What was your most embarrassing public speaking moment? How do you feel about it now, after some time has passed?
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Carrying on after being firmly hit on the head by a collapsing flipchart. I don't think I've ever brought an embarrassment on myself, but I did have a rather awful experience when I was leading a breakaway group at a conference and pretty much the first thing to happen was that the flip-chart (someone else had assembled it) fell off its perch and hit me, hard, on the head; and just as I was reeling from that the group next door started to play a very noisy video. I was so darned tempted to leave the field ... However: two good openers for speeches in the correct circumstances: 'Can you hear me at the back?
No? Thank heaven, 'cos I'm a martyr to flatulence. ' and: 'Giving this talk is a little like being Elizabeth Taylor's eighth husband.
I know what I have to do, but the problem is to make it interesting. ' .
It was my first formal presentation at a corporate meeting. Suit and tie, of course. And those black patent leather boots.
As I sat waiting for my time to present, I looked down and gasped in horror; BOTH boots had split crosswise on the toe, showing my white socks through the crack! I lived an hour commute away, no time to go home and change. I raced in to the lab, got some black electricians tape, and carefully ran one piece across each crack, rubbing it down well so it would stick.
It looked GOOD! Back to my seat. I was introduced.
As I rose to my feet, I glanced down and saw that the tape had not adhered well to the boot, and both ends of both strips had pulled loose and were flopping out on each side of each boot, and my white socks were showing again. There was a suppressed grin or two from those in the front row as I took to the open area in front of the presentation screen without even a podium to hide my feet behind. I lived through it.
Now, looking back, it is hilarious! How do I overcome nerviousness now? Easy.
I just remember these facts: The most widespread fear among people is public speaking. The second widest is fear of death. And this logical conclusion: That means that if they HAVE to take part in a funeral service, most people would rather be IN the casket than delivering a eulogy over it.
That has never failed to make me chuckle, and get a good handle on the relative importance of whether or not I say the right thing - or whether or not my shoes have wings. Sources: Personal experience AmPat's Recommendations Never Be Boring Again: Make Your Business Presentations Capture Attention, Inspire Action and Produce Results Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $9.60 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 20 reviews) .
My stupid slide projector didn't work. I had to ad-lib the data contained on the slides. I feel really good about what happened in retrospect because I handled the situation quite well.
What happened was I was invited to speak to a large group (fifty or so) insurance agents about changes in federal estate tax law. My employer had prepared a slide show on the new law. I had taken the slide projector and slides home with me overnight, because my presentation was early the next morning.
Unfortunately, I had the bad judgment to leave the case in my car. The next morning when I arrived at my location, the bulb wouldn't turn on in the projector. I tried replacing the bulb.
That didn't work either. So finally I gave up and winged it. I did a pretty good job under the circumstances.
When I got back to the office, I showed the problem to my boss. It didn't work for him either. We just left the projector on in the conference room and when we walked by thirty minutes later, it was working fine.
My best guess is that the bulb needed a lot of time to warm up. After that experience, nothing fazes me on the platform.
So my horrifying moment happened in 3rd grade I have to paint a picture for everyone, because I was able to laugh about it later and I want everyone to know why. So, I was in third grade. I was on the chunky side growing up, but I was blissfully unaware of it at this point because I lived in a small town and everyone liked me and never made fun of me.
We had to read a book and draw a picture and then present it to the class. I chose one of the Boxcar children books because they were my favorite! The bad part of this is it was video taped so we could critique ourselves (I still have the tape to this day and my father used to tease me by saying he would show it to my first boyfriend!
I was mortified! ). So I get up in the front of the class and everything goes really well according to me.
I was passioniate and clear and loud and everyone thought I did great, even me! Here comes the embarrassing part. For some reason, I had choosen to wear this god-awful dark purple skirt and shirt set.
They were a tad too small for me, so I looked like a purple butterball! I wear glasses too, so of course I am wearing these big huge glasses that are way too big for my face and I had cubby cheeks to add to that! So needless to say that I am forever haunted by that moment and to this day I try not to wear tight fitting clothes!
I speak well in public still, I just try not to do it very often! Sources: personal experience .
1 EnglishLady, regarding your answer "Carrying on after being firmly hit on the head by a collapsing flipchart. ": Great opening lines! I once had a colleague who told me a great story about the opening line of her first public presentation in a large venue.
She was nervous, almost to the point of phobic, about the idea of speaking to such a large group and was certain she'd collapse the moment she felt so many eyes upon her. So at the beginning of her session she said, "I'd like you all to take a look at that mural on the back wall of the auditorium. " Every audience member immediately complied and she followed with, "Great!
Thanks. Now stay that way until I'm finished with my speech. " .
EnglishLady, regarding your answer "Carrying on after being firmly hit on the head by a collapsing flipchart. ": Great opening lines! I once had a colleague who told me a great story about the opening line of her first public presentation in a large venue.
She was nervous, almost to the point of phobic, about the idea of speaking to such a large group and was certain she'd collapse the moment she felt so many eyes upon her. So at the beginning of her session she said, "I'd like you all to take a look at that mural on the back wall of the auditorium. " Every audience member immediately complied and she followed with, "Great!
Thanks. Now stay that way until I'm finished with my speech.
" "I've done alot of public speaking with my job the past 25 yrs and would like to do it full time. " "Where was the last place you passed gas? Have you ever humilated yourself in public?
" "EMBARRASSING..awkward, funny, moments... what is the most embarrassing funny moment that you have ever been in?
I've done alot of public speaking with my job the past 25 yrs and would like to do it full time.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.
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