One of the participants at a recent corporate workshop asked this question:

How do you recover from a presentation blunder?

Here are a few options to help you gracefully handle those unplanned moments:

1. Ignore it and keep going, chances are no-one else will notice.

2. Acknowledge it. You might say: “I forgot to tell you something important so I’m going to back up for a moment.”

3. Use humor. Humor can go a long way to bring your audience along with you so don’t sweat it. You might say “That might have looked like a mistake, but I actually planned it that way.”

4. Improv. Find a creative way to incorporate the blunder into your talk.

5. Be kind to yourself. You’re allowed to make mistakes and being human gives your audience permission to do the same.

Some tips to help ward off some common fumbles:

1. Print your notes so you have backup if technology fails.

2. Pause if you lose your place, forget a word, or need a moment to think about your answer.

3. Remember that your audience is cheering you on so treat them like friends, not the enemy.

4. Be prepared. Know what you want to say and practice out loud ahead of time. Use my 4 step process to clarify your message. It helps you stay on topic even when you stumble.

Want to write a good talk?

The key is surprisingly simple: You need to EDIT.

According to Chris Anderson, the creator of TED,

“The biggest problem I see in first drafts of presentations is that they try to cover too much ground... If you try to cram in everything you know, you won’t have time to include key details, and your talk will disappear into abstract language that may make sense if your listeners are familiar with the subject matter but will be completely opaque if they’re new to it. You need specific examples to flesh out your ideas. So limit the scope of your talk to that which can be explained, and brought to life with examples, in the available time.”

If editing is the key then you may be wondering how to decide what to leave in and what to take out.

First, you need to get clear on your objective.

Your audience is never going to remember everything, so you want to be very clear about the main message you want them to walk away with. Once you know your objective, you can examine whether your content is helping you achieve it.

This is where editing comes in. You might want to tell your favorite story, but if that story isn’t the best example to illustrate your point, leave it out.

Grab the template to write your objective in 4 Steps to a Winning Work Presentation. This simple tool will help you get organized, get clear, and get confident.