You Bombed Your Speech?

The hot prickles hit the absolute second you walked off the stage. You did your best to maintain your smile and sense of purpose, but inside your gut, you knew! You KNEW you didn’t prepare as well as you should, and knowing you’d have to now face the fire, you gritted your teeth and smiled!  You walked off the stage and went and sat down, pretending to the world that you crushed it and did all that you came to do: PRESENT A FANTASTIC SPEECH!

But you sat there with your face red, palms sweating and a sinking sickness in your gut.

After your speech, people were polite.  One kind soul even complimented you, probably out of pity. But you could feel the glances and the lack of enthusiasm.   Need I go on?

If the above has never happened to you, then consider yourself to be one lucky person!  We all know that PUBLIC SPEAKING is the number one fear of all people and cause people to go into major panic mode.  Just the thought of getting up in front of a large audience is enough to terrify someone who hates public speaking. 

But to present a speech in front of all to see and THEN BOMB what should have been an incredible experience? Trust me! It’s painful!

I remember a keynote speech I gave some years back that fell flat. Oh, some of it was good. But there was one particular part that I kind of messed up and it didn’t seem to make much sense.  Even to myself.  After I got off stage it wasn’t a wild rush to come and meet the speaker. It was more like: Let’s avoid the speaker so we don’t have to tell her how boring she was!

Today I heard from one of my clients who confessed that she didn’t feel positive about the speech she just gave.  She wasn’t as animated, remember the stories that well, or get the response she wanted from the audience.  She called me very upset in herself and realized that she didn’t practice as much as she needed to have.

I shared with her: “THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!  This is the BEST thing EVER!  If you NEVER bomb, you’ll NEVER push yourself towards greater heights!  I recommend ALL of my clients bombing at least ONCE, so you get the feeling that you will absolutely NEVER do this again and that you’ll do EVERYTHING you can do to be the best you can be going forward!” 

The thought comforted her a bit and for her, it is back to the drawing board. Back to videotaping herself!  Back to skipping her favorite TV Show in favor of practicing in front of the mirror; back to reciting her speech from memory every time she gets in the car to drive anywhere!  Back to memorizing quotes and watching TED videos and reading books to enhance her speaking ability and finding current content!

Did you know that it takes about 10 hours to prepare a 1 hour speech? Do you know that it takes hundreds of hours of practice to pull off a one hour flawless speech and that if you’re only running through it one or two times, you’re going to bomb?

So please let me let this serve as a reminder! If you are presenting in public, do yourself, and your audience a favor: PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! Then practice some more.

If you’re telling your speech in your dreams and reciting it when you are in a movie theater, then you’re on the road to success!

So no more beating yourself up after the bomb!

Lift up the glass and celebrate instead!

Now you know you’re now on the path towards speaking success!