My presentation software crashed mid-demo at a conference in Chicago

I was giving a demo of our new project management tool at the McCormick Center in Chicago last Tuesday and my laptop froze up completely. About 200 people were watching and I had to switch to talking through the slides from memory for the last 15 minutes. Have any of you dealt with a tech failure during an important presentation and found a good backup plan?

2 comments

2 Comments

kaimiller19d ago

Did you record the audio of your talk just in case something goes wrong?

samf9519d ago

Honestly I think relying on slides at all is kind of a crutch. You had to talk through the last 15 minutes from memory right? That probably came across way more natural and confident than reading off bullet points ever could. The crash might have actually helped you connect with the audience more because you had to actually explain stuff instead of just clicking through. Next time consider just having a printed outline of your main points on the podium and treat the slides like a safety net not the main show.