Welcome to the real world: things happen. Especially, things happen while you are giving a speech. Bad things, things that can really ruin your speech. Fire alarms go off, power fails, a projector bulb goes out, your laptop decides to eat itself, etc. What is a speaker to do?
you need to have a plan
If you want to have any chance of not self-destructing when something goes wrong while giving a speech, then you’ll need to have a plan. Oh, and it’s going to have to be a pretty good plan.
Can you say homework? To prepare for things that happen while you’re giving a speech, you’ll need to spend some time BEFORE the speech going over all the things that could happen. Once you’ve identified these things, you’ll start to feel much more relaxed about your actual speech; You must be prepared for what happens.
Some time ago I took advantage of an opportunity that presented itself to me to become Certified Professional in Business Continuity. This means that I am now considered an expert on how to plan for the worst.
The biggest thing I got out of all my training was actually the simplest thing: You have to identify everything that could happen to you, but then you just have to plan for the most likely items on that list. Possible fire drill: plan it. Meteorite hitting earth during his speech – put it on the list, but don’t worry about planning for it (probability too low).
This is the escape hatch.
Although you may want to have a hole that you can go and jump into if something happens to interrupt your presentation, you don’t really have that option. In show business they have a saying that “The show must go on” and the same can be said for their presentation. What you do need to have is an escape hatch that leads from the presentation you were giving to the one you will be giving after the event occurs.
This means that before your speech, you should take your time and think of all the possible things that could go wrong. Just thinking about them is not enough, you also have to decide what you would do if they happened. I would take the time to write down both the possible event and the action I would take if it happened. Just the act of writing can help firm things up in your mind.
Case in point: if your projector bulb failed, how would you handle that? One possibility would be to distribute a brochure that you have created just for this situation. Another way to handle it would be to pull out the flipchart and start drawing on it. No matter what you do, just have a plan in case something happens.
You’re the rock, act that way
Any speech is actually a performance. When something goes wrong, your performance doesn’t end. How you react to an unplanned event will go a long way in determining how your audience reacts to the event.
What this all means is simply that you shouldn’t react when something goes wrong. Don’t show surprise, face her and move on with your speech.
The hardest part of all of this is remembering that it’s not just the words you say that can reveal surprise, but also your body language. Again, this is where having thought through all the possibilities will help you deal with them as expected occurrences.
practice practice practice
To put all this planning into action, you must have practiced what you would do if something happened. I’m not suggesting you set off a fire alarm or sabotage your projector, my suggestion is much simpler.
Once you are done with your planning, sit back and mentally picture yourself giving your speech. Now imagine that something goes wrong. What is your job? “See” yourself reacting calmly and very confidently to any event.
By mentally reviewing the event and your reaction to it, you will develop a “learned response.” This means that if such an event happens to you, you will instinctively know how to react. Both your words and your body language will tell your audience that you have the situation under control.
What all this means to you
Life sometimes gives us lemons. Unfortunately, sometimes these lemons arrive right in the middle of one of our presentations. How we deal with life’s unplanned events can determine the success or failure of that speech.
We should always plan ahead for events that are out of our control during a speech. This planning will help us have a backup plan and allow us to convey a sense of control to our audience.
Yes, this will require more work on your part to be ready to give a speech. However, taking the time to plan for the worst can help you deliver a successful speech in the worst of circumstances.
