Note: This post is for entertainment – Nothing to learn here today other than some cheap laughs at my expense! Enjoy!

Have you ever had something happen to you that was so embarrassing you later found it impossible to think about without your face turning red? Do any of those events take place while at work, or in the field presenting to  a potential client? My friends at SBTV are hosting a contest to see who submits the most “horrifying presentation story.” I entered my story yesterday. Read it and weep for me ok? Yes, it really did happen, and yes I still embarrass myself talking about it to this day. Here it is:

My presentation horror story is one of those “cringe worthy” events that hurts to even think about. This happened when I was a brand spanking new sales rep for a rather well known telecommunications giant. (So please cut me some slack for my reactions ok? I was still a youngling!) I had scheduled a presentation with a potential client that was far bigger than any I had worked with up to this point, so I was stoked as you might imagine!

Practically walking on air at this point as I had worked nearly 6 months to land this appointment with regional manager and VP of this massive firm. The only issue I had to overcome was the client could only meet with me at 7:00 in the morning, so I had to ask my boss permission to go straight to the appointment from my house the following morning. He agreed and gave me a little pep talk that amounted to a “go get ‘em” and “don’t screw this up” all rolled into one 45 second speech.

I set my alarm, put on my best attire, and left the house early to beat rush hour traffic… Traffic was great, I was set to arrive professionally 5 minutes early- everything was going my way! It would take a Yak and 10 oxen to pull the massive smile from my face! Or so I thought. See, even though it seemed as if the stars were aligned in my favor at this point, apparently fate has a wicked sense of humor and decided my smile was a tad bit too large and perhaps even mildly offensive as I was about to discover.

I pull into the lot exactly 7 minutes early and park the car, careful to avoid any of the “reserved” spots.  Before exiting the vehicle I did one of those last minute review mirror checks to make sure I was “studly” enough to make a great first impression. Come on, you all know what I mean. Where you look in the mirror and check your “angles” from the left to the right to make sure there’s nothing funny hanging from your teeth, or a suspicious smear on your face…

Go through the process with me now: Tie looks good? Check… Right side of face free from errant food or hair? Check… Left side of face? Chec…. Er, HAIRY? Wha??? What is this? Some kind of bad dream?My  pulse accelerated from zero to 500 in a fraction of a second as it suddenly dawned on me that I had stupidly managed to completely shave one side of my Read More→