100 years ago, in 1921, this was the best-selling automobile
in the United States:
To own one of these Ford Model T’s, you had to be reasonably
skilled as a mechanic. Breakdowns were
common and cross-country trips were out of the question for the average
driver. I know this; I owned a 1929
Model A for a while. Even though my Dad,
my brother-in-law, and I rebuilt that car from the ground up, it remained every
bit as vulnerable to breakdown as it did when it was new. Today, we don’t think
much at all about a road trip to almost anywhere. The biggest concerns are fuel, food, and
rest.
Think about that in the context of our computers. 100 years from now, people are not going to
be able to comprehend what we think of as normal. Just like a driver in 1921, we must have some
knowledge of how these things work and guard against failure. But, too often, we don’t think about “what
if”, even though failure is quite common.
I also know this; I’m the IT guy when the IT guys aren’t around. I’ve heard the horror stories.
I’ve worked hard with iPower and the firm to make our IT
systems as reliable as I can and allow you to work remotely with as few hiccups
as possible. But it remains imperfect
and subject to all kinds of failures.
Power outages, internet interruptions, fiber optic cuts, dead batteries,
malware, emergency software updates – the list is endless – all have the
ability to impact our work in very negative ways.
Every last one of us has this experience. Yet, it is very common to hear that someone
only had one plan for making a presentation in court, to a client, or to a
public meeting. It’s a bit like taking
off in a Model T from New York to Chicago without any equipment to make a
repair along the way. If you make it,
you are very lucky.
Here are some things to think about:
1. Don’t
rely on a network connection. Download everything you might need for your
presentation to a laptop or other “local” device.
2.
Don’t
rely on power. Make sure you use a
battery powered device and make sure it is charged.
3. Don’t
rely on your hard drive. Flash drives
are cheap and have tremendous capacity.
Put an extra copy on USB flash drive so you can run it from any device
that might be available to you.
4. Assume
that wherever you are, nothing will be available to you except what you brought
with you. What do you need to make an
effective presentation? A screen? A projector?
A hotspot? Don’t assume the place you are going can accommodate
you. Bring your stuff. Leave it piled up in a corner if you don’t
use it (don’t leave tech in a car – it’ll be gone in 60 seconds), but have it
just in case.
5.
Will
you need to communicate by email? What
if the email server isn’t working? Do
your contacts know your personal email?
How about text?
There are probably dozens of ways things can go wrong. Think your way through it and make a plan for
every contingency you can come up with.
Not only will this improve the odds that you will be able to do your job
flawlessly, it will significantly improve your confidence and lower your
anxiety. And I think we all know what
kind of impression a confident, prepared presenter can make on an audience.
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