You ask a question. Nobody answers.You wait, then try again. “Feel free to put your thoughts in the chat.”A few responses appear. You thank everyone and move to the next slide.Later, when you go over the meeting, you decide you need more engagement next time. Maybe a
Three books and two conversations from my podcast: Calm Clear Curiosity offer reasons to look again. Sometimes a book stays with us because it gives us a question we had not thought to ask. A conversation can do the same thing. We hear someone describe an experience, and suddenly something
By the time the audience notices something has gone wrong, the emcee has probably been watching it develop for a while. A speaker is more nervous than they were during rehearsal. A performer is waiting in the wrong place. A name has changed on the introduction. A presentation is running
When I’m producing a virtual event, several things can need attention at once. A presenter is having trouble with their microphone. The next video is cued. Someone in the chat has a question that needs an answer before the program moves on. Meanwhile, the clock keeps moving. It would
Some meetings feel settled before they begin. The host welcomes everyone without rushing. The speakers know when they will be introduced. The person sharing slides has already tested them. Everyone understands what the audience should know, feel, or do by the end. That confidence may look effortless in the moment.
Each weekend, I find myself sitting behind a microphone and speaking to people I can't see.I have no idea whether they're listening in the kitchen, driving to work, walking the dog, or sitting quietly with a cup of coffee. I also don't know
A while ago, I found myself playing a game of virtual whack-a-mole.Instead of plastic critters popping out of an arcade machine, AI note-takers kept appearing in online meetings.Some arrived before the people who supposedly sent them. Others appeared even though their owners never joined the
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If you’ve ever worked with engineers, broadcasters, or IT professionals, you’ve probably heard the phrase "belt and suspenders." It describes a simple philosophy: use two independent methods to accomplish something important. If one fails, the other keeps everything in place. In virtual events, that mindset isn’
It started with a simple task. A presenter launched a Zoom meeting, opened PowerPoint, and clicked Share Screen. Instead of seeing separate presentation windows, Zoom displayed a single PowerPoint icon. The presenter couldn’t choose the slideshow window they needed. Ten minutes later, they were still troubleshooting while their audience
There is a moment before every live broadcast, virtual event, or keynote presentation when preparation gives way to reality. The countdown reaches zero. The microphone goes live. The audience arrives. And whatever happens next is happening in real time. Over the years, I’ve learned that those moments rarely unfold
One of the most important career decisions I ever made started with a single misspelled word. As a college student, I was taking a FORTRAN programming course. Like many students, I spent long hours in the campus computer lab trying to get my assignments to compile. One afternoon, I reached
When someone contacts me about producing a virtual event, one of the first questions they ask is: "What platform should we use?" It's an understandable question. But it's rarely the first question I answer. Instead, I ask a different one. "What do you
A few years ago, I was producing a virtual event when several things happened at once. A speaker was having audio issues. The audience was beginning to arrive. A last-minute agenda change needed to be communicated. Questions were coming in through chat. The event start time was approaching. The
The Most Overlooked Part of Your Zoom Meeting Is the First Experience People Have My doctor’s office still has magazines in the waiting room. My dentist’s office has a TV mounted in the corner. Different formats. Same purpose. They’re not just filling space. They’re managing the
There’s a moment right before every event starts. Cameras are coming on. Chat is warming up. The host is taking a breath. And behind the scenes, one document determines whether the next 60 minutes feel calm and intentional… or rushed and reactive. That document is the run of show.
Most virtual meetings start the same way. “Let’s give people a few minutes to join.” Then the host shares housekeeping instructions. Someone reminds everyone that the session is being recorded. The slides appear. The speaker waits. Five minutes later, the meeting finally begins. Unfortunately, by that point, something important
If we’ve connected recently, welcome. If we’ve known each other for years, welcome back. I realized it was time for a proper reintroduction—not because anything has changed dramatically, but because the through-line of my work has become clearer than ever. At the center of everything I
There’s a deceptively simple checkbox in Zoom that quietly shapes how confident you feel on camera: Mirror My Video. Most people treat it as a cosmetic preference. It’s not. It sits at the intersection of ergonomics, perception, and a well-documented psychological effect that dates back nearly 50
There’s a moment in live radio when everything changes. A producer’s voice cuts in. The log no longer matters. And what was planned for the next five minutes quietly disappears. What’s easy to forget is this: breaking news often brings more listeners, not fewer. People tune in