It took a lot of hard work to get to this point. You had to design and prepare your presentation. You had to prepare yourself so that you could deliver the talk with confidence and poise. And now it’s over. Is there anything left to do?
Relax. Take a deep breath. Congratulate yourself for putting in your best effort. You took an intelligent, thoughtful approach to preparing yourself and your presentation, and hopefully everything paid off. If you did as well as you dreamed you might, and the accolades poured in, then relax, take it easy, and bask in your glory. You are in a special class of gifted speakers and can skip to the next section. If, on the other hand, the road was a bit bumpier and a thing or two didn’t go as planned, consider these important points.
1. You did your best under the circumstances. You followed a sound preparation methodology, put all your engineering skill and experience to work implementing that methodology, thoughtfully designed a presentation for this particular audience (or at least the audience you expected to get), carefully built the presentation, optimized it through rehearsal, and then did your best to deliver it faithfully. That’s something to be proud of.
2. You’re human. Engineers are human, and humans make mistakes. That’s the way it is. You don’t have to be happy about it, but recognize that you’re not alone. Also recognize that there is always room for improvement when human beings are involved.
3. The audience was human. Audience members sometimes say and do stupid things. They can be agendized and aggressive. It’s quite possible that whatever incident has you so tied up in knots is not entirely your fault. Or maybe not your fault at all. Try not to be judgmental at this point. Don’t mull it over, but instead sleep on it. It’s likely that the listeners thought you did great and you are being way too hard on yourself. Ask one or two of them for feedback while they’re still in the room; you might be surprised by the positive things they say.
4. You can’t do any better than your best. Again, you did your best. You can’t do any better than your best at a given time. Meditate on that fact if you’re really feeling bad about how things went. Then resolve to go on improving your skills.
Example. Camilla rehearsed her talk for the big convention about a million times. This was her first time speaking at such an important venue and she was determined to impress her colleagues. She had the timing down perfectly: 15 minutes of the allotted 20, leaving 5 minutes for Q&A at the end. Unfortunately, when the moderator gave the “2 minutes” sign, Camilla found that she had only completed half her talk. She scrambled to finish the rest and in the process consumed most of the Q&A time. She could have considered her presentation a flop. Instead she used it as a learning experience, adjusting her rehearsal methods in order to better predict how long she would need in front of a live audience.
People may approach you immediately after the presentation. Some may have questions they weren’t comfortable asking in front of everyone else, or for which there was not sufficient time. Others may simply say thanks for what you did. Regardless of the forms these interactions take, they may represent chances to help others or to make new professional contacts. Try to stay open to the possibilities. If you’re a working engineer, consider having some business cards handy.
Example. Kyle was finishing graduate school. The pressure to find a job was mounting. After presenting his research findings at a conference, Kyle was thrilled that Jorge (a big name in the field) came up to chat. They talked about Kyle’s work, which Jorge considered “ingenious.” Kyle offered his business card, letting Jorge know that he was seeking a job. In addition to Kyle’s contact information, the card displayed a web address for a site that he had created to describe his background and research. A few days later Kyle got an email from Jorge: “I don’t hire MS students, but I know a lot of people who do. I was very impressed with your work and took the liberty to contact a couple of folks in industry. You may be hearing from them soon.” Kyle’s presentation was an opportunity to impress. He took full advantage of it, and of the subsequent opportunity to make important contacts.
Unless you are a student in a classroom setting where criticism is part of the experience, it is unlikely that an audience member will criticize your talk afterwards. It could happen, of course, but in our experience it probably won’t. The chances are much greater that you will receive praise. But either way, honest feedback should be graciously accepted. Respond with a pleasant thanks for the information and file it away for later evaluation.
Example. After his pleasant experience with Jorge, Kyle was approached by a second audience member. John criticized Kyle’s techniques and suggested that a different method was better warranted. Kyle thanked John and asked for recommended references on the alternative approach. He also asked about John’s willingness to speak again after he had a chance to examine the references. They exchanged email addresses; an initially confrontational interaction eventually turned into a fruitful collaboration of several months.
7.3 Use the Experience to Improve
Whether you came away from the talk exhilarated with the knowledge that you were on top of your game, or a bit discouraged from a sub-par performance, you can use your experience to improve. Take some time to assess how things went, and determine what you might have done to make things go better. Focus on three things.
1. Examine your performance. What did you do well and what flopped? Good speakers are constantly tweaking their speaking style.
2. Assess your preparation. Did you do everything necessary to prepare for the talk? What else could you have done? What would you do differently next time? Did you understand the audience as well as you thought?
3. Review the content of your presentation. Did you include everything you needed? Did you include too much, or the wrong material? What would you add? What would you remove?
If possible, discuss your presentation with an audience member. Their immediate reaction can be valuable.
Example. Jordan was asked to brief a local group of civil engineers on a new technology for controlling traffic in construction zones. He rehearsed successfully in front of colleagues who were familiar with the technology. Unfortunately, during the actual event, Jordan could tell from the questions that things didn’t go as planned. His colleague Connie attended, and later they did a post-mortem over dinner. “There seemed to be a lot of confusion in the audience,” said Jordan. “What do you think went wrong?” Connie was able to speak with several attendees and learned that their backgrounds in traffic engineering were not as broad as she and Jordan had anticipated. “They really are old school when it comes to maintaining traffic. They’re especially unfamiliar with the newest reconfigurable systems. We should have had you review some earlier systems rather than jumping into the latest technology right away.” Jordan realized that he had prepared well — but for the wrong audience. After this he changed his speaking style for similar events. If any confusion showed on the faces of audience members, he would stop and ask for feedback before continuing. He also brought some extra slides he could use if the audience seemed to require extra background information. Jordan understood that this approach might be impractical under tight time constraints. Even then, however, he found that the extra slides came in handy during one-on-one discussions after his talk was finished.
