{"id":40732,"date":"2023-10-20T15:09:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/what-this-executive-learnt-from-an-embarrassing-public-speaking-event-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:09:40","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:09:40","slug":"what-this-executive-learnt-from-an-embarrassing-public-speaking-event-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/what-this-executive-learnt-from-an-embarrassing-public-speaking-event-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"What this executive learnt from an \u201cembarrassing\u201d public speaking event – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Public<\/div>\n

Public speaking is considered\u00a0a notoriously nerve-wracking task even among high level managers, but while there are times when you feel totally confident about a presentation the key is not to get too cocky, says one company executive.<\/p>\n

Kevin Getch, director of digital strategy at Canadian web design company Webfor, gives a post-mortem of one of his presentations to\u00a0Tech.Co<\/em> this week<\/a>,\u00a0urging others to learn from his mistakes.<\/p>\n

Getch recounts being invited to introduce a chief executive speaker at the Seattle Interactive Conference, explaining that while he didn\u2019t envisage the simple presentation would end up being so embarrassing.<\/p>\n

The main problem? He got over-confident and prepared too late. Getch says this meant that when it came time to introduce his colleague, he wasn\u2019t able to draw on the introduction he\u2019d written the night before.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as I started introducing Sarah and talking about her accomplishments, I stumbled over my words. My mind went blank,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

After a number of stumbles during the brief presentation, Getch walked away with a newfound appreciation for preparing calmly and staying humble, no matter how straightforward the event is.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery moment you have on stage is a gift of people\u2019s time and attention, so you should never turn it away by preparing inadequately,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

Read more: Do you make these four common mistakes when giving a presentation?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Take time to understand the format<\/h3>\n

Delivering a\u00a0<\/em>solid preparation or speech isn\u2019t just about getting the content right, says Getch. It\u2019s also\u00a0about understanding the format of the event and even the layout of the stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk the staff what is expected of you. Know your cues,\u201d he recommends.<\/p>\n

In Seattle, Getch says he didn\u2019t think to double check the format of the event, and mistakenly took a seat in the centre of the stage after introducing his colleague, who commenced her speech at the lectern.<\/p>\n

He was left to shuffle off stage quietly while she was speaking.<\/p>\n

He says the awkward moment could have been easily fixed by asking simple questions ahead of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad I talked to the staff beforehand, I would have known what to do after introducing her,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Covering off the basics before your presentation or speech is key, but what about if you\u2019re still terrified of delivering it? Practice embarrassing yourself, says Getch.<\/p>\n

\u201cHead to a busy coffee shop, set up everything you\u2019d need for your presentation, and deliver your speech as you would on the big day in front of everyone,\u201d he suggests.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on SmartCompany<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and iTunes<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public speaking is considered\u00a0a notoriously nerve-wracking task even among high level managers, but while there are times when you feel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40732"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}