I bet you know that feeling. Cold sweat, shaky legs, heart pounding and accelerating quickly, as if you just finished running the longest marathon in the world. The elevator rises another floor… you are hoping to feel the same way when you take it back down to the lobby, after the applause from the audience, of course.
Not sure about you, but when I need to submit presentations, stress can often paralyze me, cause me to black-out and have sudden eye-vision issues, and I’m 6:6. Things like that can cause me to lose my point somewhere in the crowds.
You enter that elevator. Every ring it makes, marks the way you went through the lobby floor and your heart skips a beat. You are going out, walking through the hallway slowly… Repeating the punch lines and hoping you won’t forget anything.
That’s it, you are at the door. Everyone is waiting for you, let the show begin!
You enter the room by your right foot, of course! Because after all, Murphy goes with you everywhere.
And no, you’re not superstitious. You know, just in case..As a person who doesn’t have any huge fears, the fear of crowds so often hits me .. And so I wanted to share with you some of the situations I encountered during my attempts to stand in front of an audience, where the only thing that saved my life was having a sense of humor.
During a presentation, you have no time to think of a witty line to deal with a problem of any kind that may arise. And more likely, you will be too nervous at the moment, to pull out a white rabbit out of the hat. So why not prepare for several issues in time? Using humor, besides making you crowds actually laugh out loud (lol) and makes a good atmosphere, basically shows them that no matter what happens, you are in control ( even if you are going to faint at any moment). Here are some operational problems that can happen during a presentation and phrases that you can tell if they happen:
1) A Slide accidentally reversed and written in mirror-writing
“For those of you waking on your head, it will be more convenient to read it”.
2) Someone pointed out a spelling-error in the presentation
– “when you are taking care of your elephant, you might write as an elephant Trainer”.
3) Your microphone make distortion or noise while you said an important point or fact
– “Oh, it must have been something I ate today”.
4) An ambulance siren sounds heard at the classroom
-” I told them to wait seven minutes before they come to save me”.
5) The phone rang in the audience
– “Tell them I cannot answer now”.
6) You are viewing a point that no one understands and you suddenly see “?!” signs above your audience’s heads
-“In my previous life I was a dolphin, I still cannot speak the language of humans from time to time, excuse me for that” ( and then, of course explain in a simply way your idea).
Mainly, you should have an open conversation with your crowds. It will make them want to participate in the discussion, keep them awake and intrigued, and most importantly, love the person standing in front of them, who is willing to listen and hear their opinions. This is engaging! And the most important thing, do not be shy to admit your mistakes – if one occurred, humor is a great solution, but truth and modesty are human traits, which are worth showing in front of the audience.
