I remember going to a live networking event with my coworkers where it kicked off with a presentation. The video clip from a big-name sponsor, projected on a large screen for the 200-person audience, was meant to inspire and set the tone.
Once the organizer’s laptop connected to the projector screen, we saw their desktop, folders and miscellaneous files scattered across it; a wallpaper of their dog. We saw them rustle through a few folders and find the sponsor’s video clip. They opened it, went to the program settings, made it full-screen, and clicked play on the video.
The whole time I thought, why did we have to see all that? Why couldn’t we have just seen the video clip?
Then, less than two minutes into the sponsor’s heartfelt speech, the video stuttered. The audio cut off. Suddenly all the 200 people in the audience were seeing was blurred, sputtering video, in total silence.
The awkward feeling in the air was palpable. The organizing team rushed to the laptop to figure out how to fix it. Everyone watched uncomfortably as they fumbled through the audio and video settings, darted back and forth in folders, then in email to look for another copy of the video clip to try.
The audience didn’t know what to do or when it would come back on. Seconds felt like minutes. Murmurs and whispers grew louder. Was it ok to talk or get a drink while they figured it out? The organizing team was so flustered with the video that they didn’t have a second to communicate with the audience.
After many long minutes, the organizers gave up on the video and turned off the entire presentation screen. One of them took the mic and apologized for the technical difficulty, and continued with a background-less speech.
“Why did we have to see all that?”
My name is Deanna, and I’ve seen presentations like this and less extreme variations countless times. And I’ve always wondered why, whether simple online screen share or a real-life presentation, it always felt so unprofessional, especially when technical issues arose.
Even when I work from a cafe or remote and only have one monitor, I find myself becoming more anxious about my Teams calls. What if I switch tabs and accidentally show something the audience shouldn’t see? My entire Teams chat history?
Wasn’t there a more elegant way to handle these situations?
That’s why I created Stagehand. Finally there is a way to control exactly what your audience sees. Technical issue? Curtain down, you don’t have to disconnect your whole screen share. Raise it when it’s fixed. Change your source whenever you want, smoothly.
I hope Stagehand will help you give professional-looking presentations with confidence, no matter your setup, no matter who you’re presenting to, or where!
