This Live from TechEd thing...

As is typical fashion for me, I want to take a brief opportunity to square up a few details I find ultimately important to share with you, our customer.  The past few days has given me the unique opportunity to learn a few lessons in public speaking —

The countless number of you who have attended webcasts I have delivered in the past 3 years know that there are 3 fundamental things that you get when coming to see me – live or on the web:

• Entertained:  Without this, you will quickly fill up my timeslot with more important, urgent day-to-day tasks
• Educated:  If you attend one of my presentations and you don’t learn one, at least one, thing you didn’t know then I failed!
• Error…prone:  The word says it all — the beauty of a real presentation, i.e not recorded, not scripted, is seeing that person on stage deal with all that goes with live presentations.

Myth #1:

TechEd presenters don’t prepare.  Well, it is a myth for anyone I personally know.  I think it is important to note that I see presenters on my team spend countless hours preparing and trust me, they are ready when they see you, our customer.

Myth #2:

Demos don’t always fail because of lack of preparation.  In fact, they often fail because the presenter is trying to take you, our customer, to the next level of thinking.  That is to say — challenge your current knowledge and get you thinking about very cool things you can do “at home.”

Myth #3:

Exaggeration doesn’t really occur when you talk about technical people who have spent countless hours solving problems.  If you see excitement, then you better darn pay attention because it is warranted and important.

Myth #4:

TechEd presenters spend their lives traveling the globe to master the art of speaking.  No, only 5% of them do that and those are the ones you score highest.

Myth #5:

Test, test, and test… I see it every time I present.  Did you actually test your demo before you tried it?  Well, this is a unique question that simply begs the question — did you drink your typical coffee or pop this morning?  Yes, any passionate, technically savvy person doesn’t go on stage saying – “Hmm, let’s just see what happens….”  Instead, they tend to put countless hours into pushing the threshold, testing, and re-testing all the demo’s to ensure that they are not only sound – but ready for live action.  Murphy’s law… if you don’t know it, learn it — as it is typically the reason that very prepared presenters are challenged beyond expectations and it simply is frustrating.  In the end, the beauty of all of it is that every presenter will learn from every single small detail and will eventually walk off stage saying – “Wow, I just rocked the house!”

With all myths set aside, I learned the following from TechEd 2006 and my blessed opportunity to speak to so many of you -

   a).  TechChecks the night before, and the morning\afternoon of do not always equal flawless execution

   b).  Exaggeration is a buzzword that many don’t understand…

   c).  Entertainment:  Live it, breath it, and deliver it

TechEd 2006 offered it’s typical, customary customer interaction that I have grown to love.  When attendees pay what they pay to attend TechEd I would certainly expect high-quality entertainment, education, and passion.  However, there are very many small details outside of the control of that lonely person or two that should realistically be taken into account prior to clicking submit on a ultimate grade on effectiveness. As a small example, I don’t know one speaker at TechEd 2006 who was capable of changing the failures such as “cold rooms”, “missing technical requirements”, etc. thus they seem to make every review…

From one passionate presenter to customer, I just wish that all things in this world were perfect.  This would make life much easier…

Until then, the fine art of presenting versus Murphy’s Law will continue to clash at every interval possible.  In my shoes, this is what makes it so much fun!

Thanks to all for the lessons learned, the knowledge hopefully transferred, and most importantly for joining me & our team in telling the story that is IIS 7.0!

Thanks,

Chris