speaking to the parent association reveals to them the critical role librarians play and builds advocates.
The last thing you want or need in any of these situations is for Murphy’s Law, which states “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” to kick in. The possibility is always there. Anticipate it and be prepared. Most of the time, it won’t be necessary, but if should, you want to be ready for it.
John Millen advises you on how to do that in his blog, What to Do When Presentations Go Wrong. His seven step approach will ensure you handle it with ease.
- Plan for the Worst- Hope for the Best – Bring a second copy of your talk and especially a printout if you are relying on tech such as PowerPoint. When giving a presentation outside your school, see if you can send it in advance to someone who can pre-load it for you (and, hopefully, test out the system).
- Understand Your Audience – To whom are you speaking? Do you know any of them? What are their wants and needs? The more you know about your audience, the quicker you can make a connection with them. If you feel comfortable with them and they with you, they will be fine if the slide is not on the screen. Build in time to arrive early so you can mingle with them before you begin your presentation.
- Prepare and Rehearse – Spontaneity is great, but you don’t want to discover you have too much or too little for the time slot. Trust that as you go along you will go off script as you respond to the room. Knowing the approximate amount of time you have left allows you to do that and adjust. And without rehearsal, you are likely to read your slides rather than explain the point which can make your presentation stilted.
- Do Your Homework – If you are presenting at a conference, check out the room in advance. Where will you be standing? Will you be able to move around to make further connections with your audience. If possible, recheck the equipment to be sure all is working. The IT person at the conference or in your school can be of additional assistance.
- Create a Safety Net – Millen carries backup equipment such as an external hard drive with his presentation on it and additional cables and adapters. You are not likely to need to go to this extreme unless you are speaking to a very large group, but knowing you have this can help put you at ease. Think in advance for other things that might help should something not go as planned.
- Let the Audience in on it – Don’t hide the fact that something has gone wrong. You have already built a connection with them. Share what is going on. You might let them know Murphy has shown up. Having them be with you as you work on correcting or dealing with the problem increases the bond and eases your tension.
- Be in the Moment and Keep on Going – This is an extension of the last one. Your audience wants you to succeed. They know things go wrong. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be prepared.
As you grow in your leadership journey, there will be increasing opportunities to give presentations. On the list of people’s fears, public speaking is more common than death. Preparation and planning can help with this. Don’t let fear – or Murphy’s Law – keep you from growing,