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| MARCH EDITION 2013 |
Christine Clap
How to recover from a disappointing presentation.
As a senior at a Washington, high school, Morgan McCauley was elated when she learned she had won a prestigious National Honor Society leadership award. But elation soon turned to terror when she found out s a senior at a New York she would have to give an acceptance speech at a school awards assembly.
Though Morgan carefully scripted and practiced her speech, things went from bad to worse when she was introduced at the event. Wearing a cast for a sprained ankle, Morgan tripped as she left her seat. Then she fell on the stairs leading from the podium to the lectern. When she finally got to the lectern, the teenager looked up at the large crowd and mumbled, “Oh my gosh, there are so many people here.” The words were picked up by the microphone; Morgan started to cry.
After several minutes, an English teacher joined her at the lectern, took her script and read the speech, all while Morgan stood there in tears.
Perhaps you have had an experience like Morgan’s, which she described as “scarring.” But even if you haven’t, you likely can empathize with giving a disappointing presentation— one that did not go as well as you hoped or that you weren’t proud of. How, then, can you recover from a bad speech and prevent the experience from eroding your confidence?
Put It in Perspective
As deflating as it can be, giving a bad speech is nothing more than an “off” performance. It doesn’t mean you are a bad person, a terrible speaker, a subpar employee or (insert your own putdown here). After all, bad speeches happen to good people. Remember to keep things in perspective and separate the person from the performance.
Analyze What Went Wrong … and Right
If you need to, wallow in disappointment for a day or two. Then, focus on studying what happened during your presentation so you can learn from the experience.
As difficult as it will be, and no matter how strong the temptation to avoid thinking about the speech again, examine evidence to identify what went wrong. Lisa Braithwaite, a public speaking trainer and coach from Santa Barbara, California, encourages speakers to review their speeches in the form of video or audio. “It’s easier to analyze [your speech] when you watch or listen than to trust your memory,” says Braithwaite, adding that when we replay such a speech in our minds, “we tend to blow mistakes out of proportion and to be really hard on ourselves. It’s hard to be objective.”
But don’t stop with your analysis of what went wrong. “When we get down on ourselves, we need to remember what went right,” Braithwaite says. “Look at the presentation and realize that a lot went well. Find the high notes and remember to repeat them next time.” If there is no recording of the speech, look to session evaluations or solicit feedback from a neutral audience member to analyze your presentation.
Also, be specific with your observations. Rather than noting the general use of filler words, identify which ones you used (“ah” and “you know”), how many times you used them (the former 12 times, the latter 10), in what context they were used (where in your sentences were they uttered?), and how the behavior impacted your presentation (e.g., It made me look unprofessional and as if I didn’t know my material). The more detail you include, the more successful you will be with your plans for improving.
Troubleshoot
After you identify what went wrong, analyze why it went wrong. Susan Trivers, past president of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Speakers Association, says a lack of preparation is often to blame. She urges speakers to honestly assess themselves by verifying how much time they actually spent preparing. “Try to quantify it,” says Trivers, an executive speaking coach and author of the Great Speaking Coach blog (susantrivers.com).
Other times, psychological or situational factors may be the cause of the problem. A variety of factors can influence the outcome of your speech, including speaking to a group that is larger than normal for you, being distracted by a personal problem, not getting a good night’s sleep, skipping breakfast, having a cold or running late for the presentation.
Craft a Plan
After you identify all the factors that contributed to a lackluster performance, come up with specific strategies to prevent them from recurring. Rather than saying that next time you will more carefully analyze the audience, define exactly what that means. For example, you could resolve to:
-Read the text on the organization’s website at least two months before the presentation, especially the parts pertaining to the organization’s mission and its recent work. Also, read about the conference where you are presenting.
-Research recent news accounts written about the organization and its key members at least two months before the presentation.
-Have a conversation with the event organizer at least two months before the presentation.
-Talk to at least four audience members about their needs and interests at least six weeks before the presentation.
-Craft the thesis and main points of your presentation based on your analysis of the audience, at least a month before the presentation.
Specificity is crucial. Identify what your plan for improvement entails and when you will complete each component in preparation for your next speech. Each item should be one you can act on—and can do so within a limited amount of time.
