Had a Speech That Bombed? How to Figure Out What Went Wrong and Fix It.

​Everyone has experienced failure at work, but the public humiliation of a bombed presentation is particularly hard to handle. And it can stay with you for a long time. Unfortunately, a common reaction is for people to try to avoid public speaking after a failure – which is career-limiting, stressful and often impossible long-term. 
 
You can recover from a poor presentation and become a much better presenter.  But instead of avoiding it, you have to figure out what went wrong and what you can do to fix it. This article explores the most common reasons for a poor presentation and what you can do to stop the same thing from happening again.   Of course often it is not just one thing, but a combination. 

Lack of preparation 
“Winging it” is a common strategy for many people who do not like public speaking. And the results can be disastrous! You would think the fear of public humiliation would encourage people to prepare – and for some people it does. But others try not to think about their upcoming presentation because it fills them with dread. They throw something together at the last minute and they usually get away with it – until they don’t!

Good preparation should start well before your presentation – giving you time to rework, refine and practice. People who are unprepared, often take twice as long to speak as needed because their presentation is poorly structured, repetitive or waffly.  

You also need to leave time to rehearse your presentation- i.e. practice it out aloud. Practising in your head is not enough – especially if you are an inexperienced presenter. 

How to tell if this is the problem– if you did not start preparing at least a week in advance, if you did not practice it out aloud or if you practised it for the first time the night before, this is probably why it went badly! 

What to do next time – give yourself plenty of time to prepare your presentation and then start rehearsing it a few days beforehand. You can stop rehearsing out aloud 1-2 days prior but keep running through it in your head.

Over-preparation (the wrong type of preparation)
Being overly tied to a pre-prepared script can also be a problem when presenting. While some nervous presenters try to wing it, others spend hours on preparation but it’s the wrong type of preparation. They try to memorize everything word for word.

The way that an over-prepared presentation can bomb, is when the presenter forgets what they think they have memorised and reverts to reading the script.
A good presenter knows their content well and can at least give the appearance that they are talking and thinking at the same time rather than delivering a pre-prepared speech.

The over-preparer has to back themselves to be able to speak to their presentation without memorising it. It still requires plenty of preparation but also an ability to set the script aside and speak in a structured way on the topic.

How to tell if this is the problem – you wrote everything out word for word and used this to practice your speech.

What to do next time – You can start by writing it in full but then reduce the speech to bullet points. Try to memorise the structure – e.g. perhaps you have three main points and three sub-points under each main point.

Wrong presentation for the audience
I was once part of a team who gave the same presentation to three different groups. We had a good response from the first two but quite a hostile response from the third. Afterwards, we realized that we should have approached the presentation to the third group differently because the third group was more directly affected by what we had to say. We had failed to adequately address and acknowledge their concerns.

My experience is not uncommon. Knowing your audience – their characteristics and needs – is critically important when you present – and easy to overlook! If you do not know much about your audience you risk pitching your presentation at the wrong level or delivering content that is not valuable, interesting, or relevant.

How to tell if this is the problem – if it is a one-off presentation that bombed it can be hard to know. But if you have delivered similar content to other audiences with more success, this is a big clue that you did not spend enough time thinking about your audience. If you are unsure you can ask for some direct feedback.

What to do next time – write down everything you know about your audience – demographics, knowledge of the topic, why they are attending, do you have any difficult personalities etc. This will help you tailor your presentation to that audience rather than making it too generic.

Not understanding your content well enough 
There is no way that you can talk with ease on a topic you don’t fully understand! You will sound uncertain and unconvincing, and things will probably get worse at question time!

How can you tell if this is the problem –Could you explain it to a colleague without the pressure of standing in front of an audience?

What to do next time - Do whatever it takes to get to grips with your content – even if this means changing the content to something you are more familiar with. Include your own experiences and examples. I am fond of saying that every presentation should be one that only you can give. In other words, it should incorporate your unique perspective or experiences.

