On Thursday, January 22, 2026 we held our first Speech Geeks Speak - Ask Me Anything - webinar. While we got through the majority of questions that had been submitted ahead of time, there were a few we didn't quite have time for. So, as promised to those who were there, here are the questions we didn't quite have time to answer.
Question: What do you do if your audience engagement slide (Slido) doesn't work or show up during your talk - even after you tested it prior?
The Speech Geeks Answer:
Oh Technology! When it fails us, it always seems to happen at the most inopportune time. So, when your presentation relies on the tech, always have a back-up plan. For instance, if I am planning to do a live demo of something that relies on an Internet connection, I'll make screenshots and have that as a backup. That way I can still walk my audience through the application and they can visit the live version later.
In cases where you're relying on audience participation, like with Slido or Mentimeter, pivot to just asking the questions. You can either have the questions on a slide (one question per slide) or simply have them written down and read them. Have the audience raise their hands or stand up. Although I'd be careful with the standing up. In a large room with a lot of people that can cause a lot of noise and distraction, causing you to lose control of your audience.
Also, when it fails live and the audience knows it has failed, don't waste a lot of time trying to fix it. You'll lose momentum, your audience will begin to lose interest, and you'll be using up some of your valuable presentation time. Just pivot quickly and your audience will thank you for it. When you can quickly move to your back-up plan the audience will move with you and appreciate that you aren't wasting their time trying to figure out what went wrong with your tech.
Bottom line: Always have a back-up plan.
Question: When you speak about a certain topic multiple times, do you keep everything exactly the same or do you change it up?
The Speech Geeks Answer:
For the most part, it's okay to say the same thing at multiple presentations. That said, it's almost never going to be exactly the same audience. If you have the luxury of knowing who the audience is ahead of time, you have the option to do some small tweaks to customize your talk to that audience. For example, I was a trainer for years and taught the exact same classes every month. the audience was always from the same organization but there were usually a different mix of agencies so I would try to incorporate examples from the agency with the largest number of registered attendees in a given month.
You'll also no doubt get feedback from your audience. Whether that is through questions they ask or confused looks on their faces, the next time you give the same presentation you may want to make changes simply to explain a point better or perhaps create a better visual.
Also, don't discount the awesomeness of your presentation! We have both had people attend our presentations more than one time and have always gotten feedback from repeat attendees on how they learned something new from it. If someone is coming to your presentation a second time, they know what to expect. They liked it the first time and are attending again to enhance and reinforce what they learned the first time around.
Bottom line: If it went fine the first time, keep it the same or make small modifications to improve the parts that may not have been as clear the first time around.
