Presentations (Virtual + In Person): Presenter Takeaways Worth Remembering

As a public speaking coach, I’ve spent decades helping people plan for what to do if something unexpected happens to them in the middle of a presentation. I had to take my own advice. I had COVID, and I ran out of air during a webinar I was leading. The more I spoke, the more I felt my eyes start to close as if my body were trying to force me into sleep to get me the oxygen I needed. I tried to push and plow through, but I realized that I wasn’t in charge of myself anymore.

And so I did what I recommend others do.

1. I stopped talking at a natural break, rather than in the middle of a sentence.
2. I took a breath to the best of my ability.
3. I told the truth: “I have COVID, and I realize that I’m running out of air. That’s making it hard for me to speak, and I’m going to ask you all for help.”
4. I asked a highly engaged participant for her help: “Alison, would you be willing to read aloud the answers in the chat box?”
5. As she read, I identified other participants I might ask for help if I needed them.
6. I quickly calculated that I could make the rest of the presentation primarily participant-led (they could read the slides themselves and do the activity with minimal speaking from me).
7. I also knew in that moment that if this hadn’t been an option, I would wrap up early. (Reason 278 why it’s critical to have deep trusting relationships with your clients. There would have been no negative repercussions from them — only my own sense of disappointment.)

We wrapped up the session with me offering a one sentence summary, and I asked the client to make the closing remarks in my stead. Once the session was over, I immediately heard my inner critic say, “What’s wrong with you???” And when the rest of me answered, “COVID!” that shut her up. I picked self-compassion over self-flagellation and canceled the rest of my calls for the day, as well as all non-urgent calls for the rest of the week.

So what are the takeaways for presenters?

1. Expect the unexpected to happen.

2. Know who you can ask for help and enlist them as soon as possible.

3. Remember to breathe.

4. Don’t apologize repeatedly. That just brings more attention to what’s happening.

5. Decide quickly whether:

• you can continue if you get a break
• if someone else can deliver the content instead, or
• if the audience can engage with the content on their own, or
• if it’s time to just end/postpone your talk

6. Circle back with the group after to check in, clean anything up that you need to and let them know that you’re ok.

7. Choose self compassion .

8. Don’t underestimate how much grace people are willing to give you. I felt filled to the brim with it!

Deborah Grayson Riegel is a keynote speaker and consultant who teaches leadership communication for Wharton Business School and Columbia Business School. She is a regular contributor for Harvard Business Review, Inc., Psychology Today, Forbes, and Fast Company. The author of Overcoming Overthinking: 36 Ways to Tame Anxiety for Work, School, and Life, she consults and speaks for clients including Amazon, BlackRock, Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo, and The United States Army. Her work has been featured in worldwide media, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Oprah Magazine, and The New York Times. Visit her online at www.deborahgraysonriegel.com .