Space Odyssey 2020:  COVID, Technology and Virtual Presentations

Space Odyssey 2020: COVID, Technology and Virtual Presentations

Admit it. How many of you got dragged into the virtual presentation world, kicking and screaming? How many of you had nightmares of sweat dripping down your forehead one minute before the green light came on in front of a virtual roomful of clients? How many of you felt like Dave from Space Odyssey 2001?

“HAL, open the pod bay doors!!”

“I’m sorry Judy, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“All right, HAL. I’ll go in through the emergency airlock.”

“Without your space helmet, Judy, you’re going to find that rather difficult.”

Okay, so maybe this was my imagination going overboard.

For the past few years, I have been encouraged by friends and clients to do more video presentations. As a comedian and motivational speaker, I have always enjoyed live presentations and conferences.

In the past, I had been speaking and coaching virtually with some of my clients but then COVID hit. The game changed overnight. There wasn’t an option to do conferences or comedy shows.

So, like many, I was forced to make a choice. Wait it out or go all-in virtually.

I have to admit, the idea of speaking into a green light for an hour was a bit daunting. It was so different.  However, I took a lot of inspiration from my two sisters. One is a speech-language pathologist and the other is an elementary school teacher. I was impressed with how they both learned the new technology necessary for their work and adapted, almost overnight.   They had never done virtual presentations before. They were motivated by their young students and clients who really needed them to step up.

I don’t think people give themselves enough credit for making such a huge shift in such a relatively short time.  They beat themselves up for not ‘getting it’.  Luckily, both of my sisters were able to lean on their teenagers to help them navigate the new information asteroid fields. I’m sure there were some eye-rolling and gum-smacking along the way, but those little astronauts stepped up too.

I was proud of my nieces and nephews. All those years spent on Snapchat and Tik Tok (or Tic Tac, as my dad calls it) finally paid off.

So, if my sisters could step up for those that virtually needed them, then so could I.

During my first mission right after COVID, I talked to the green light for an hour and then I said goodbye. The green light went out.

It was just me alone in my pod.

I had no idea how the presentation went over.

It was only afterward when I received some nice comments from the organizers and participants via email and LinkedIn, that I knew that the presentation was a hit. Phew.

My next few presentations were via WebEx. Although WebEx isn’t as user friendly as Zoom, it is apparently more secure and as a result, a common choice for various businesses. Also, if it was good enough for guests on CNN then heck, I thought, it should be good enough for me. I may not be as political or incendiary as some of those talking heads but I bet I could still make Don Lemon laugh.

Since then, the platforms have changed but the work itself remains the same. Whether you are talking into a green light or a roomful of people, be yourself, tell your story, don’t be a HAL, be human and make sure you don’t have any space food on your face.

We’re all on the same ship together. It’s a new world but let’s travel safely.

Don’t get rattled. As HAL might suggest, “Look, I can see you’re really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.”

It will be different but we’ll be fine.

Until next time, Laugh Long and Prosper.

Judy-Croon-laugh-long-pro$per-sig-logo

The Positive Formula

 

In her keynote, ‘Relieving Work Related Stress with Humour’, Judy talks about what makes up the ‘positive’ formula – positive thoughts equal positive actions equal a positive purposeful life.

April Newsletter: Sissy Spacek, "Stand Up For The Girls" and more!

Hi folks,
Big news: I will be interviewing Sissy Spacek at Roy Thomson Hall May 13th. Looking forward to it.
 
Stand Up For The Girls
CIBC’s Run for the Cure in Sudbury has aligned with Stand Up For The Girls May 31st. I’m happy to report that half of the VIP tickets were sold even before the event hit the streets!
As of today, all VIP tickets are SOLD OUT- 22 tables of 10!
In total, 560 tickets are being sold and they are going fast.
For more info, or to bring ‘Stand Up For The Girls’ to your city, please feel free to drop me a line.
So far, Stand Up For The Girls and Laughlines have helped raise over $650,000 for breast cancer research.
“Stand-Up for the Girls”
 
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"Stand-up for the Girls"

“Stand-up for the Girls”


By the way, International Women’s Day in Ottawa was a blast.
I enjoyed three sold out shows with Laurie Elliot and Kristeen Von Hagen.
Who says the nation’s capital can’t rock it out?
 
Relieving Stress with Humour
Speaking of rocking it out, here’s a quick pic of me with the gang at The Ministry of Labour earlier this week ‘Relieving Stress with Humour’ in the workplace.
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Judy Croon

Judy Croon Live!


 
By the way, one of the ingredients from my keynote, ” Relieving Stress with Humour” is exercise.
YES, I’m still on my 3 minutes of exercise / week regime.
No, I’m not kidding.
People think my video is a parody because I’m a comedian. Don’t believe me? Check out the BBC special The Truth About Exercise.
 
 

 
 
 
Taming Hecklers : School yard Bullies : Why aren’t we using this method?
In my keynote, ” Taming Hecklers: Dealing with Difficult Personalities”, I talk about bullies. When school yard bullies aren’t dealt with, they turn into office bullies.
This is not meant to be a funny video but hopefully, it will get some conversations started.
 

 
 

–Have a fabulous April everyone! xo

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