Caught on camera… live

Getting in front of an audience of five hundred people for forty-five minutes is a doddle compared to a) speaking in front of a camera and writing on a white board and b) speaking on a live web broadcast for ten minutes. I did the white board sessions last year, and a recorded interview, and last week it was the turn of the live web broadcast.

Together with Gethin Owen of the Salvation Army and Bob Tarzey of Quocirca (oh, and not forgetting the anchorman, Bryan Glick, editor of Computing) I spoke on a live web broadcast on the subject of ‘how to be more productive and competitive through collaboration technology’. Live meant live. No re-takes or after-the-event editing… live to over a hundred people watching on the Interweb.

I found with the white board sessions last year that the lack of an audience makes a presentation difficult – the human element, the eye contact, the small fragments of visual feedback are missing. Doing it live galvanises you somewhat, but the most difficult thing… ten minutes? One hour, two hours – no problem, I can fill that time-slot, but ten minutes is very difficult. I think I did twelve in the end. Bob did look bored at one point, but I’m sure he wasn’t. Well, I hope he wasn’t.

Watching it back now it’s better than I thought it was at the time. I thought I’d rambled, I didn’t really, but I could still do with dropping the errrs and errrms. Bryan on the other hand was the epitome of the cool presenter, and I’m surprised he hasn’t been snapped up by the BBC.

Finally I want to say a special thank you to Gethin – I think he was a tad nervous but he did a great presentation, and I’ve always said that I love the fact that Lotus software is used by an organisation that does so much good in the world. From everyone in the Lotus brand, thank you Gethin.

If you want to view the webcast replay you have to register, that takes a few seconds, so head on over to the launch page.