As presenters, failure is a reality that we all must face. Through botched presentations, missed sales pitches, and poorly crafted calls to action, I have experienced first-hand how confidence-shaking a failure can be. While failure can be painful, it doesn’t have to be fatal. In fact, if you look at the history of successful business leaders and thought developers, failure is actually a vital part of innovation. Take Steve Jobs for example: he created NeXT computer which turned into a failed software company known by few only to learn from his mistakes and create world-renowned Apple computers.
As a presenter, it’s crucial to learn to embrace failure and fail forward. We’ve put together 3 tips to help you fail forward and turn your recent failure into a raving success.
Take feedback to heart.
As a presenter, it’s difficult to hear negative feedback. It often cuts to the core and leaves you second guessing your effectiveness. While feedback can be painful to hear, it’s important that you listen to that feedback and take it to heart. By internalizing the feedback and allowing it to inform your future presentation strategy, you will turn your failure into a success. Be open to receiving critiques to discover how you can improve based on others’ feedback.
Practical Tip: Write down all feedback received during a presentation and look for common themes to find specific areas to put your focus.
Constantly tweak your ideas.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. Failing forward requires you to push back against this culture of insanity. When you receive feedback, take a look at your presentation, pitch, or product and tweak it accordingly. This requires you to have a coachable mentality and realize that although you have great ideas, they can always be improved upon.
Practical Tip: Detach your personal emotions from your ideas. This will allow you to tweak ideas without feeling like you are betraying your dream.
Ask for help.
As a thought leader, it’s easy to feel like you have all the answers. After all, your platform is built on a unique idea or message that you created, so you should feel like you know everything there is to know about it. That’s why when failure hits, it can cause us to second-guess the entire project and throw it all out. When it comes to failing forward, it’s important to be willing to ask for help. You may be a great innovator, but you might require some help to take that thought from idea to success. It’s in those moments that you need to ask for help to keep your mission moving forward.
Practical Tip: Reach out to the team at Ethos3 today to find out how we can help take your next great idea and turn it into an amazing presentation.
Albert Einstein is a man whose name is used to define the word genius. Yet this very genius failed all the way through his academic career only to eventually discover the Theory of Relativity. His story defines failing forward in a powerful way. As a presenter, you must be willing to fail often, fail fast, and fail forward. Only then can you fully unleash your thoughts and ideas on the world.
Want to learn more about Ethos3 and how we empower presenters to greatness? Contact our team today.