To address a lack of preparation, Trivers recommends crafting a budget that allots more time for practicing your next speech. For example, after determining the total amount of time you want to dedicate to the speech—say, 10 hours—block out one-hour increments on a calendar in the weeks leading up to it.
Trivers advises her clients to allocate 40 percent of their total preparation time to crafting the material and the other 60 percent to practicing and rehearsing. She defines practice as the time for the speaker to learn the material. “Talk through it out loud. Hear how it sounds,” she says. “The emphasis is getting it into the speaker’s brain and body, and making edits.” Then, rehearsal starts. “When content is flowing, think about the audience, and connecting with them,” she says. “Consider delivery style, getting comfortable looking at people, movement around the stage and vocal variety.”
Though it sounds simple, Trivers estimates that most speakers end up spending 80 percent of their time crafting material and not nearly enough on practicing and rehearsing.
Get Back on Stage
Now that you have identified what went wrong with your speech, why it happened and how you will go about preventing the same problems from occurring again, it’s time to heed the advice of this timeless axiom: When you fall off the horse, get right back on the saddle. Don’t allow a bad experience to paralyze you with fear. The best way to prevent this is to run, not walk, to the stage and do another speech.
It is not necessary for you—or not right away, at least—to repeat the same type of speech or speak in the same kind of situation. If you bombed a manual speech at a Toastmasters meeting, change it up at the next meeting by serving as grammarian or responding to a Table Topics question. Also, think about potential opportunities for speaking in your professional or personal life, such as providing a speech of introduction at a work conference, giving a toast or reading a passage of scripture at your place of worship.
The goal is to rebuild your confidence as a speaker. But even if it takes a series of baby steps to get you back to delivering speeches at Toastmasters or other venues, that’s okay. What is important is that you start taking those steps within a few weeks of your disappointing presentation. The longer you wait, the steeper the climb.
Measure Progress
After each presentation, track your progress. Be proactive in recording your speeches and in getting feedback. Figure out which strategies you used to prevent lackluster performances in the past. Your confidence will increase as you see evidence of improvement. To become an even better speaker, identify the strategies that did not work, and modify them. Careful review of your presentations will help you identify areas that still need work.
Believe in Comebacks
If you are nursing a few wounds after delivering an off speech, remember: It is possible to recover from a disappointing performance, or a disastrous experience like Morgan’s. After that traumatic high school assembly, Morgan went on to earn her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she struggled through required class presentations. In the fall of 2012, she began her professional career as a legal assistant at a large law firm in Washington, D.C. To improve her confidence as a speaker, the young woman completed a series of small-group public-speaking classes taught by a coach.
“I’m a little more comfortable, especially in small groups, but I still get freaked out by the idea of speaking to big groups,” Morgan admits.
Her next goal: visiting a few Toastmasters clubs near her downtown office.
Though Morgan carefully scripted and practiced her speech, things went from bad to worse when she was introduced at the event. Wearing a cast for a sprained ankle, Morgan tripped as she left her seat. Then she fell on the stairs leading from the podium to the lectern. When she finally got to the lectern, the teenager looked up at the large crowd and mumbled, “Oh my gosh, there are so many people here.” The words were picked up by the microphone; Morgan started to cry.
After several minutes, an English teacher joined her at the lectern, took her script and read the speech, all while Morgan stood there in tears.
Perhaps you have had an experience like Morgan’s, which she described as “scarring.” But even if you haven’t, you likely can empathize with giving a disappointing presentation— one that did not go as well as you hoped or that you weren’t proud of. How, then, can you recover from a bad speech and prevent the experience from eroding your confidence?
Put It in Perspective
As deflating as it can be, giving a bad speech is nothing more than an “off” performance. It doesn’t mean you are a bad person, a terrible speaker, a subpar employee or (insert your own putdown here). After all, bad speeches happen to good people. Remember to keep things in perspective and separate the person from the performance.
Analyze What Went Wrong … and Right
If you need to, wallow in disappointment for a day or two. Then, focus on studying what happened during your presentation so you can learn from the experience.