Note - if you worry that you are not the expert in the room, you need to watch out for the Imposter Syndrome- the feeling that you have been promoted beyond your capabilities and worried that others will find out. Most likely, the audience is not expecting you to be the expert.

I coached a young woman once who as a new graduate, was worried about having to present to senior leaders about the company’s culture. She felt that as a newbie, she was not qualified to talk about company culture. However, I pointed out to her that she was very qualified to talk about how the culture felt to her as a new employee.

Feeling uncomfortable with your content
Most people also find it difficult to talk about things they don’t care about or don’t believe it. I have had a few people on Fear-less public speaking courses who are in the wrong job - selling something they don’t believe in or doing something that does not fit with their beliefs and values. 

Having to talk about something that you don’t believe in or care about, feels like a loss of integrity. You may be able to do this short term, but eventually, it will catch up with you.

How to tell if this is the problem? You know!

What to do next time - you may need to consider something as drastic as changing jobs. 

I recently had an email from someone who did one of my courses and was bright and bubbly until she had to talk about work when she became awkward and wooden. The company she was with had a very stuffy corporate culture and I was sure this was the problem.

Her email said that she had changed jobs and was in a new company with a product she loved and a laid-back culture that was a much better fit with her personality. She was able to be herself and had no issues with public speaking.
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Poor presentation skills
You don’t have to be a highly skilled presenter to be able to hold an audience’s attention. But it does pay the understand the basics of how to structure and deliver a good presentation. Unfortunately, these are skills that we don’t emphasize enough in schools and universities. The opportunities are there for those who take part in activities such as debating – but also easy to avoid.

Waffling, speaking too fast or too quietly, using lots of filler words, or doing something distracting as you speak will all detract from your presentation. And if you become self-conscious of these things as you speak, it makes it worse.

How to tell if this is the problem- watch yourself on video. I know it is the last thing you feel like doing but it can be very helpful. I recommend you watch with the sound off first because it will help you pick up on body language and distracting habits. Then watch it a second time with the sound on.

Try to be analytical rather than judgmental – figure out what you do well and what needs to change.

What to do next time – take a public speaking course or join Toastmasters. Anyone can learn the skills involved in putting together and delivering a good presentation – but many of us are unaware of these skills and feel like public speaking is something to be dreaded.

Tech problems 
This one is self-explanatory! The TV did not work, the sound system was broken, you did not have access to the internet to show your interactive presentation – and so on!

How can you tell this is the problem – easy!

What to do next time – test, test, test, and have a backup plan.

Unjustified Self-doubt
I have left this till last because if the problem is none of the above, then it is probably self-doubt that is not justified. While most people could benefit from some public speaking training, the majority are also way too hard on themselves. I have written previously about why we are not good judges of how the audience sees us. We tend to be overly self-critical, overestimate how much others can notice our nerves, and overestimate how much our audience is even paying attention.

How to tell if this is the problem – watch yourself on video! A second reason to watch yourself on video is that it is easier to see yourself from the audience’s perspective – especially if a little time has passed. A number of my clients have had a real breakthrough after watching themselves on video as they almost always realise they do not look as nervous as they imagine.

What to do next time – Become aware of your negative self-talk and look for evidence. What evidence do you have that your presentation was a flop? Could others see that you were nervous? Will anyone remember that you rambled a bit or lost your way at some point? Was it as bad as you think? Train yourself to become self-analytical rather than self-critical. 

In summary, that’s a lot of things that can go wrong! But a bombed presentation can turn you into a better presenter in the long run. Perhaps you were just getting by before with OK presentations - until you bombed. Now you have an incentive to do something!

Avoiding public speaking for the rest of your life feels like a tempting option – but it is harder than you think and will limit your career significantly.  

You may have heard sayings like “The one who falls and gets up is stronger than the one who never tried.” That's cold comfort when your failure is etched into your memory – but I guarantee you can prevent further disasters by figuring out what went wrong and approaching things differently next time. Some of the fixes are instant and some will take more time - but you will thank yourself in the long-run for sticking with it. 

Article written by Catherine Syme