Business & Personal Finance

Not long ago, I was teaching a business-related workshop here at the library - one that I was presenting for the first time. In the middle of my talk, I realized that things weren't going too well.  My computer demonstrations to the class were not making sense with the script and at one point I got lost in a website and had a hard time finding my way back to where I wanted to be.

It was then, in the middle of the class, that I realized: in haste that morning I had picked up the wrong script!  I had grabbed from my desk an earlier version which I had revised several times since.

What do you do when disasters such as this happen?  Here's some advice:

1. Relax.  Step back for a minute and take a deep breath or two.  People will not notice a few moments of silence, especially if they are looking at a computer screen.
2. Don't apologize. "Oh, sorry!" doesn't sound good and could actually be introducing into people's minds the fact that you are lost, which up to that point may not have been apparen't to them!
3. Most importantly, if you are lost, remember your goal.  You are not up there to read from a script. You're there to help the people in front of you learn what they need to know. With this in mind, put down the script, turn to the computer, turn on your brain, and get going!

Remember that what may seem like a public speaking disaster to you can just seem like a minor blip to your audience.  If you don't make a big deal of it, they won't either.

Here are some books on public speaking that can be found at the library. Click on the book covers for more information.