As difficult as it will be, and no matter how strong the temptation to avoid thinking about the speech again, examine evidence to identify what went wrong. Lisa Braithwaite, a public speaking trainer and coach from Santa Barbara, California, encourages speakers to review their speeches in the form of video or audio. “It’s easier to analyze [your speech] when you watch or listen than to trust your memory,” says Braithwaite, adding that when we replay such a speech in our minds, “we tend to blow mistakes out of proportion and to be really hard on ourselves. It’s hard to be objective.”
But don’t stop with your analysis of what went wrong. “When we get down on ourselves, we need to remember what went right,” Braithwaite says. “Look at the presentation and realize that a lot went well. Find the high notes and remember to repeat them next time.” If there is no recording of the speech, look to session evaluations or solicit feedback from a neutral audience member to analyze your presentation.
Also, be specific with your observations. Rather than noting the general use of filler words, identify which ones you used (“ah” and “you know”), how many times you used them (the former 12 times, the latter 10), in what context they were used (where in your sentences were they uttered?), and how the behavior impacted your presentation (e.g., It made me look unprofessional and as if I didn’t know my material). The more detail you include, the more successful you will be with your plans for improving.
Troubleshoot
After you identify what went wrong, analyze why it went wrong. Susan Trivers, past president of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Speakers Association, says a lack of preparation is often to blame. She urges speakers to honestly assess themselves by verifying how much time they actually spent preparing. “Try to quantify it,” says Trivers, an executive speaking coach and author of the Great Speaking Coach blog (susantrivers.com).
Other times, psychological or situational factors may be the cause of the problem. A variety of factors can influence the outcome of your speech, including speaking to a group that is larger than normal for you, being distracted by a personal problem, not getting a good night’s sleep, skipping breakfast, having a cold or running late for the presentation.
Craft a Plan
After you identify all the factors that contributed to a lackluster performance, come up with specific strategies to prevent them from recurring. Rather than saying that next time you will more carefully analyze the audience, define exactly what that means. For example, you could resolve to:
-Read the text on the organization’s website at least two months before the presentation, especially the parts pertaining to the organization’s mission and its recent work. Also, read about the conference where you are presenting.
-Research recent news accounts written about the organization and its key members at least two months before the presentation.
-Have a conversation with the event organizer at least two months before the presentation.
-Talk to at least four audience members about their needs and interests at least six weeks before the presentation.
-Craft the thesis and main points of your presentation based on your analysis of the audience, at least a month before the presentation.
Specificity is crucial. Identify what your plan for improvement entails and when you will complete each component in preparation for your next speech. Each item should be one you can act on—and can do so within a limited amount of time.
To address a lack of preparation, Trivers recommends crafting a budget that allots more time for practicing your next speech. For example, after determining the total amount of time you want to dedicate to the speech—say, 10 hours—block out one-hour increments on a calendar in the weeks leading up to it.
Trivers advises her clients to allocate 40 percent of their total preparation time to crafting the material and the other 60 percent to practicing and rehearsing. She defines practice as the time for the speaker to learn the material. “Talk through it out loud. Hear how it sounds,” she says. “The emphasis is getting it into the speaker’s brain and body, and making edits.” Then, rehearsal starts. “When content is flowing, think about the audience, and connecting with them,” she says. “Consider delivery style, getting comfortable looking at people, movement around the stage and vocal variety.”
Though it sounds simple, Trivers estimates that most speakers end up spending 80 percent of their time crafting material and not nearly enough on practicing and rehearsing.
Get Back on Stage
Now that you have identified what went wrong with your speech, why it happened and how you will go about preventing the same problems from occurring again, it’s time to heed the advice of this timeless axiom: When you fall off the horse, get right back on the saddle. Don’t allow a bad experience to paralyze you with fear. The best way to prevent this is to run, not walk, to the stage and do another speech.
It is not necessary for you—or not right away, at least—to repeat the same type of speech or speak in the same kind of situation. If you bombed a manual speech at a Toastmasters meeting, change it up at the next meeting by serving as grammarian or responding to a Table Topics question. Also, think about potential opportunities for speaking in your professional or personal life, such as providing a speech of introduction at a work conference, giving a toast or reading a passage of scripture at your place of worship.
