The Show Must Go On, Part III
by Susie Vanderlip, CSP

I have had audiences that never seemed to notice when I did an entire show without music or even a microphone because somebody accidentally pulled the power plug from the wall (yes, that has happened) as I entered and took the stage. I have learned to keep the program going and "fake it ‘til you make it"!

Many times I have switched from my wireless lavalier microphone to a back-up handheld wireless, then to a corded microphone in the middle of a speech because of technical difficulties. School sound systems are inadequate at best, sometimes totally antiquated. There is no way to be sure that my wireless won’t squeal unbearably in a gym or old auditorium. You can guess how warmly people feel about be addressed through a bull horn, so I always require the school (and now, even conference halls) to have a back up handheld microphone—preferably wireless—handy before I take the stage. It has made such unpredictable transitions seamless to the audience.

The Lesson: Faulty equipment is a fact of life, and it pays to have back up, and back up to the back up. But the message isn’t my microphone. The reason I am there is to tell what I know to people who can benefit from the knowledge. I am the message, not my equipment.

And I never, ever blame a technical problem on the sound technician, even if it is his mistake. Sound technicians have the power to make or break the success of a presentation. I do not want to alienate a person who may end up saving the day by dashing in with a new microphone, or may end up at the next school or convention center as the sound tech at my most important career-making event. Besides, they deserve some credit. They don’t get the spotlight and the standing ovations, but they certainly have contributed significantly to many!