I remember walking off stage and thinking I had delivered the worst presentation ever, and was surprised to see a fan line just as long as ever. Somehow I forgot a super important story and key learning, so it felt like the audience received 25% less of the good stuff I had to share.
Later on, I was talking about this experience with another professional speaker, and he said, “they don’t know what you are going to say, so if you miss a bit, no one knows but you.”
This is not just true for speakers but for event hosts as well. Sometimes we plan exciting things for our event, and they don’t work out. A volunteer speaker might do a poor job of getting participants excited, or the technology might freak out, or other things might run long, so you have to omit a fun activity in the moment. When any of these things happen, it can be super disappointing. But, your participants didn’t know what was planned, so often, they don’t know they missed out on anything.
If this happens to you, don’t let it rattle you; keep experimenting.
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