Skilled technical speakers are rare and, in many environments, highly valued. It is not unlikely that you will be asked to repeat a talk. This is a good thing: a request for a repeat performance means that someone saw value in the presentation.
Example. Kendall’s boss Sophia was impressed by his monthly briefings to the platform teams. On Friday, the local congressman was coming to visit the plant for an update on the innovative techniques the company was using to reduce energy consumption. Sophia asked Kendall to give the presentation: “I know you’ve only been peripherally involved with green manufacturing, but I’m sure you can get up to speed on the main issues by Friday. You, among all our engineers, would have the best rapport with the congressman.” Kendall was a bit apprehensive, but he prepared well and the update went off without a hitch.
If the request doesn’t come from your boss at work, but rather from an interested audience member, then you needn’t decide on the spot; you can graciously say thanks for the invitation, record contact information, and promise to be in touch about the idea later. You have every right to decline, of course. But giving it some thought isn’t a bad idea. You may be mentally, physically, or emotionally spent after your presentation and simply want to go home and forget the whole thing. You may, however, feel different about things in a few days. Much thought and effort went into the design, building, testing, and delivery of your presentation. Why not at least consider the possibility of giving it again? It may be a lot easier the second time. And there are always more people to help, more professional contacts to be made.
Example. Oliver gave an impressive talk to his computer communications working group about how electromagnetic emission limits are set for wireless routers. He was approached afterwards by an engineer: “I work with a group educating the public on the safety of wireless systems, and next week we are meeting with some local folks who are worried about the recent proliferation of microcells in their community. Would you be willing to give your talk to them?” Aware that electromagnetic fields are a touchy issue with the public, Oliver asked for some time to think it over. Eventually he decided that giving the public an accurate account of this important health issue was worth the effort.
Of course, if you do decide in favor of a repeat performance, keep in mind that no two situations are exactly alike. If the venue is to be different the second time, you have some investigating to do.
7.5 Consider Reinventing Your Talk
Another possibility is to re-envision your presentation. A good presentation can be turned into a different but equally good presentation. The level could be raised or lowered; the scope could be broadened or narrowed. The subject could be shifted to a neighboring topic, with or without significant overlap.
Example. Audience response to Oliver’s talk on emission limits suggested a real need for addressing the public’s concerns about electromagnetic fields. Oliver realized he could augment his talk with World Health Organization guidelines and National Institute of Health data, and produce a presentation with wide public appeal. Soon he was asked to speak to a number of civic groups and became respected for his honest assessment of radiation hazards.
If you did well, you must be proud of your presentation. Too bad so few people got a chance to view it! Why not get it out for the world to see?
There are several ways to archive a talk. If your organization has a web page, see if you can place a prominent announcement and a link to your slides (or even to video, if your presentation was recorded). If not, place it on your personal web page. Be mindful of material that is proprietary or otherwise restricted. If you belong to a professional society, ask whether there is an opportunity to post materials on their page.
Example. Gabrielle’s talk to the local road commission about best practices for trail construction was well received. She asked if she could post her slides on their website and they agreed. Commissioners from neighboring counties read her slides, were intrigued by her ideas, and asked her to speak to them. Soon the word on the street ran to “If you’re building a new trail, you’ve got to talk with Gabrielle first!”
You might also consider more permanent means of archiving your presentation materials. Why not turn them into a column for your company’s newsletter or an article for a trade magazine? You could even write a technical paper for an academic journal. Better yet, why not use them in the first chapter of that book you’ve been wanting to write?
□ I congratulate myself for all of my hard work
□ I forgive myself for any missteps or blunders
□ I engage with interested audience members
□ I use the experience to improve
□ I assess whether I did enough to prepare; what worked and what didn’t?
□ I assess how well the talk went and how I can use the experience to improve my delivery
□ I assess whether the talk needs to be changed if I deliver it again
□ I consider reinventing my talk for another venue or occasion
□ I find a way to archive my talk
1. Not all presentations go well. It’s always possible to learn from each mishap, though.
2. Informal chats with audience members can provide the speaker with new connections and opportunities for professional service.
3. Seek and accept constructive criticism as a way to improve. If you spend all your energy being defensive, you’ll never grow.
4. Really good (knowledgeable, articulate, informative, entertaining) technical presenters are hard to find. The better you get, the more in demand you’re likely to be.
5. The preparation for a good presentation need not go to waste afterwards. Many presentations can be repeated or adapted to new forms or occasions.
6. Consider archiving your talk, either on the web or in a permanent venue.
7.1. Attend a presentation by someone you respect. Be a fly on the wall; watch how the speaker interacts with audience members after the talk. Make notes that will be helpful for the aftermath of your own presentations.
7.2. Make a list of the places on the web that you might consider archiving a presentation.
7.3. Construct a rubric to evaluate how well you handle yourself after your presentations. You may wish to use the checklist from Section 7.7 as a guide. Attend the presentation of a speaker that you admire, and apply the rubric.