Doh! Lessons Learned

I put myself into a situation that I thought I had a good handle on. But then on the day of, I realized that I was demonstrating some Excel features using 2013, instead of 2010, which was the version I had been practicing with and the version I used for the screen shots that made up the webinar handouts.

Doh!

Not to self: Pay attention to the laptop you are using on the day of the webinar.

In my day job, I work in Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook . . . 2010. So I am comfortable moving around the 2010 version.

I’m not as up to date as I would like to be on the changes made in the menu items from Excel 2010 to Excel 2013.

So there I am, presenting a webinar—a live presentation—and I don’t know where to find some of the features I’m talking about. Because the menu has changed a bit from 2010 to 2013.

Doh!

What did I do? I had to admit to the attendees that I just realized the laptop I would be using for the webinar presentation was not the same version I practiced with. (Otherwise, I think I would have looked like an idiot, spending time trying to find where the Excel feature was that I was looking for.) So I ‘fessed up.

Shame on me for not paying attention to the equipment I would be using for my webinar.

Note to self: Pay more attention to all of the details next time!  You don’t have an admin assistant to help you, so it’s up to you to make sure you have the right equipment, especially if you are presenting a webinar to others.

Lesson learned. You can bet I won’t let that happen again.

On another note—to admins in particular: You are a wealth of knowledge and you should be sharing the knowledge you have with others (whether it’s your admin colleagues or anyone else in your firm). Help them grow their skills and knowledge. Encourage them to share their knowledge, in whatever format is comfortable for them (written, in-person 1:1 or in a group session, webinar; whatever). When the webinar host asked me if I had any last words, I talked about how I was a bit nervous knowing that I had to do a webinar presentation (it was my second time webinar-ing for the organization, but the first time doing one where they’d see my live keystrokes while in Excel), but I forged ahead and agreed to do it. (You could say I crossed that off on my bucket list—presenting another webinar—if I could become as great a webinar presenter as Melissa Esquibel, how sweet would that be?!) So . . . step out of your comfort zone and make an effort to grow your presentation skills, and share your knowledge at the same time. Once it’s over, you’ll be glad you did it.