The goal is to rebuild your confidence as a speaker. But even if it takes a series of baby steps to get you back to delivering speeches at Toastmasters or other venues, that’s okay. What is important is that you start taking those steps within a few weeks of your disappointing presentation. The longer you wait, the steeper the climb.
Measure Progress
After each presentation, track your progress. Be proactive in recording your speeches and in getting feedback. Figure out which strategies you used to prevent lackluster performances in the past. Your confidence will increase as you see evidence of improvement. To become an even better speaker, identify the strategies that did not work, and modify them. Careful review of your presentations will help you identify areas that still need work.
Believe in Comebacks
If you are nursing a few wounds after delivering an off speech, remember: It is possible to recover from a disappointing performance, or a disastrous experience like Morgan’s. After that traumatic high school assembly, Morgan went on to earn her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she struggled through required class presentations. In the fall of 2012, she began her professional career as a legal assistant at a large law firm in Washington, D.C. To improve her confidence as a speaker, the young woman completed a series of small-group public-speaking classes taught by a coach.
“I’m a little more comfortable, especially in small groups, but I still get freaked out by the idea of speaking to big groups,” Morgan admits.
Her next goal: visiting a few Toastmasters clubs near her downtown office.
THE KEY TO CONNECTING
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| FEBRUARY 2013 EDITION |
John Kinde & Loren Ekroth
A good speech is a conversation.
Good speech-making is like a good conversation. If you think a great speech is mainly a performance, think again. Effective delivery, even to a large audience, is intimate. Your delivery should be conversational.
However, in most public speaking, there is little give-and-take verbal interaction. When presenting a 20-minute speech at a Rotary or Toastmasters club, the speaker typically does all the talking. In a workshop, however, the leader or facilitator may actually speak less than the participants.
As you become a better speaker, you become more skilled in conversation. When you become a better conversationalist, you become a stronger speaker. One skill reinforces the other. The power of conversational delivery is its tendency to make you more believable, and more likeable.
Excellent advice comes from Bryant Pergerson, DTM, a finalist in the 2007 Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking: “Think of your audience as a friend sitting across the table. You wouldn’t preach to him as though you were giving a speech. Don’t be a messenger delivering memorized words. Be in the moment. Be authentic. Be conversational.” Some of the best speeches are unplanned, or “in-the-moment,” perhaps because the speaker tossed the notes aside and spoke from the heart.
Think of conversation and public speaking as complementary. Each one enhances the other. Everyday conversation requires you to think on your feet, or from your seat, and be spontaneous but not rambling. Having the confidence of knowing you can control your message, and thoughtfully adapt it to different audiences, is derived from public speaking experiences. For a rambling converser who too often speaks without forethought, developing these skills is immensely valuable.
The Value of Eye Contact
It seems obvious when you’re engaged in a conversation with one person that you’re involved in a one-on- one process of communication. When you’re engaged in this type of conversation, you are focused on your conversation partner. Your eyes don’t wander when someone else enters the room. Dedicated eye contact makes a connection more intimate.
Similarly, in public speaking, dedicated eye contact, like the kind used in a one-on-one conversation, creates a connection. This is accomplished by making eye contact with one person in the audience at a time. This technique of locking in eye contact with one individual connects the speaker with every member of the audience. When you have that true connection, others in the audience feel included. They get the impression you are talking to them. This is because the person you’re making eye contact with is a member of the group. Members of an audience share a sense of community, so when you connect with one, you connect with all members of that group.
When speaking before a group, avoid the trap of thinking you’re speaking to several people at once, and resist the temptation to “spray the audience” with eye contact. The key is to focus on one person while completing a thought. In a one-on-one conversation, it’s easy to do, but it is challenging to maintain good eye contact while speaking to several people at once. If you remember to complete a thought before moving your eye to another audience member, you’ll make a true connection with the audience.
The active listener sends nonverbal signals to the speaker through facial expressions, smiles, nods of agreement or questioning looks. The listener may not be speaking, but he or she is still communicating. If you are not maintaining eye contact, you’re missing out on feedback provided by the audience. This idea contradicts the nonsense of yesteryear, when speech instructors advised speakers to look over the heads of the audience or, worse yet, to visualize audience members naked. The best public speaking is heart to heart as well as mind to mind. It requires not only seeing your audience, but seeing that you are being seen by them.
