Are you failing enough at work? If you have not been failing enough, it probably means that you have not been improving much.
I was clearing out some of my old videos and I realized that I’d come a long way with my team.
Failed with the wrong tool
My videos, in the beginning, were grainy. This was mainly because of inadequate lighting in the room and a lack of a good camera.
What we did:
Over time, we invested in proper lighting equipment and a good camera which helped to solve 50% of the problem.
Failed because we needed different set-ups
We realised that based on the different types of delivery: training, keynote speaking, and facilitating a large group meeting, we required different setups.
Then depending on the time of the day, the room we used also needs to be different! For example, I had to use my own bedroom for night trainings because the audience were located in another part of the globe.
What we did:
We approached 2-3 masterful people who were good in the production and sound. They showed and helped us with the set-ups based on different rooms and times of the day for my presentation.
Then we had to put it up ourselves, again and again (we had to tear it down almost after each presentation), to hone our skills for ourselves.
To this, I’m thankful and have deep respect for the team of experts and team who worked behind the scenes of each production for TV, movies, and the like.
Failed with the wrong tools or wrong techniques
We made mistakes. We bought quite a few equipment that were not suitable.
Microphones are a class of their own, depending on your needs and environment.
What we did:
We researched, exchanged findings with other people who were also trying microphones, and heard a few Youtubers who reviewed and compared a few microphones.
And we bought and tested a few. Eventually, we settled for a condenser instead of a dynamic microphone because it was easy and suited for our needs.
Honing the skill
We constantly made changes to increase our clients’ experience in our talks and demanded that our production level had to be better.
We had to be world-class and like other artists, we dedicated ourselves to perfecting our craft.
The results
After a while, we found the sweet spot of engaging large audiences well with superior lighting, sound, and special effects.
It doesn’t need to be great when you start, but you need to start so that you will be great.
From our failures, we learnt and improved.
“If you are not failing enough, then you are probably not improving much.“
– Kenneth Kwan
Would you or your managers need such up-skilling too?
We are now running two training programs to help our clients and you too:
- Better Online Meetings – for Managers and Leaders who need to engage people online in their daily or weekly meetings.
- Create Engaging Virtual Presentations – for people who need to present virtually to larger group of audience such as during Town Halls or sharing their knowledge cross-functionally.
