I thought you might enjoy hearing about a dramatic happening which occurred on Easter Saturday this year. I was doing my final performance as the guest speaker on a Mediterranean cruise. We were about 15 minutes into the talk and all was going well when suddenly my microphone went dead and a very serious voice was heard from the bridge. “This is the officer of the watch, incident team required deck 9 starboard side cabin 546. Incident type fire – I repeat fire”
Needless to say, the several hundred people in my audience were stunned and a buzz of anxiety could be heard. So what could I do? As we had been in the middle of a video clip when the sound was cut I asked if they would like me to play the clip again. The answer was yes so off we went.
Two minutes passed and then we heard the captain’s voice interrupting “ladies and gentlemen please don’t be concerned, we are investigating what appears to be smoke on deck 9 but you do not need to go to lifeboats. More information will be given shortly” Well that’s a relief, I said, when my microphone switched back on and my audience responded with nervous laughter. But I only managed a few more minutes before the officer of the watch was back telling the emergency incident team to stand down. This was particularly amusing as I had been in the middle of another video clip so it was re-wind number 2. I suggested to the audience that my videos might be a trigger for these interruptions which caused quite a bit of amusement and on I went for the third time.
The final break in the flow came from the captain telling us that it hadn’t been smoke at all but steam from a ruptured valve in the engine room. So, eventually I finished my presentation about 6 minutes later than normal but having coped with multiple interruptions.
It just goes to show that you need to be prepared for anything when you are Public Speaking. If you are well-prepared nothing will throw you and that is the key to successful presentations.
Take a look at my ‘free stuff’ page for more advice on Public Speaking, then get yourself in front of an audience and promote your business.
Speak wisely
Speak well
Speak Loud & Clear!
Web: www.loudandclearuk.com/
