You've prepared your presentation, you know your subject, and you know your audience. You have the presentation internalized. As you progress through the presentation, you have this bad feeling that starts to grow. You're halfway through, and you hear a little voice in your head that says, "This is not working!"
What do you do?
That was the exact question I got this week from one of my corporate coaching clients. His presentation is a "pitch" for a $150,000 per month contract. It's extremely important to him and his company.
I took a minute to really think about it... and I remembered an amazing transformation that I experienced long ago during a comedy show.
Three of the best headliners were working a show together in Worcester, Massachusetts. There happened to be a function in the main room, so they had to move the comedy show. If you would've been there, you would have seen a room full of 115 people in a hotel basement. It was definitely not the best situation -- low ceilings, a warm room, a pillar in the middle of the floor that obstructed the view for many of the audience members.
The first comedian was experienced and very talented. He took the stage and only received mild laughs. He continued to follow his routine and didn't waver. The second comedian took the stage, and had almost exactly the same results. He, too, didn't waiver from his original "planned" routine. The last comedian, Vinnie Favorito, took the stage, and started with his planned routine. He was about three minutes into it... and he stopped. He put the microphone down, pulled up a stool and said, "Guys, what's the matter? What's going on?" Vinnie changed gears, and abandoned the original plan that he always used - the plan that almost always worked for him.
He realized one crucial thing. The original plan will only work when you're "connected" with the crowd. Sometimes a connection is easy to make. On occasions, like this, it's not.
I was just amazed at how Vinnie stopped his flow and confidently changed directions. If he had kept going, he would have suffered the same mediocre laughs that the other comedians received.
If you find yourself in the middle of a presentation and it's not working - Stop. Talk to them. Check in. It's perfectly legal to ask the audience where they are, and what's wrong. It takes a true professional to do that.
By "checking in" I mean - literally - black the projector screen, step forward, and separate yourself emotionally and physically from what you were doing. It gets the audience's attention and helps engage them right away. They feel the change, and they know it was not planned. You might instantly gain a connection. If you don't gain that connection right away... I promise, "checking in" is taking a huge step forward to creating one!
How did it turn out? Amazing! He took a tough audience and completely turned them around. Will it work every time? It depends on many factors. However, if it is not working the way it is going, please change something!
We learn the most from the toughest presentations. Witnessing a master like Vinnie perform under difficult circumstances has taught me a great deal. What will you do the next time you notice it ain't working?
