Comments on: I survived a speaker’s worst nightmare at BlogWorld! (And you can, too.)

By: Wade Kwon

Wade Kwon — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 23:27:33 +0000

Good luck, Lee!

I have talked with the BlogWorld folks since, and I even returned in 2010 to speak again.

By: Arlee Bird

Arlee Bird — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 21:55:47 +0000

I had never heard of BlogWorld until yesterday. Yeah, what the hell kind of blogger am I? I won't go into that here. I enjoyed your recounting of this story. An incident of this nature can actually be a real blessing for the pro-speaker. How you recover and come off in the aftermath will probably get you more future speaking gigs than a slick well delivered presentation where everyone politely applauds, walks away, and soon forgets. I wonder if you'll get this comment two years after the fact. Anyway just noticed the L.A. version of BlogWorld coming in November and thought I might just see if they could slip me in as a last minute speaker. Since I live here anyway and all. Lee Tossing It Out

By: How to conquer Ignite Karaoke « Birmingham Blogging Academy

How to conquer Ignite Karaoke « Birmingham Blogging Academy — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:30:05 +0000

[...] how to pace yourself, how to pause, how to move away from the podium, how to improvise (especially when things go wrong). You learn to be the center of attention without wilting or falling [...]

By: Return engagement: Already on the speakers’ lineup for BlogWorld 2010 « Birmingham Blogging Academy

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:45:49 +0000

[...] Add one or two more follow-up posts to the 2009 aftermath. [...]

By: Wade Kwon

Wade Kwon — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:26:47 +0000

Mary,

You rock! Thanks for weighing in and for connecting me with others.

Wade

By: Mary Rarick

Mary Rarick — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:14:06 +0000

I was in your session that day, Wade, and I was so impressed with the way you handled a difficult situation with grace and poise.Your second presentation was impeccable.I took copious notes.

I can honestly say that I learned more from you in that session that I learned in any other BW09 session.

By: Wade

Wade — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:57:54 +0000

Ba dum bump.

By: George Costanza

George Costanza — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:02:50 +0000

I was scheduled to give a talk on risk management and my files got switched around, so ended up speaking on Ovaltine. Fortunately, the material was quite good, and I got a standing ovation for the “Roundtine” joke.

By: Wednesday linkfest « Scott Berkun

Wednesday linkfest « Scott Berkun — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:38:00 +0000

[...] What to do when they mix up your talk – Great story of things going wrong at a tech conference – they posted the wrong title and description, so to the audience, she was giving the wrong talk. [...]

By: Wade

Wade — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:49:51 +0000

You’re welcome, Michele. It was a challenge, but it’s easy for me to share the story, warts and all.

By: Wade

Wade — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:21:02 +0000

You're welcome, Paul. BTW, Paul has great writeups of his experiences at BlogWorld and at WordCamp Birmingham.

By: Paul Stamatiou

Paul Stamatiou — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:06:19 +0000

Wow that’s quite the experience, thanks for documenting! I am far from even a decent public speaker and would have been a nervous train wreck in that situation!

By: Wade

Wade — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:00:50 +0000

Excellent. Slides are a crutch. I believe good presentations can be given in various ways.

By: Simon - presentations training UK

Simon - presentations training UK — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:48:10 +0000

It’s for just such occasions as this that I have a splash screen slide (sometimes that’s my only slide! ) and typically start of by saying what I’m intending to do and then having a joke about “if that’s not what you’re expecting, say so now, so we can go to the pub!”. (Hey, it’s funny when I tell it, honest!)

Nice recovery though.

By: Bookmarked: I survived a speaker’s worst nightmare at BlogWorld! (Birmingham Blogging Academy) – Breaking Murphy's Law

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:01:21 +0000

[...] I survived a speaker’s worst nightmare at BlogWorld! (Birmingham Blogging Academy) – [Sometimes things started to go wrong week or months before you even hit the stage] "When the first few attendees left my presentation early, I wasn’t fazed. … Then, a few more left. Did my slides suck? Had I forgotten to shower?? And then someone raised her hand to ask a question. Jill Stanek asked if I would be teaching about how to write better blog posts. I said, “No, maybe you have the wrong room?” No, she was in the right room… I was confused. Another attendee pulled out her printed guide and read the description for my session. The session title was right, but the conference organizers had included a summary from a different proposal I had submitted months ago. (See, print isn’t dead.) I was horrified. I had been giving the wrong presentation! I started to panic. I wasn’t sure what to do. I was embarrassed for me. I was concerned for those who had already left. I was a little ticked. And I needed a game plan. I took a deep breath." « Bookmarked: Keynote ruckus at HighEdWeb (sleary) blog comments powered by Disqus var disqus_url = 'http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/2009/10/24/bookmarked-i-survived-a-speakers-worst-nightmare-at-blogworld-birmingham-blogging-academy/ '; var disqus_container_id = 'disqus_thread'; var facebookXdReceiverPath = 'http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/wp-content/plugins/disqus-comment-system/xd_receiver.htm'; var DsqLocal = { 'trackbacks': [ ], 'trackback_url': 'http://www.breakingmurphyslaw.com/2009/10/24/bookmarked-i-survived-a-speakers-worst-nightmare-at-blogworld-birmingham-blogging-academy/trackback/' }; [...]

By: Wade

Wade — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:02:14 +0000

Thanks, but you never know until you’re put to the test.

That’s one reason I wrote this up, so that you have the tools to overcome these kinds of obstacles. If anyone else has ideas or tips, please share.

By: Rachel @ Grasping for Objectivity

Rachel @ Grasping for Objectivity — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:16:15 +0000

Wow, Wade. Yuck. That totally sounds like something that would happen to me. But it sounds like you pulled it off excellently – much better than I would have!!!

By: Wade

Wade — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:28:38 +0000

Jill,

I am blessed by having students like you. And I hope you never have to endure such a last-minute surprise!

I hope BlogWorld was a great experience for you and that you’ll continue to share your insights and passion with the world.

By: Wade

Wade — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:26:42 +0000

She sounds like a pro. And she has good advice.

I’d like to get to the point where I can buy a small projector. It would come in handy for instant setups, as well as in case of problems on site.

Thanks for commenting, Jay.

By: Jill Stanek

Jill Stanek — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:48:09 +0000

Wade,

As I public speaker myself, I was SO IMPRESSED by your recovery, first that you didn’t panic, then that you had the “Write killer blogs” slides with you, immediately knew where they were, and honestly didn’t skip a beat when switching topics.

You apologized in advance for being rusty on that talk but I noticed you anticipated upcoming slides and bullet points before advancing to them, indicating you had practiced, practiced, practiced at some point.

I learned a lot from your class, Wade. And I spotted you twice afterward (once at lunch, once in the hall) giving your original presentation. This showed topnotch character on your part.

In my mind this entire episode was a blessing in disguise. You taught more unspoken lessons than you may know.

God speed…