How To Respond To Inevitable Distractions in Public Speaking

Adam Hochschild once said, “Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short.”

This is the truth in public speaking.

One of the craziest situations I was in happened during a keynote talk I was giving in Chicago. There were five meeting rooms that had been partitioned out that held about 300 each. Each room had a wireless microphone system. About a minute into my presentation, the microphone from two rooms down somehow overlapped onto the frequency of mine, and we all started hearing the other speaker. He sounded as if he were right there with us.

Talk about a distraction that’s impossible to ignore! I didn’t even try. Rather than fight it or try to shout over it, I began having a “conversation” with the other speaker. He would ask his crowd in the other room, “Can everyone hear me okay?” and I would answer to mine, “Oh yes, we can hear you just fine.” I did my best to turn it into something amusing and entertaining, and got a few laughs for it. This went on for several minutes until the technical support guy hurried in and fixed things.

This is just one example of totally unexpected things that can happen in a presentation. A kneejerk reaction to something like this is to get upset or just walk off the stage in helplessness. But having had much mileage on stage, I knew to roll with it in a positive way. Had my reaction been negative, that would have stuck in the minds of the audience more than anything else. It would have made them feel uncomfortable for me, and the last thing you want as a presenter is an uncomfortable crowd trying to watch you.

Know that both big and small distractions will always exist under all circumstances. For your own sake, try not to be in constant pursuit of perfect conditions. And don’t make the even bigger mistake of trying to force the perfect set of circumstances. If you do, you’ll experience more disappointment and frustration than satisfaction. Yes, in time, you’ll run into those ideal situations where everything appears to go perfect, but they’re few and far between. It’s better to simply be prepared for what can and usually does happen, and to look at it as opportunities for growth and experience. This isn’t negative thinking, which is when anticipating what could happen creates unhealthy levels of fear or tension. This becomes detrimental to your performance. It’s also negative thinking to view potential mishaps as a burden, or some sort of affliction that comes with the territory. If you have to just “grin and bear it,” then you’re looking at it wrong.

Some people anticipate a negative reaction from themselves. A person will think, if this happens, I just know I’ll get so annoyed I won’t be able to continue. Or, if so and so interrupts me again, I’ll get angry and snap at her. If you think and do the action in advance mentally, you’re going down the road of self-fulfilled prophesy. If and when the time comes, you’ll respond just as you imagined. As far as your brain is concerned, you’ve already done it anyway, so it’s easier the “second” time (or third, or fourth, etc.). And in the end, if nothing happens, all you’ve accomplished is wasting mental bandwidth.

The more you learn to deal with distractions correctly, the more professional you’ll be as a communicator. Unfortunately, though, we often react inappropriately. We stop and get flustered when a noise or disruption happens, especially deliberately caused disruptions. But if we blow these things out of proportion, the incident will overshadow the rest of the presentation. That’s what people will remember long after the performance. People can forgive almost any blunder, whether caused by you or not, if you simply do your best and maintain a positive attitude.

Even if you don’t have a lot of experience, there are techniques you can employ that will make it seem as though you’ve been doing it for a long time.

Remain positive and professional.
If things go wrong, don’t go with them.
Prepare a good outline with keywords; they will help you keep focus.
Make sure you’ve done a little rehearsal, but not to where you’ve memorized. Distractions can mean the death of a memorized presentation because your brain, which was depending on things going in a certain order, will lock up.
Finally, remember the purpose of your message, the big picture. That’s what matters, so focus on that. By keeping your mind on what’s important, you can avoid “forgetting” what to do.
Kelly Libatique is a professional speaker, technical trainer, and author. He has a Master’s in Education and a Bachelor’s in Psychology. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and Anne and two sons.

Visit http://www.Libatique.com or contact Kelly at: KellyLibatique@gmail.com