I recently heard a speaker tell his audience that public speaking is always fun. I’d take a bet that that speaker hasn’t done a lot of speaking in the real world! Of course public speaking can be huge fun. But every speaker who gets up on a stage on a regular basis in the real world has at some point experienced a speech crash, and that is no fun at all. A speech crash? That’s when your speech bombs, when – despite the fact that you have prepared well, done your audience research, etc – you realise during your speech that you’re just not getting through to your audience. At the end, even though there is applause, you know deep down: the speech didn’t work!

I want to address this issue today because many of you have asked what you can do when you crash despite good and complete preparation. So here are five suggestions for a speedy recovery:

First of all, remember that a speech crash is not necessarily your fault at all, or may be only partly due to factors you yourself can control. Your audience can be tired, angry, full of food and drink, more interested in networking with each other than in listening to you, all sorts of things. These factors can impact the response to your speech considerably. You may also have been misguided by the organiser, and prepared a speech which is simply not suitable for a particular audience. The audience can also change its composition and needs at the last minute, making your task doubly difficult. I’ve heard many stories from professional speakers who have had such experiences.

Secondly, after the crash, analyse the situation as objectively as you can. This is the only way I know to get over the bad feelings produced by a speech crash, and to turn the crash into a development experience. What really happened? Was your material inappropriate for that particular audience? Did you neglect to really listen to the audience for reactions early on in your speech? Is the speech itself weak or flawed in some way? Write down all the factors that you feel led to the crash.

Thirdly, make a list of the steps you need to take to move on from the crash. If you crashed because you experimented with new ideas or material that were not sufficiently rehearsed, make a note to treat your friends and family to the next experiment before you deliver to a real audience. Or join a Toastmasters club, where you can experiment all you want in a less demanding environment. If you really believe that the speech itself is good, and offers value to the audience, redeliver it at a lower-key event (possibly in a revised version). Try to include the audience more this second time by using you-turns, dialogue, etc. This will provide you with some answers to your earlier crash.

Fourthly, get up and speak again at the next possible opportunity for which you are sufficiently prepared. Speech crashes can undermine your confidence so it’s important that you face an audience again as soon as possible and use all your skill to link up better with them. If you’re really not sure what went wrong, and don’t want to speak publicly again until you know, you may want to invest in an hour with a trainer who can help you sort out the problem.

Fifthly, if you are really concerned that the event could affect your reputation, be brave and contact the organizer. Ask for their feedback on how well you met their expectations. If there really was a problem, they will likely tell you. Use the comments you receive to develop into an even better speaker!

Finally, accept that you’re human, just like your audience. Don’t let a speech crash eat away at you, and don’t be unnecessarily hard on yourself. It may not have been as bad as you think. I once sat back down at my table after a speech which I felt had not really got through to the audience, and was amazed when an audience member leant over to me and said: ‘That was wonderful. I found your talk really inspiring!’

The main thing is to keep things in perspective when something like this occurs. Do what you can to remedy the situation, and then move on. In this connection, I highly recommend getting involved in some external activity which helps you keep professional ups and downs in perspective. You can see my ‘other’ activity in the picture below, and it helps enormously!