This is part 1 of a 2 part article. Click here to read part 2.
If you are the MD/CEO of your company (or a Senior Executive that never has to do chores like this at work), this article may not directly apply to you but it could benefit you if you passed it on to your Personal Assistant, Secretary or anyone responsible for setting up your presentations anytime you have to deliver them. If you are not an MD/CEO, but you sometimes have to setup presentations for such persons, you are likely to find the lessons from this story quite instructive.
(First published in April 2006 on a static html page on www.spontaneousdevelopment.com. Based on excerpts from Tayo Solagbade’s E-book: Twenty-Five(25) Articles/True Stories On Self-Development And Entrepeneuring To Help You Succeed FASTER!)
1. Musa’s gets an email Monday morning from Sarah – MD’s Personal Assistant. It’s about the much expected presentation on a new company strategy which the MD is scheduled to deliver next Monday. Sarah’s email ends with "I am confident you will ensure this very important presentation goes without a hitch. Thanks in advance".
2. Musa Dele Anicho is Training Manager in the eastern branch of a large corporate multinational. Apart from providing needs-based training for the site staff/managers, his job involves coordinating briefings/presentations etc that have a way of occurring at short notice – with the key actor often being a top man, for example in this case, Mr. Samuel Okocha, the Managing Director.
3. Musa grimaces as he reads the last line of Sarah’s email but seeing in it a tacit "warning" immediately sets out to make all necessary arrangements. It is the first time since becoming Training Manager that he would be personally responsible for preparations towards the MD’s presentation. By the end of the week his boss had contacted him more than 10 times about preparations and each time Musa had told him all was set. Indeed, "as far as he could see" everything was set.
a. He had copied the PowerPoint Presentation to the Toshiba Satellite laptop supplied by the IT department and test run it over and over again – with speakers/projector.
b. He had double-checked the lighting in the Training room to be used and ensured the seating arrangement would not prevent people seeing the projector screen.
c. Refreshments had been booked and all other routine arrangements made. All was set!
BUT why then – after all this work by Musa, did the following unfortunate event have to occur? And how did Musa via quick thinking eventually save the day – and himself?
4. It’s 10.00 am Monday morning and Mr. Okocha(the MD) is on the 3rd slide of his presentation with all staff and Managers in the eastern branch listening with rapt attention to the high profile presentation with serious expressions on their faces.
5. The MD just finished giving an overview of the new strategy and then says "Let me now move to the most important part of my presentation which is: The breakdown of our new Corporate Strategy including the Action Plan for its implementation".
6. He clicks on the mouse but nothing happens(Musa’s heart misses a beat). The MD clicks again, this time twice, thrice..yet still nothing happens – A frown now appears on his forehead(Musa on his part is already beginning to sweat even though the room is fully airconditioned).
7. The MD grunts a bit inaudibly saying "Sorry I think there’s a problem" and looks around as if asking for some help. Musa’s boss, Mr. Lateef scowls deeply at Musa and motions with his eyes for him to do something!
8. Musa gets up, his mind racing, and walks with shaky legs towards the MD, who with characteristic calmness at this point casually carries on with his presentation using the printed paper version he had brought with him as a reference
(Lesson: Anytime you have to give a PC presentation, endeavour to carry a printed copy (printed version) with you as a backup. Technology is reliable but not error-free: Anything can happen, so be prepared ! )
9. Musa realises he must find a very quick solution that will enable the MD deliver this important information to the large audience in a way that ensures they all get a sound understanding of the subject. He forces himself to calm down and think (even as one teasing voice tells him "There goes your career down the drain -all
that hard work from all those years gone!").
The second and concluding part of this story explains how Musa was able – within a space of 3 minutes – to resolve the problem and get the MD’s presentation back on its PowerPoint based tract, to record a "happy ending". There are many practical lessons to be learned from this narrative of a true-life occurrence.