Presentations

In case you haven’t heard, director Michael Bay had one of those awful speaking meltdowns we all dread but hardly ever see. Watch this before reading on:

I feel bad for him, but his loss is our gain. What can we learn from this?

Be antifragile. I’ve written about this before, so I won’t repeat all the details here, but when Bay said he would just wing it, that was his beautiful opportunity to wow his audience with his knowledge, confidence and adaptability. If he had seen the glitch as a positive, his entire emotional mindset would have changed, from mortification to inspiration. Instead of being dispirited, he could have been energized. Things will go wrong, but this is a perfect opportunity to gain strength and give Mr. Murphy the finger.

Know your stuff. Teleprompter isn’t working right? Who cares, if you know what you want to say. You don’t have to memorize your speech, but you do have to remember it. By remembering, I mean having a clear theme engraved  in your mind, a single crystallized point that you want the audience to take away. I also mean having—and remembering—a clear structure for your points. If you know your points, the details will follow. I teach my students to become instant masters of impromptu speaking by simply putting a stake in the ground—just state your main point up front and then elaborate on it  or defend it. If you remember the landmarks, you don’t have to memorize the exact route, but you will have the confidence of knowing you will get there.

I strongly advocate careful preparation, and having checklists and backups before important presentations. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from over two decades of presenting for a living, it’s that Mr. Murphy always tags along, and often manages to find something to break down or go wrong. Bulbs burn out, computers crash or don’t work with the projector, rooms are locked, demos don’t work. One time just before a big sales presentation in St. Louis, I pressed my white shirt only to leave a huge black mark from the iron.

When it happens during the middle of a presentation or speech, it can be really bad—or it can actually be one of the best things that can happen to you, depending on how you handle it.

I first learned this lesson when I was competing in a regional Toastmasters contest for impromptu speaking. In front of about 200 people, I began quoting the serenity prayer. I got through, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change…” and that’s when I froze.

I totally forgot what to say next.

I stared out at a sea of faces for several seconds, and I guarantee it seemed a lot longer to me than it did to them.

Then I said the only thing that came to mind: “Boy, I really screwed that one up, didn’t I?”

The audience cracked up, I regained my stride, and I finished the presentation. I ended up winning, and one of the judges later told me that my recovery from the breakdown was the main thing that put me over the top.

More recently, last year airline delays caused me to arrive in Bangalore for a one day training session 15 minutes before the scheduled start (instead of 24 hours as I had planned), only to find out that through a misunderstanding, none of the participants had their class materials. Despite that, we were able to quickly improvise a workaround and we began class almost on time. I thought to myself: “Cheer up, things could get worse,” and I was right—they did.

About a half hour into it I got a nosebleed! I was determined not to make it a big deal, so I acknowledged it, grabbed a paper towel, held it against my nose, and kept going, although I did give the class a break earlier than anticipated. I doubt anyone will soon forget that class.

Keep in mind that most people have a fear of speaking in front of groups, so they have a lot of respect for the person on the platform. When they see you have a problem, it’s like their own worst fears are realized, so they watch closely to see how you will resolve it. In effect, it’s like going to a mini horror movie—people don’t mind being scared as long as there is a happy ending.

There are three rules for handling mishaps in front of an audience:

• Acknowledge it. The joke’s on you, but you’re letting them in on the joke.
• Don’t apologize. They know it’s not your fault. The only exception is when you mistakenly say something the audience considers insulting to them.
• Keep cool: Give Mr. Murphy the finger!

There is always a chance that something will go wrong. But you have two weapons against Mr. Murphy: preparation and mindset. Thorough preparation will make you robust, and a mindset that sees each preparation as an opportunity, will make you antifragile.

Which one is different?

One of the biggest mistakes that people make in their strategic sales presentations is to make it all about themselves early in the presentation: this is who we are, how long we’ve been in business, our mission and values, our core competencies, etc.

That’s bad enough in itself, but it’s actually worse than it seems.

It’s not just that people talk about themselves too much in presentations, it’s that what they say about themselves is exactly the same as what their competitors say.

Once, just to prove a point, I talked to some executives from a company that is a leader in its industry. Using some web site quotes, I asked them if they accurately described their differentiators and advantages.

They responded as if I was wasting their time: “Of course, why don’t you tell us something we don’t know? What’s your point?”

The point was that the quotes had not come from their own web site. I had collected them from the sites of each of their next three competitors. In fact, without keeping track of the source of each quote, it would have been next to impossible to match the statement with the company.

When even the executives of the company don’t recognize the differences between what they say and what everyone else in the industry says, how can you expect customers to make sense of your message, to remember what you say during your presentation, or to care?

If you want to make an instant improvement to your sales presentation, go see what your competitors are saying about themselves. If it sounds just like you wrote it, go back to your own presentation and take it out or change it.