Speakers, Always Expect Tech to Fail (a.k.a Have a Back Up Plan): Ep. 116

This episode is a cautionary tale about what can happen when technology fails during a speaking engagement. Heather recounts her experience speaking at the first PodConf, a podcasting conference located in Portland, Oregon (organized by Pat Cheung).

Heather shares her SNAFUs and emphasizes the importance of being prepared for tech failures and having a backup plan. She also discusses how we should listen to the universe, her propensity for leaving smears on flat surfaces, and shares a mishap involving a pane of glass.

SHOW MENTIONS:
PodConf: Website
Podinbox Software: Website
Podcast Growth Hacks: Podcast

Contact Heather: Instagram - LinkedIn - Email: heather@GetRadBiz.com
Get Radical With Your Business: Facebook - Website
Book a Discovery Call (via Zoom) - Schedule
Zeitzwolfe Accounting: Website - Facebook

Transcript

Heather Zeitzwolfe: 0:00

Hey folks, this is Heather's And you are listening to get radical with your business. And today we're talking about when technology fails. I want to share with you a cautionary tale. I had the pleasure of speaking at pod comp that's with an F pod com. P O D C O N F pat from pod inbox and the podcast podcast growth hacks started a new conference in Portland, Oregon. I had the pleasure of being on one of the round table groups, where I got to present and have an interactive discussion with audience members. I was thrilled. We had several meetings before the actually event on zoom. And I came up with the, I'm going to say brilliant in air quotes. Idea. That all the speakers could have QR codes. For the attendees to download their. Workbooks guidebooks, whatever they were presenting. I worked on my guidebook. I was so excited about sharing it. I set it up in Squarespace so that you could fill out a little form so I could capture their email address. And then the guide book would appear once they click the button. Well, I tested that thing out. And it worked on my computer. And even in the morning before I went to the event, I was like, I'm just going to test it again. And I tested again and it worked. But I've forgot the fact that most people wouldn't have laptops at this event. People would be downloading this on their phone. Did I test it on a phone? No, I did not. Mistake number one. Then I was in a rush to get to the event in the morning. I had to catch my bus and I was like, ah, I should've grabbed my laptop. I'm like, I don't need it. I can just use my phone. Um, mistake number two. On a side note when I was getting ready in the morning to go to this event, I was thinking like, Ooh, it's time to pick out a good outfit. Because I was speaking about the financial part of podcasting and monetization. I was like, Ooh, this is a good excuse to bring out my leggings that have money all over them. So I put those on, and I had this giant money. Necklace is very hip hop, kind of looking, and I could not find my giant dollar sign. And I'm like, I got to catch a bus. And so I'm like scrambling. And then I find my little mini one that I got in Las Vegas. One time that's like a plastic one. So I put that around my neck and then I had green hair. So it was kind of like top to bottom on like the money girl. That was my saving grace because people remembered me because of that outfit. always make a good impression when you can. So people remember you and if you can tie your ensemble. To, uh, your talk. And branding yourself that really helps. Tech fails. Could be one thing, but, uh, having a great outfit. You know, people are going to remember that. Because I was spending so much time on my outfit. Didn't spend so much time thinking about the fact I could have printed out the QR code. I Instead. I had it on my phone. People had to. Take a picture from my phone. Uh, okay. That was a mistake. Um, you know, sometimes my environmental ism goes a little far and I'm like, oh, I don't want to print out paper. I can just use technology. Sometimes we got to destroy some trees for our speaking engagements. Remember, not everybody is going to have technology either. Maybe people like paper. Maybe they want to be able to take notes. Didn't really think about that. Um, yeah. So I get to the event and it was a wonderful event. pat did an awesome job putting on an event. I met all kinds of people. They were really great speakers There were a lot of local people from Portland people that came from out of town,. Right before I was to present. I decided maybe I should check, the phone. I want to download my PDF so I can just kind of look through and make sure that I have all my talking points. And I'm starting to panic because it's not working. I touch the button and the PDF doesn't appear. There's a speaker up and I feel bad because I'm on my