An audience member experiencing conversational eye contact feels a connection with the speaker that otherwise wouldn’t be there. Avoid giving a robotic, memorized speech, delivered the same way regardless if you are speaking to an empty room or one full of listeners. Effective eye contact gives the speaker the feeling of having a conversation rather than the feeling of “giving a speech.”
The Smile
Toastmasters founder Ralph Smedley’s well-known quote “We learn in moments of enjoyment” speaks to the issue of conversational delivery. Body language and facial expression are key elements of turning a speech into a conversation. From a distance, watch two people who are having a conversation. If they’re having a good time, they’re likely to be smiling. When we move a conversation to the stage, our nervousness often causes us to lose the smile. Students of the performing arts are trained to smile under pressure. While you’re singing, dancing or otherwise performing, smiling is unnatural and a skill that must be learned and reinforced. Chorus directors remind the singer to “put your face on!” Dance instructors insist that you “do the steps while showing the fun.”
So it is with public speaking. When faced with the challenge of remembering your words while still connecting with your audience, smiling does not come automatically. It does come with practice, however. As Darren LaCroix, 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking, says, “It’s all about stage time, stage time, stage time.” It’s the training and confidence you’ve developed through hard work that makes it possible to be conversational and to look like you’re having a good time in the spotlight. A look of stress does not make for a conversational performance. When you’re smiling and having fun, so is the audience, and the conversation is brought to life.
The best public speaking also requires listening to your audience. Public speaking coach Lee Glickstein devotes many pages to how a speaker should listen in his book Be Heard Now! How to Compel Rapt Attention Every Time You Speak. Here’s one of his insightful comments: “Most people assume that charisma is a kind of sparkling confidence that only certain people can radiate. I believe charisma isn’t something we project, but a way we listen.” Such deep listening creates the quality of a thoughtful, attentive conversation that really connects.
An obvious difference between a one-on-one conversation and a speech is the issue of projection. With a large group you clearly have the added challenge of projection. You may be focusing on speaking to one person at a time, but the entire audience must still hear you. Eye contact will help you maintain a conversational style or tone of voice, but you are responsible for projecting that style to the entire audience. With practice, you will learn to project while maintaining a conversational tone.
Verbal Style
Another difference between conversation and public speaking is the level of formality in words and verbal style. Your choice of language level should meet the requirements of the occasion.
Generally, public speakers are expected to employ a more formal tone, one that has been planned and rehearsed. A converser uses a more casual tone, one that can include slang, nicknames and standing jokes known only to those persons in the conversation. If an intimate vernacular is used with a stranger or client, it inappropriately suggests a relationship that doesn’t exist. Similarly, if you use a formal language with friends and family, it implies social distance that doesn’t fit. But a public speaker who seems rehearsed may seem phony to others who expect spontaneity and even some pauses filled with ums and ahs. Yet, for most public speaking, a casual tone is too loose and therefore inappropriate.
Authenticity of Character
Listeners of conversers and audiences of speakers share a common desire: They seek authenticity from these messengers. They want speakers to be real, people who speak from the heart, folks they can admire and emulate.
In his ancient treatise on the art of persuasion, Rhetoric, Aristotle identified three aspects that determine an orator’s ability to persuade. First among them was ethos, the character and credibility of the speaker. The other two were logos (reason) and pathos (appeals to emotion). Aristotle was highly critical of the Sophists of his time, speakers who manipulated audiences through clever words and appeals to emotion. He considered them hucksters who, despite all their rhetorical tricks, lacked personal credibility.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer, a German philosopher and physician, captured the essence of character as a source of persuasion in these words: “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” As in conversation, when speaking in public, authenticity of character is important if your words are to have impact.
Over a century ago, in 1904, legendary speech professor James A. Winans established the independent department of Oratory and Debate at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. During that more formal time in our history, he had the prescience to claim that public speaking is extended conversation. He understood that to be most effective, public speaking has to be personal and heart to heart.
Becoming a better speaker means becoming a better conversationalist. Public speaking and conversation are partners and collaborators, two somewhat different but always complementary modes of human communication.
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