Lost my cool at a Peachtree Corners meetup back in 2018

I was at a Tuesday morning networking breakfast at the Atlanta Tech Village and halfway through my elevator pitch, my phone started blaring a siren alarm from a spam calendar invite. Everyone turned and stared, and I just froze for a solid 10 seconds before fumbling to shut it off. How do you recover from a moment like that when you've already blown the first impression?

3 comments

3 Comments

fionat5513d ago

Oh honey, that wasn't even YOUR fault. Those spam calendar invites were EVERYWHERE back then, I got like three of them myself that same week. You didn't lose your cool, you got ambushed by a dumb tech glitch that half the room probably dealt with too. For what it's worth, the real problem wasn't the alarm it was freezing up after. Next time just laugh it off and say "Well that was an unexpected twist" and keep going. People respect someone who can shake off an awkward moment more than someone who pretends it didn't happen.

anthony_jackson3113d ago

Actually, here's a different take @fionat55 - that freezing might have been the real blessing in disguise because it forced everyone to sit with the awkwardness for a second. Most people are so worried about their own presentation that they barely notice someone else's hiccup anyway. Did you ever figure out what caused the freeze, or is it still a mystery to this day?

emma_jones8d ago

Oh man, I've been there with the calendar spam thing. My trick now is to always close out of Outlook or whatever calendar app you're using before you start presenting. Those fake invites can pop up at the worst times. If you're sharing your screen, just minimize that window or go to slideshow mode before you start talking. I learned that one the hard way after my calendar lit up with "Free Ipad Winner" alerts during a quarterly review.