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My first big client presentation went totally sideways today
I had this big pitch for a local bakery in Austin, and I spent all week prepping the slides and numbers. But about 10 minutes in, my laptop froze and I couldn't pull up the financial projections I'd worked on. I just smiled, grabbed a whiteboard marker, and sketched out the key points by hand while talking through everything. The owner actually said she liked that better because it felt more real. Has anyone else had tech blow up mid-meeting and had to think on their feet?
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wade_kelly7712d ago
Jumping right in here... @jason_stone59 makes a really good point about people remembering the times you roll with it more than the perfect slides. But I gotta ask you this - after you sketched everything out on the whiteboard, did the client ask you to send them the actual slides later anyway? I've had that happen before where the hand drawn stuff wins them over in the moment, but then they still want the polished version for their records or to show their team... It's like you can't fully escape the tech stuff once you leave the room. I'm curious if that bakery owner ended up asking for the digital version too, or if she genuinely liked the rough version enough to go with just that.
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jason_stone5913d ago
Oh man, that line about "grabbing a whiteboard marker and sketching out the key points" really hits home for me. I've had a similar thing happen where my projector bulb died right when I was supposed to show a client some cost breakdowns, and it felt like the floor just dropped out from under me. But honestly, the way you handled it sounds like a total win in disguise. In my experience, people actually remember the times you roll with the punches way more than when everything goes perfectly smooth. That baker probably saw how resourceful and human you are, and that builds a lot more trust than a flashy slide deck ever could. Your mileage may vary of course, but I'd bet that presentation actually worked out better in the long run because of that hiccup.
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