Game Nearly Over As Nintendo Presentation Proves Technical Problem

Posted in   Presentations   on  February 3, 2011  

Nintendo of America President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Reggie Fils-Aime has a reputation for being pretty calm and deliberate in his presenting style. It goes with the job. But his charm and poise were disturbed when he started a recent Nintendo presentation in New York. His aim was to launch the new Nintendo 3DS and announce its critical price point and sales date to watching industry hacks.

Nintendo presentation
Nintendo Presentation Has A Meltdown

Nintendo Presentation Suffers

But his teleprompter was dead. Yes, it had worked earlier, but now it was dead.

His reaction seemed graceless. It was as if he didn’t know what to do. We wondered whether his stage presence was simply about reading the prompter.

Click to play

Because without it he had no plan B. With hands clasped, then unclasped he gave the impression of just keeping it together. An appeal to an aide didn’t work, so he aimed a semi-joking accusation at a financial analyst from Wedbush. It was bizarre. You can compare this rather weak approach to that of Sarah Palin when she experienced a teleprompter freeze. Or, of course, the reaction of Elon Musk at the Tesla Cybertruck product launch presentation.

Of course, he recovered the situation when the technology re-started. But this graceless introduction to an important product announcement overshadowed this Nintendo presentation.

Comparing Styles For Presentation Problems

We also reported how there was a stage problem with a President Obama speech. The President’s response? Charm and courteousness combined. That’s the way to do it.

Note to industry Presidents and COOs. When you present with teleprompters and autocue, make sure that you rehearse with them…and without them. Have a plan, a script or some cue cards. So, be prepared for public speaking problems. It makes for a more graceful presentation when everything else goes pear-shaped.

You can read more about presentation technology with this skills tip. It’s part of a regular series of presentation and public speaking and presentation skills tips that we publish. You can always choose to have the tips delivered straight to your email account when you subscribe to the Telling it Straight newsletter.

Plus, when you want to give your own presentation skills that extra bit of power, then you can always consider a training course. That’s because a well-constructed day’s training is invaluable for skills and confidence. So, when the time is right, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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About the Author

The Principal Trainer at training business Time to Market. Now based in London, I run presentation and public speaking training courses, coaching sessions and seminars throughout the UK.

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  • I doubt that the success or failure of the 3DS would be affected by this
    presentation. He did fine once the teleprompter got working again. But his
    response to the technical hitch with the presentation…that’s something else.
    The US President had a more graceful response when his
    presentation
    was interrupted.

  • It is really a shame that the COO of such an important company cannot speak about the product without a prompter.

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