Lessons from a Speech Gone Wrong
Published by Ryan Healy on April 10th, 2008 in Personal Development | 8 CommentsA lot of things have happened in my life as a result of blogging, but one of the most unexpected is the number of people who invite me to speak at their company or conference about generational issues. I have done enough speeches at this point so I have a routine, but the last speech threw me for a loop.
The room was set up for about 90 people, but only 30 people showed up. And just like I used to do in college, the majority sat toward the back of the room. I should have realized this would happen: The speech was at a Disney World resort, and not only did I need to compete with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck but also happy-hour magaritas.
I learned a lot that day — about how to deal with a speech that isn't going as well as planned. Here are three things I'll remember to do next time this happens:
Control the room by winging it
Everyone sat scattered and toward the back of the room. The first thing I should have done was postpone my usual, "Hi, thanks for having me…." opening and politely asked everyone to move up. This would have created a completely different dynamic and I'm sure people would have been more engaged and involved. Instead, I let the audience control my presentation.
Another thing I could have done is stopped the presentation all together and cracked a few jokes about not blaming anyone for skipping my speech because drinking margaritas by the pool, heading over to Pleasure Island or catching the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom sounds like a lot more fun.
Be clever enough to create audience interaction
A little audience participation can turn a boring presentation into a great one. My mother and I gave a presentation to a Human Resource group a month ago about "bridging the generational gap." It was a lot of fun because of the interaction we were able to create. I tend to give a lot of information and crack a few jokes to lighten the mood during my speeches, but my mother is the queen of facilitating. She facilitates meetings, groups, thanksgiving dinners, and whatever else could possibly be facilitated.
She showed me some great ways to create this interaction. One great way to do it is to create some type of handout that the audience can fill out. We gave the group a quick test about what generation are you really in? It was a huge hit, and it loosened everyone up before the presentation began.
Also, we asked a lot of questions. After an interesting point was made, my mother might ask, "So what do you guys think of that?" After a little hesitation and awkward silence, someone would always chime in with a thought. This would lead to another thought, and some great discussion.
I should have used a few of her tricks when my presentation began to get stale. Next time, I will.
Don't leave your game on the practice field
I've practiced my speech for hours, but now I know why people say there is such a thing as too much practice. I nailed the speech in rehearsal that morning: I was speaking to the bed and the lamp, I cracked a couple jokes, and laughed aloud. It was by far the best dry run I had in weeks. But by the time I was in front of the audience, I had already done a great speech, so I probably didn't concentrate enough on making the real one great.
All in all, the presentation wasn't a total bust. People asked a lot of questions, most of the audience was engaged, and multiple people came up to me with business cards and questions afterwards. But I know it could have been much better. And next time, it will be, thanks to my lessons learned.
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Leave your thoughts here. (8 responses)
This article´s comments All Employee Evolution commentsGenerationXpert
Apr 10th, 2008 at 7:59 amRyan:
I do a lot of public speaking. Sometimes you just get a group that doesn't click with you. I've noticed that a lot of times it could be the profession from which they come. I'm in marketing and education. When I talk to other marketers and educators it's always good. However, occassionally I'll have to talk to a group of people who work in more technical-based fields and they are not always used to – or do they like – the crazy marketing director girl who is really creative but talks fast and can talk eMarketing, but not the technical aspects of html.
So, what I'm trying to say is that no public speakers wow the audience 100 percent of the time. When you have one that's not as good, look for the holes and plug them next time. A story about the last time often works, too. For instance, I have a speech I do about how gen Xers can deal with boomers at work. The first time I gave this speech 4 or 5 years ago the session was crashed by a couple boomers who kind of caused havoc. Now, I just tell the story in a humorous way at the beginning of my speech and I have no more boomer problems.
Don't beat yourself up. I'm sure it was better than you thought. And it gave you something to blog about
.
-GenerationXpert
Greg Rollett
Apr 10th, 2008 at 9:05 amRyan,
Sorry we didn't get a chance to link up. Sounds like you were a busy guy with speeches and happy hour. Hope Orlando treated you well and next time we'll catch a happy hour or something.
If your getting business cards and questions are being asked, there was some connection there and that is great. I always judge my speaking sessions by the questions. Even if its, "I don't get it," it helps to relate more to the audience and engage in a conversation. I never claim to know it all and the more people involved the smarter a conversation gets.
Catch ya soon.
Dave Fallarme
Apr 10th, 2008 at 10:42 amGreat post, Ryan. I do quite a bit of presentations and group facilitation, and in my experiences I've found that I used to have a lot of trouble when things didn't quite go according to plan.
In keeping with your suggestion about winging it — one thing that's improved my public speaking immensely is performing. I consider myself part musician, and once I started performing in public (in coffee houses, bars and busking), my comfort level when speaking in front of people skyrocketed. You learn how to handle hecklers, you learn how to handle people ignoring you, and most importantly, you learn how to get people's interest back once you sense that it's starting to wane.
chrisminglee
Apr 10th, 2008 at 12:59 pmRyan – great post.
I attended a presentation by Nick Smallman, a communications consultant that works in US and abroad. The room was designed for maybe 100 people, and maybe 15 showed up.
The guy didn't miss a beat. He used all three of your techniques: he moved everyone together, he constantly engaged audience members before and during his presentation, and he cracked jokes about the number of people there, before moving right along to what he had to say.
It was easily one of the best, most well-run presentations I ever saw.
HR Wench
Apr 10th, 2008 at 4:16 pmGood for you that you took an experience that was kinda sucky and your learned something from it. That's what it's all about.
Scott Williamson
Apr 11th, 2008 at 4:18 pmGreat points Ryan.
As someone who makes a living giving presentations, your tips are spot on. One other thing I would add is that when engaging a tough audience, if you can get one person engaged it's usually contagious. We all have a need to be involved and no one wants to feel left out.
All that said, none of us are spot on everytime, but if we learn from each presentation, we keep getting better.
Ryan Healy
Apr 12th, 2008 at 2:20 pmHey all,
Thanks for the comments. I was actually just at a 2 day public speaking training course and I learned a ton about connecting with the audience, commanding a room and all kinds of other great tips. The main things I took away from this are you can never predict what will go wrong in a speech, so you better be ready for anything, and the speech is not about you, its about your audience.
I'll be practicing for the next one!
-Ryan
Andrew - Six Minutes Public Speaking Blog
Apr 16th, 2008 at 4:54 pmGood tips, Ryan.
Along the lines of tip #1 (Control the room by winging it), don't hesitate to rearrange chairs, tables, flip charts, or your projector to create the best possible arrangement for your talk. As an example, suppose you plan on using a flip chart, and it has been placed in a location that 1/3 of your audience can't see it (easily). Move it to a better spot! Consider these pre-talk arrangements your responsibility, because ultimately you and your credibility as a speaker will pay the price for logistics issues.