1 00:00:00,430 --> 00:00:02,680 If you're giving a talk in front of an audience, you've 2 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:07,850 got slides, notes, a script or whatever, just remember these two things. 3 00:00:07,850 --> 00:00:11,850 You're going to make a mistake at some point and 4 00:00:11,850 --> 00:00:17,150 when you do, don't freak out, right, it's always gonna happen. 5 00:00:17,150 --> 00:00:20,260 But you know, of course one thing to help you with these mistakes. 6 00:00:20,260 --> 00:00:23,410 Make sure you spellcheck, right? Just like I'm doing right there. 7 00:00:23,410 --> 00:00:25,550 You're gonna make mistakes but don't make obvious, 8 00:00:25,550 --> 00:00:28,080 silly mistakes that are really gonna [LAUGH] you 9 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,220 know, eat away at the effectiveness of your presentation. 10 00:00:31,220 --> 00:00:33,980 Now beyond that there are lot of reasons 11 00:00:33,980 --> 00:00:37,870 that people get nervous before and during presentations. 12 00:00:38,870 --> 00:00:41,290 One of the top things I've found is that some people 13 00:00:41,290 --> 00:00:47,690 believe that just one mistake, any mistake will cost them their credibility. 14 00:00:47,690 --> 00:00:50,795 As if saying something wrong even the littlest 15 00:00:50,795 --> 00:00:53,020 thing means that everything they say is wrong or 16 00:00:53,020 --> 00:00:55,710 that people will immediately tune out or they'll leave. 17 00:00:55,710 --> 00:00:59,890 They'll walk right out, say get off the stage you said that name wrong. 18 00:00:59,890 --> 00:01:01,030 It's not gonna happen. 19 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:05,140 There are other reasons too. 20 00:01:05,140 --> 00:01:08,640 But what everyone should remember is that, if you've been 21 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,100 asked to give a talk, it's because people already trust you. 22 00:01:12,100 --> 00:01:15,080 You know, they wanna hear what you have to say. 23 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,850 Whether it's a big keynote address or it's a five minute 24 00:01:18,850 --> 00:01:22,110 talk in a staff meeting, you've been asked to say something. 25 00:01:22,110 --> 00:01:24,640 They trust you, and they wanna hear from you. 26 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:29,220 So you've already got some, some good will stored up there. 27 00:01:29,220 --> 00:01:30,930 But you don't have to be perfect. 28 00:01:30,930 --> 00:01:31,990 You know, you just have to sort of be 29 00:01:31,990 --> 00:01:34,830 honest with the way that you give a presentation. 30 00:01:34,830 --> 00:01:39,650 A way that's true to who you are. Now if you over prepare. 31 00:01:39,650 --> 00:01:40,900 You try to be perfect. 32 00:01:42,070 --> 00:01:44,510 When you do make a mistake it's going to distract you. 33 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:51,490 Don't try to memorize every single line or word of a script 34 00:01:51,490 --> 00:01:55,260 and think that you're gonna get it 100% right, because you won't, right. 35 00:01:55,260 --> 00:01:58,860 When mistakes happen, just own them. Everyone is human. 36 00:02:01,030 --> 00:02:02,750 One of the stories that I like to, to 37 00:02:02,750 --> 00:02:05,640 share with people when they talk about how they 38 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,440 might be nervous giving a presentation or they imagine 39 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:10,640 like the worst thing that could happen to them. 40 00:02:10,640 --> 00:02:13,560 I tell them about a story of maybe about 10 years ago, I 41 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:18,780 was working at an event and this company was running a, a conference. 42 00:02:18,780 --> 00:02:20,690 A lot of breakout sessions, a lot of, a lot of 43 00:02:20,690 --> 00:02:26,330 sessions where different people from big million to billion dollar companies, 44 00:02:26,330 --> 00:02:29,300 big important CEOs were getting up there and talking about 45 00:02:29,300 --> 00:02:32,530 their companies or talking about this or that in the industry. 46 00:02:33,810 --> 00:02:39,640 In this particular example this CEO got up there and gave his talk. 47 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:41,900 He was really good, and you know, real solid, 48 00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:44,410 and he went to sit down, and his chair 49 00:02:44,410 --> 00:02:48,310 was just a little bit too far back on 50 00:02:48,310 --> 00:02:52,030 the dais, and that dude [SOUND] just spilled right off. 51 00:02:52,030 --> 00:02:55,175 I mean, he just fell right off and it was 52 00:02:55,175 --> 00:02:58,490 me, it, it kind of shook everyone up in different ways. 53 00:02:58,490 --> 00:03:01,690 At first there were people in the front row who jumped up, oh no, are you okay? 54 00:03:01,690 --> 00:03:05,870 And then other people were like oh, man, I'm glad that wasn't me. 55 00:03:05,870 --> 00:03:09,340 And other people were just like oh, man, that's great. 56 00:03:09,340 --> 00:03:16,300 I wish we had YouTube ten years ago. And but what this guy did was great, okay? 57 00:03:16,300 --> 00:03:17,240 He didn't let 58 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:19,080 this whole thing affect him. 59 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,790 He got up, and waved everyone, and even took a bow. 60 00:03:22,790 --> 00:03:25,600 He said, I'm cool, I'm good, right? 61 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,600 And then when the next person spoke and they did their thing and they were about 62 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,540 to sit down, he leans into the mic, he says let me get your chair for ya. 63 00:03:33,540 --> 00:03:37,170 And then it like the whole crowd loved it, it was great. 