What happens when you're public speaking and something doesn't work? Perhaps a joke you make falls completely flat.
Maybe the directions to a group activity are unclear to your audience.
Or worse, they simply have no comprehension of a key concept that you feel absolutely sure you've delivered with extreme clarity.
What are you going to do? How do you recover? Is your public speaking presentation a complete failure? In aikido, the martial art I've studied for a long time, we get thrown around a lot.
It's called taking ukemi, also known as the art of falling.
As a matter of fact, according to my instructors, you can't really understand or do well at aikido unless you learn how to take great ukemi.
Ukemi is about landing safely when you take a hit or fail to take control of your partner.
You land safely, are back on your feet in seconds, and ready for whatever comes next.
What you're also doing while you're taking the fall is looking for the next opportunity to regain control of the situation.
Here are some suggestions on how to "take ukemi" when something doesn't go well during your presentation: 1) Take the fall.
Set ego aside and be honest with yourself.
If something's not working and you're the presenter, you're responsible to your audience.
Don't waste a moment assigning blame.
Correct someone on your team later if necessary and/or beneficial.
2) Have a sense of humor.
In other words, admit to yourself and your group that something's not working.
The ability to laugh at yourself is huge to relationship building and always an excellent tension breaker.
The audience doesn't like watching you onstage looking embarrassed or humiliated.
It makes them uncomfortable! That's not to your benefit as presenter.
On the other hand, don't get angry with your audience.
I've seen that happen, and that will kill your relationship with your audience immediately.
If you're frustrated with them, don't ever show it.
Find something that works for them, even if it means that you only deliver half of the content you'd originally intended for your presentation.
3) Diagnose the problem and correct quickly.
If it's a key concept that your audience must understand in order to proceed, take some time to question them and figure out why.
Usually a strong strong solution is to break down the concept into smaller, simpler steps.
If your presentation is well-researched and well-prepared, then key concept issues shouldn't occur.
If it's an activity that's not working, and it's important that they practice, then have an easy backup prepared.
If the lack of understanding/ misstep is about something that's not crucial to the presentation, skip it and move on.
4) Accept audience feedback.
I wouldn't suggest spending much time during your presentation getting into a big discussion with your audience on why something didn't work.
However, I would take suggestions for improvement- perhaps one at the time of delivery and others as requested feedback after the presentation.
This can be hard to swallow if you're The Expert onstage.
Nevertheless, people do have a way of having useful insights that may not have occurred to you.
Those can be invaluable in helping you to craft your message to better suit your listeners.