Confessions of a Public Speaker

Appendix D. What to do when things go wrong

Since all public speaking is a kind of performance, things can and will go wrong, no matter how good you are. This list comes from my own experiences, as well as conversations with other veteran speakers. It’s a handy reference for minimizing fears you might have, or for diagnosing how you could’ve done something differently after it happened.

You’re being heckled

Hecklers are rare. When it happens, the audience is usually as frustrated with him as you are. Use this to your advantage. If you engage a heckler, you often look mean, but if you get the audience on your side, things end quickly.

Hecklers are people who wish they were on stage, are drunk, or think they are helping you by contributing.

How to prevent:

• Set the rules for how the audience can interact with you. If you want questions held until the end, say so; or, if you’re OK with them at any time, let the audience know. Also set boundaries for Twitter and event chat rooms. I always give out my email address so everyone in the room has an outlet to say things they’re not sure are appropriate during the lecture.

How to respond:

• Always remember you have more power than any heckler. If you have the microphone, you are amplified; he is not. You can interrupt or talk over him, and he can do nothing to stop you. It’s really not a fair fight in any sense. As soon as a heckler realizes this, he will silence himself.

• Address whoever spoke and ask him to hold his comments or questions until the ...