Congrats to David Meerman Scott! His new book has hit the bestseller list in under a fortnight. He quoted me a few times, and referenced a Cisco comedy video we produced as a case study.
One of my all-time favorite videos that Scott Teems and I worked on is the series we created with David to promote his book Worldwide Rave. See video #2 in the playlist below.
David’s new book is filled with excellent examples and practical tips for using social media to connect with your market. Available on Amazon.com
The question I get most often about these is “how did you get these approved at a big corporation?’
By starting small. The first comedy I produced at IBM was at the end of 2004, and it was internal only — for a sales meeting — which kept the risk very low. I kept the cost low by asking one of my best friends, Scott Teems, a director, to help me for $400. The video was a hit, I was asked to create a sequel, and was able to pay Scott a nice tip.
If you forced me to rank the places where I would most prefer not to look like an idiot, the Harvard Kennedy School would come in fourth. Or maybe sixth. Some of history’s most eminent figures have spoken there, like Jack Donaghy.
But even after a successful tech-check before the presentation, things can go terribly wrong. Especially if you’ve embedded videos into a powerpoint presentation.
I was attempting to show two commercials, but another video popped up, and what’s worse, the audio was out of synch with the video. But here’s what I’ve learned:
1) Take a deep breath and relax. You’re still in control of how you respond. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from a decade of standup comedy is that audiences are incredibly empathetic. If you’re having a good time, they are. If you’re stressed out, they are. Audiences want you to be successful. It’s important that you understand and remind yourself that they are rooting for you.
2) Bring backup. I always carry a copy of my presentation on a USB stick and load the file on a backup presentation computer if available — the AV folks usually have one.
3) Bring a short 3-4 minute video about your topic on a DVD. Give it to the AV folks during the tech run-through. If there is a problem, they can play your video to give the audience something to watch other than you sweating, while the tech folks are resolving the issue.
4) Take an improv class. You may have to do it on a dare. I came very close to running out of my first improv class in 1998 at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade theater. It was scary to get through, but has changed my life. Give it a shot.
5) Have an alternative slide-free version of your story ready to tell. It’s important to be ready to present a compelling case without powerpoint slides, as I sometimes have to do when negotiating with my wife. Hard to believe but history has witnessed a few speeches that went pretty well without foils and an overhead projector: the Gettysburg Address, the Sermon on the Mount and King Henry V’s Crispian Day speech. To be fair, one of those speakers relied on 3×5 index cards and was a fictional character.
