Ah yes, bombing.

Many of my clients asked for my two cents regarding Jan Brewer’s cringe inducing performance at the Arizona Governor Debate. The question that came up most; was she under-prepared, or simply panicked? As you probably noticed from the video above, Ms. Brewer stumbled badly at the top, shook her head as if to say “Gee I screwed up”, and then proceeded to piece together an incoherent summation of her turn as Governor. Yikes.

Was she under-prepared? Most likely, yes. It seems as if she hadn’t really rehearsed the speech out loud much. She seemed somewhat disorganized from the outset. It is always important to go over a speech five to six times, ideally in front of other people, and then review bullet points silently a few times before the event, getting in touch with the essence of the speech. Doing progressive relaxation exercises before an event helps a good deal too.

Was she panicked? Yes. What do you do if this happens to you? Breath. STOP SPEAKING. Do not try to TALK your way out of panic; never works. Guess why? The panic will distort your thoughts and words. If you are on a train to Connecticut, but you want to go to New Jersey, do you continue on your journey thinking, “Well, eventually, I will land in New Jersey”? Nope. You get off the train, and get on another train. If you are on the train to panics-ville, get off the train. Stop speaking. Take a sip of water. Breath. DO NOTHING. Clarify your thoughts. Will it be a little awkward? Yes. Will it be better than speaking out of your arse (excuse my French)? Much.

Would you like to know a dirty secret held by most public speaking coaches? Ok here goes…. Everybody bombs. Yep, it’s true. Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Ole Abe Lincoln, and occasionally a public speaking coach (not MOI of course ), everybody, everybody bombs. Public speaking craft helps us reach a state of public speaking excellence, not public speaking perfection. We are all human, and on occasion, we fail. So what do you do if this happens to you? Get up off your feet, dust yourself off, and then move on. You failed, yes, but you are in good company, and you have faced the worst. You need not fear the podium again.

What do you think? Under-prepared, or panicked?

Jeffrey Davis is the owner of Speak Clear Communications. He is a public speaking coach and accent reduction coach in Manhattan.

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