The Presentation Post-Mortem
Public speaking, being the live art that it is, has a tendency to not always go the way we planned. The image you had in mind of walking in and nailing the presentation, your captivated audience nodding and laughing at the crucial moments (and hey, maybe even applauding your wonderment) unfortunately didn’t quite come to fruition this time.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Turn down that inner critic. You went into this experience with the subject knowledge, context and information you had within the time frame available to you. And, in order to get there you had to make a series of assumptions about your audience. That is – how they would show up, if they would show up, how they feel about this particular topic, how they feel about you… I could go on. There are many factors that contribute towards how an audience may respond to you and your presentation in the moment. So cut yourself some slack.
Now, that is not to say it isn’t worth reflecting on the disaster that was – even if it was not in fact a disaster, but perhaps merely a challenging engagement or potentially a triumph. Each experience is worth the time to stop and review so we can learn from what happened, and move into future situations with an informed view of what works for us. So let’s lean in.
When carrying out a Presentation Post-Mortem, I recommend following a 3 step process in order to gain a 360 view:
1. Personal recap
2. Gain objective perspective
3. Seeing the 'whole picture'
Step 1
The personal recap should ideally be carried out on the day of your presentation, otherwise as close to the event as possible. This should capture your internal experience of the event and the emotional response you had during your delivery. Ask yourself a series of questions around what you feel you did well, what you would have changed and how well you prepared. Allow yourself to write freely in response to these prompts and then highlight anything significant or surprising that might lead to an action.
Step 2
Use a trusted source to provide objective insights about what went down during the speaking engagement. This might be a colleague or peer who was in the room or observing via virtual means. Better still, I often recommend to clients to use a video recording of the event to gain this objective view. (I know, I know, it’s not something anyone actually likes doing, but it pays off I promise!) From this source, find out as much as you can about the external experience of viewing your presentation and how it was received in the room by an audience member. We tend to believe we already know the answers to these questions, but we are heavily informed by our internal emotional response which can warp the reality of the event. Finding ways to step outside of ourselves is crucial. Try asking questions around the content, delivery (including voice and body language) and audience response. Remember to capture areas of strength and areas of development from your feedback source – both hold useful information!
Step 3
The final step asks you to pull these two experiences together to create a ‘whole picture’ view of the event. Marrying your internal lived experience, together with the insights from an audience perspective helps you draw vital threads between the two sources of data. Look for similarities and differences across the two, where you should congratulate yourself and any changes you would like to make. Then, using this information, come up with several actions you would like to take and consider what support you might need to do so.
So when a presentation doesn’t go to plan, don’t push it aside and cross your fingers for a different outcome next time. Make the effort to reflect and draw out some actions. Doing this will place you well on the path to owning your future speaking engagements and achieving the response you desire.