Rehearse New Tech Toys

I love using technology during presentations. I use projectors, laptops, TVs, wireless microphones, speakers, and video cameras. But the one thing I always try to avoid is using some gizmo or gadget for the first time in front of an audience.

Why? Because learning a new tool or piece of machinery, requires concentration, and your concentration has to be on your audience, not your gadget.

When I have broken my own rules I have failed miserable. One time I began a media training seminar with a brand new Sony Handycam DVD camera. The 2006 HandyCam was exactly like the 2004 HandyCam I had been using regularly for two years—or so I thought.

As it turns out, the camera has knobs in different positions. Buttons are not in the same place. The attachment for the light is in a completely different place. The gizmo attaching it to the tripod felt different.

The result? I started taping the first trainee in a TV interview scenario and I became totally flummoxed. I could not hold the camera properly. I wasn’t sure if the camera was on or off. The camera became crooked and I couldn’t figure out how to straighten it. Panic set in—these people are paying good money to watch a pro like me and I am blowing it!!!

I am trying to figure out who on my staff to blame and criticize, but then I realize there is only one person to blame—myself. It’s my job to make sure that I am familiar with any technology I will be using during a presentation. And it’s your job when you use technology in your own presentation. When you are live and in front of people there is no time to learn how to use a new mouse, remote control, laptop or camera. It’s your job, so take it seriously. I don’t care how skilled you are in using high tech toys; it will always be easier to practice and learn how to use new equipment when there is no audience around.

P.S. My new camera now seems easier to use than ever, now that I’ve practiced using it with no one watching me.