phone because I, as a speaker. Appreciate it, when people give me their full attention and I felt really horrible being on my phone, but I was really panicking in the back of the room. So I'm trying over again over again, over again, and, It's not working, obviously. And so I'm like, Uh, setting in my phone. Is it the Y. Well, like, what is it? And then I'm like, oh my God, I just have to calm down because I'm just going to have to roll with it. That there. Is not going to be. Any technology in my presentation. what did this mean? Well, one, I wasn't able to capture people's email addresses, which was my whole intention. Two. the people wouldn't be able to, read along and be able to ask me questions as I went through the guidebook. Three, they had nothing to take away. And I had all my contact information in that guidebook. Mistake number three was I had nothing analog. I had no paper. I did have a notebook, but did I think to have people write down their name and their email address in it? No. I was too panicked to think about that. Part of me was thinking like, oh, I'm going to be talking about like the financial monetization or podcasting. I think I did be like three people in the room, you know, there was other talks going on. I thought, ah, no, one's willing to show up to mine., lo and behold, the room was packed. The point is technology. Can't be relied upon when you are presenting. Granted people said that I did well, that they got a lot of great information from me. But I would have liked a little bit of a smoother ride. I felt a little nervous. And my nerves would have been calm if I had some, paper in front of me and some notes or something. As a speaker. Don't rely on technology. As solo preneurs, small time entrepreneurs. We don't have fancy. Rigging and affects like, if you went to Cirque de Solei or like a Katy Perry show or something, I mean, God. I would love to make an entrance when I'm speaking, from the ceiling riding on a unicorn. Wouldn't that be awesome. And then like confetti coming down from the ceiling, I would love that kind of stuff, the technology that I get to use PowerPoint and PDFs, right. I mean, that's where we're at. Don't rely on technology, be prepared tech is always going to fail and just have a backup plan. I failed to have a backup plan. I had to kind of wing it, which is not my favorite thing to do. I'm not really a fan of winging it. Sometimes in life, we do have to wing it. And it wasn't a full wing. Because I knew what I wanted to talk about. It wasn't totally improv, but be prepared to, one wing it to have some notes, three, remember technology always fails. Here's the other lesson that I learned that day. I think the universe sends us signs. That certainly was one sign. The other sign was. My husband the night before. He was telling me I put my fingerprints on everything and like glass and windows and, that's just how I am. Like, I don't think about it. I just like grab stuff and my fingerprints get on things. And he's like, you got smears everywhere, you know? In the morning, I looked at my mirror and it had like a coffee, In a big stain is running down because I'm very clumsy. One time I walked into or bumped my mirror and the, like the like coffee and my coffee cup, just sprayed all over the mirror and it just kind of ran down and. It's lower than where I'm looking. So I never cleaned it up. I'm admitting this. It's all my mirror right there. Anyway, I'm at this event, I'm about to leave it's in this hotel in downtown Portland. And I see some of the people that were in my talk in The lobby of this hotel and I'm like, Hey, you had a nice meeting, you guys, then I'm going to leave. And I think it's an open door. But it's a pane of glass and I walk boom right into it. And it kind of did that. Like, You know, made the noise at vibrated. Smooth move Heather. Right. And, Then I stepped back. And my glasses are all a skew and my hair, I realized later it was like all funky and funkier than normal. I look at the glass and there is an imprint of me all over this glass. Like my husband's worst nightmare of what I would do to a pane of glass. Like you can see like some of my lipstick, my cheeks. Uh, the imprints over my glasses, my shoulders, like the whole shebang. And the people were like, oh my God, are you okay? Cause I mean, it was the loud noise. And I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. And, uh, But I made a quick exit because I really was going to my bus and I did not want to miss my bus. So what did I learn? Two things. The universe tells you things. Listen. I need to clean up some glass, I guess. And then go out there Speak. because that is a great way to generate leads in your business. But never rely on the technology to work. All right, folks. See you next time.