You're giving the speech of your life. The room is top-notch, PowerPoint is humming, and your boss, coworkers and friends are mesmerized. You're on top of the world, and nothing can stop you. Then your projector shutters, spits and quits.
Welcome to the world of snafu survival.
We all want to do great. No techno-glitches, bulb blowouts or loud snoring to spoil our presentations, projects and perfect plans. But praying for perfection can set you up for a fall. One that can rattle your confidence and degrade your message.
Fortunately, there is a method to handle even the worst of surprises with aplomb. It's used by NASA, the airlines and other organizations that need to adapt instantly to life-threatening change. It's the art of contingency planning.
If you have backup plans and have rehearsed various solutions in your mind, those so-called surprises become manageable. Confidence blossoms. In other words, there may be problems along the way, but nothing will stop or ruin your performance.
Consider the typical airline crew. By their very nature, they expect trouble. In training, they simulate and solve a wide range of problems with predetermined methods of resolution, all applied in a calm and orderly manner.
You can do the same. The following three tips are borrowed from actual cockpit resource management techniques. Let's apply them to the above PowerPoint problem and see how we can handle unexpected glitches.
Don't panic
Panic is the pilot's worst enemy. It can transform a normal adult into a quivering mass of pointless pulp. When the unexpected happens, make sure you have a transition or plan of attack thought out in advance where you can smoothly execute a solution.
When considering your scenarios, commit your ideas to paper. Writing not only fleshes out the idea but puts problems in their proper perspective so that solutions become more visible.
While writing out possible scenarios, be ruthless. Invoke Murphy's Law to the max. Consider all kinds of possible snafus. The microphone quits, the boss walks out, the projector begins to smoke … you get the picture. In considering your alternates, keep in mind you needn't have a memorized comeback for every conceivable situation. Instead, the objective is to quickly adapt and smoothly bridge to your backup plan.
Respond with authority
When blindsided by a surprise, your initial response is critical. All eyes will be on you. If you have never given a thought to that situation, it will show in your voice, face or general body language.
You are captain of the ship and need to guide it with a steady hand. Therefore, at the first sign of a snafu, refrain from giving the impression recovery is beyond your ability. Although you may feel as graceful as a train wreck at the moment, you want to appear cool, composed and in control.
There are two reasons for this act. One, your good cheer and calm command send a nonverbal message to the audience to relax and enjoy the presentation. However, even more important is the nonverbal message you send to yourself that you are calm, cool and crash-proof.
An excellent place to practice this is at your local Toastmasters club. The Greenhaven area's Klassy Talkers Toastmasters club meets at 7 p.m. Mondays at Sacramento Executive Airport. Drop by or call (916) 395-1604 for more information.
Simulate your response
Aviation has long since proven the effectiveness of simulation. The important point, however, is the behavioral change and skill enhancement that mental simulation provides. Olympic champions, actors, golf pros, professional speakers and pilots alike increasingly employ the magic of visual imagery to improve their skills.
The key is clarity. You want to get to the point where your imagery approaches reality.
Find a quiet room. Sit down, close your eyes and imagine your presentation in minute detail – the more specific the better. As you begin to speak, you feel totally calm and in control. It's like talking to a best friend. It feels good. Repeat this and similar visualizations until you're able to relive these experiences with less and less effort.
John Tillison is a Greenhaven resident, local flight instructor, a Klassy Talker Toastmaster and author of the new book, "Hell Trains, Planes & Parachutes – Creating Crashproof Excellence in Your Life." For a free "flight lesson checklist" with more practical solutions to improve your life, go to www.helltrains.com.
