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What happens when your presentation is a monumental flop?
I really don't think I bring any value to any of you if I don't share my disaster stories. I should have at least one each month.
Why would I admit this? Well, we all can learn from each other and I believe that mistakes are truly stupid and horrible if you don't leverage them as a rung on your life ladder. You know, the one you're using to climb up out of the fray with.
So how do I know that I'll have a disaster a month to share? I'm a risk taker. That's how. And I'd rather get something done and have progress that's messy than try to be perfect with no mess and have nothing ever happen.
So, just this Friday I presented the first cut of a multimedia presentation sales tool I was commissioned to design and build. Man it was going to be good. I updated all of my audio mixing software, made sure I had the latest 3d rendering software, got my concepts in line and starting producing.
I got deep in the weeds on this one. Getting the perfect guitar loops synched, finding compelling imagery, and making sure the specular highlights and texture maps were perfect on the 3d images. Smooth baby.
I reviewed the piece over and over again. Making sure the timing was right, looking for typos and making certain I stuck to my story board. Which I spent lots of time perfecting too!
I showed up Friday morning, popped the disc in then sat back and watched the whole thing hatch. At the end I felt like the committee chair that was commissioned to come up with the platypus and had to be the one to present the final version to the powers that be.
How did that guy feel?
I'm sure he got the same response I did! It's never good when the first thing the client says at the end of a "reveal" is "Now you know I'm your biggest fan....". I couldn't find a place low enough and dark enough to hide under.
Needless to say I maintained a poker face that would make Kenny Rogers blush. I also threw in some self-deprecating humor to take the edge off and then collaborated with the client on why this went wrong so that I could quickly fix the problem.
So the lesson here is of course be cool under pressure. That's the obvious one. The not-so-obvious and much more valuable one though: be sure not to get too bogged down in the details and production of your work without coming up for air. I got all hung up in the tactics and techniques and refinement and forgot the message, purpose and audience.
Sheesh.
Oh, by the way, the aforementioned platypus also lays eggs! If you're looking for a hodge-podge solution to no particular problem then the platypus is for you.
Otherwise, bring me on board to get some great creative going and some awesome collateral produced.
I'd like to be your friend first, so get to know me by crawling around my newsletter, friends' sites and my web site. See you next issue!
| patrick |
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