In response to my recent post about how Murphy's Law (whatever can go wrong, will go wrong) definitely applies when presenting with any kind of technology, from a projector to a phone, a few readers sent in comments:
From LG on the human error side of Murphy's Law:
"Great
examples, and oh so real. Here are my contributions:
- Forgetting to plug in the laptop, so it quits during a class, giving a last gasp about a dying battery.
- Forgetting my power cord back at the home office and having to ask others to scurry around to find one that matches my laptop.
- Forgetting that I have muted my phone during a web class (while participants are doing a quick exercise), then talking. Participants saw my lips moving on my web cam but couldn’t hear me.
- Having an earlier, uncorrected version of my presentation on my laptop. This has happened when somehow I saved an open presentation to a flash drive, therefore saving it without the changes. (Can’t quite explain it, but it has happened. I compose on my desktop PC, then use a flash drive to get the presentation to my laptop.)
- Forgetting my remote, so having to tether myself to my laptop rather than being able to move around as I like to do."
From Michelle:
"A good follow up would be ways to avoid the Murphy Law
effect:
- I always make printouts of the presentation to avoid any PowerPoint issues. Having two sets of remotes can be handy too.
- Wirehead set – know how to quickly transition to a regular handset or other means."
What other examples have you seen or experienced of Murphy's Law of Presenting With Technology?