64 00:03:37,170 --> 00:03:42,290 And it was a great way to save kind of this you 65 00:03:42,290 --> 00:03:45,860 know, this from this big mistake this total accident that happened. 66 00:03:45,860 --> 00:03:48,470 And it's because he was human and he owned it 67 00:03:48,470 --> 00:03:50,750 right, he didn't worry too much about it, he didn't get 68 00:03:50,750 --> 00:03:53,630 nervous, he didn't get totally red faced and think I'm 69 00:03:53,630 --> 00:03:57,320 a failure, this ruins me, I'll never be asked back again. 70 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,290 You know, he was okay with it, right? 71 00:04:01,290 --> 00:04:07,470 And the rest of the crowd was too. So he came up with a great way to 72 00:04:07,470 --> 00:04:11,240 overcome that and it's something that, you know, that's 73 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:13,619 like one of the worst-case scenarios I can think of. 74 00:04:14,860 --> 00:04:17,520 Where you fall off a stage or something like that. 75 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:21,360 That's pretty bad, but you can always save your presentation. 76 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,310 You can always save yourself and your reputation. 77 00:04:24,310 --> 00:04:26,310 And you will get asked back because they can 78 00:04:26,310 --> 00:04:28,050 see that you're cool, and you're a human being. 79 00:04:28,050 --> 00:04:30,550 And it's you know, and it's all good. 80 00:04:30,550 --> 00:04:33,290 Alright. Now, at the same time 81 00:04:33,290 --> 00:04:35,460 you don't wanna rely on the technology that 82 00:04:35,460 --> 00:04:38,190 you've got in front of you as a crutch. 83 00:04:38,190 --> 00:04:41,790 Anytime you read directly from your notes for too 84 00:04:41,790 --> 00:04:44,740 long or, you know, you might lose your train of 85 00:04:44,740 --> 00:04:47,570 thought because you're trying to, to get something to load 86 00:04:47,570 --> 00:04:50,110 or, or you're in here and on your laptop and. 87 00:04:50,110 --> 00:04:51,540 And you're not making eye contact. 88 00:04:51,540 --> 00:04:55,040 And, you risk losing the audience's attention. 89 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,370 Now, put it another way. 90 00:04:57,370 --> 00:04:58,210 A good friend of mine, C.C. 91 00:04:58,210 --> 00:05:02,485 Chapman, also replied to my Twitter request wanting to ask people for tips. 92 00:05:02,485 --> 00:05:06,440 C.C. has spoken all over the planet, literally. 93 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:13,290 He's all over the place The TEDx talk and has keynoted many times. 94 00:05:13,290 --> 00:05:15,930 And he says, know your presentation. 95 00:05:15,930 --> 00:05:17,120 Know, all caps. 96 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,670 Know your presentation so well that if the 97 00:05:19,670 --> 00:05:23,030 power goes out you can still 100% deliver it. 98 00:05:23,030 --> 00:05:23,320 And this 99 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:29,020 is great advice and it's a great indicator of if you actually know your stuff or not. 100 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:33,730 When accidents happen can kill your slides or you know, keno 101 00:05:33,730 --> 00:05:38,060 crashes or the projector fails you can plan for it and recover. 102 00:05:38,060 --> 00:05:40,220 And you know, there are a few things that you can do in 103 00:05:40,220 --> 00:05:44,320 case some kind of worst case scenario pops up you know, for example. 104 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:49,860 Carrying a portable copy of your slide deck is a fantastic idea. 105 00:05:49,860 --> 00:05:52,400 Don't just have the only copy on your 106 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,150 laptop and think that that's going to save you. 107 00:05:56,150 --> 00:05:58,310 Because if the laptop fails, keynote fails, 108 00:05:58,310 --> 00:06:01,580 your presentation dies, whatever, you've got nothing. 109 00:06:03,030 --> 00:06:06,470 Now years back, having a hard copy might have 110 00:06:06,470 --> 00:06:09,700 helped you and it still might in meetings where 111 00:06:09,700 --> 00:06:12,260 you've got say a small group and particularly some 112 00:06:12,260 --> 00:06:16,650 data or things that you can pass out amongst 113 00:06:16,650 --> 00:06:17,630 a group. 114 00:06:17,630 --> 00:06:19,640 So yes, you could fire up the copy machine and you 115 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:24,150 can print out multiple copies of your notes and your presentation. 116 00:06:25,230 --> 00:06:29,310 But these days, the more convenient approach, 117 00:06:29,310 --> 00:06:30,820 the more logical one is to have a 118 00:06:30,820 --> 00:06:34,700 cloud copy of your presentation, and that might 119 00:06:34,700 --> 00:06:37,820 even be for some people, the first option. 120 00:06:37,820 --> 00:06:41,940 For giving a presentation, and who was ever, whoever's running the show 121 00:06:41,940 --> 00:06:43,900 with their laptop, just link to that, and we 122 00:06:43,900 --> 00:06:45,610 can run it right off of there instead of 123 00:06:45,610 --> 00:06:48,490 monkeying around with your own technology, do I have 124 00:06:48,490 --> 00:06:52,520 the right connector for your projector and all that stuff? 125 00:06:53,740 --> 00:06:58,960 Avoiding disaster, if you can do any of these three things, You will be much 126 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:00,500 more prepared, and there, and you won't 127 00:07:00,500 --> 00:07:02,900 be as nervous when you're giving your presentation.