You know it and I know it. It's going to happen.
Chances are we’ve both lived it.
You’ve planned your speech as best as you can … you’re confident going
in and you’re ready to deliver. And then
something goes wrong.
* You lose your place
* Your audio/visual suddenly quits working
* Your stumped by a question
* A few unexpected changes to the script
It’s happened to me … very recently in fact. But I won’t tell you where but when I was
done, the great news was that nobody noticed. (Hopefully) Here’s what happened…
Working off a written
script … and if front of the biggest live in front of my eyes (not televised) audience I’ve stepped
in front of (thousands here, not hundreds) … I got caught up in the enthusiasm
of the crowd of people and their reaction to what was being said. I actually shifted from page one to page two
and skipped about four key paragraphs. I
realized it mid-sentence of the last paragraph. "Oh, %$&?!"
Here’s the good news … and how I fixed it mid-stream. The speech had been rehearsed to the point that I knew what
was being said… how it flowed and given that I had written the script, I had
made notes in Sharpee to the left of my key paragraphs.
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| Do You Have a "Help" Button? |
The first thing the notes did… was help me realize that I’d
jumped ahead. And the key to making sure
people didn’t know…. was to deliver that final paragraph with emphasis …
allowing for the audience to clap as they were supposed to …. and more
importantly …. allowing me to pull page one back in front of me
and find my point of “pick up.” With my
other hand, I used my thumb to keep my place on page two.
Nobody’s perfect. We
all have those moments where we “get off script.” The key is to have a comfort within - making sure that
you’ve got a plan in case something goes wrong. “Presentation Coaches” will tell you that you should have a
“story” ready to tell, or take questions from the audience as ways of
reclaiming your focus during that &%$?! moment. I agree.
And if giving a speech… aside from taking a pause or a deep breath … I advise
two things above all other
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| Everyone Loses Focus - Then What? |
(1) Take a question …. make the audience a part of
the show. It puts them in a
“participation mode” and helps them connect with you and you connect with them.
(2) Have an extra note-card with a few bullet
points. They should be stories of
experience or things you didn’t have time to put in your speech that you’d love
to get out if the moment presented itself.
Bottom line… our job as presenters is to create “aha
moments” for the audience. But every now
and again, we have our own “oh @!?#!” moment … and that’s where it pays to have
a game plan going in.
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| Have a Plan BEFORE Your Audience Arrives |
Thanks for reading along and sharing this blog with others
in your circle. I’d love to get your
comments below … and tips you think we could use to be better. And you can always share, re-tweet and
comment by following me on Twitter @KraigKann.
Thought for the Day: When delivering a speech or in front of any
audience… remember, you can’t always control chaos or what feels like
chaos. What you can always do … is
control your composure when it happens.
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