Back to the Drawing Board

Years ago, I was at one of our regional distribution centers in Dallas giving a training presentation on our new line of company branded safety products. There was a very large, very expensive combination dry-erase and projector screen wood-grain cabinet at the front of the training room – perfect for my presentation since I used both PowerPoint slides and drawings to illustrate my training sessions on how our products compared to other name-brand safety PPE.

As I was drawing my first diagram using the black dry-erase marker, I thought the surface felt a little gritty. Sure enough, the projector screen was down and I had begun to draw on the screen, instead of the dry erase board.

Since I was going to be in town for a week, training the branch staff on Monday and several customer sessions through the week, my “artwork” was there for all to see. Everyone got a huge laugh. I learned to make the best of it and then bought the branch a new screen. That memory was reminded to me by my fellow associates for several years afterwards.

Lesson learned, now I always make sure to touch the surface of what I’m going to be writing on, BEFORE I draw…

Todd Guenther
Senior Project Coordinator
Safety Marketing Services
www.safetymarketingservices.com

Editor's Note: What's the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you during a training session? Send your stories to me at catherinej@bongarde.com . If we use it, we won't print your name unless you say we can—I promise.

Catherine Jones
Co Editor-in-Chief
SafetyXChange.org

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