Could you present blind?  4 Lessons in preparation from Olympic champion, Michael Phelps

Many presenters share the actor’s nightmare of being in front of an audience and not knowing their lines.  I lived that nightmare early in my sales career.
A Presenter’s nightmare
As a new salesperson I was excited when I received a last-minute opportunity to present to an important prospect.  Although I didn’t know the product well or have much preparation time, I felt confident.  After all, everything I needed was on my slides!  I arrived at the prospect’s office, introduced myself, clicked on my PowerPoint and…nothing happened.  I clicked, rebooted, prayed.  Still nothing.  Soon my audience was chiming in with suggestions, all to no avail.  (Now mind you, this was before flash drives and the ability to email large files easily.)
I decided to forge ahead – sans-slides – since I knew it would be difficult to get this same group of people together any time soon.  I wish I had not.  I