In my last speaking engagement, the lights went off for 5-minutes before the generator started running. Step 1: Breathe in. Step 2: Stay calm. Step 3: Ask for the next steps if there's something that will be done. Step 4: Be patient and wait for an action to be done. Step 5: When the situation has been solved, gather your thoughts. Step 6: Take a few breaths a day get back to your presentation. And that's how you calmly handle such challenges with confidence and poise exuding Executive Presence.

I traveled across the country to give a pool safety inspections training at a trade meeting in a restaurant bar. Arriving, I realized there was no screen or projector for my PowerPoint. The state health official saw my confusion and handed me a beer, telling me to relax and figure it out. So, I improvised: I walked around, laptop facing the audience, hurriedly pacing the L-shaped bar, speaking over the top of the screen. The movement and mood lightened the room, and attendees were engaged. It proved that knowing your content and adapting can turn any situation around, even with a beer in hand. It was literally a "hold my beer" event. The bottom line, the best way to prepare for tech issues is to know your contented inside and out.

Chill. Ignore the lack of AV support, joke about it, talk openly and honestly, avoid long silences whilst people fiddle with the AV and your audience drums their fingers. Engage immediately with your audience but at a different level. You will get a better much reception from your audience by being yourself than you would if you worked from a script. This way they will know what you really think, much healthier and you may well end up talking to them as equals, rather than talking up to them, from your PowerPoints slides.

I would smile at the audience and walk among them explaining my points which can be described without the help of visual aids. If it’s online, I would let them know via whatsapp or some other means that there is a technical glitch and do not worry. If I become panic, I will lose my confidence and it affects the rest of the presentation. With papers and pens, we should always have plan B’s.