Comments on: How to Handle Mistakes

By: Theresa Frasch

Theresa Frasch — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:40:09 +0000

I just got back from my first run as a Fred Pryor trainer (9 days on one topic) and I did that every night. The first few days out there were kind of rough (as was my seminar) but every night I took what I learned from that day and reworked it.

The seminar went from too much time and not enough seminar, not enough relevant examples, too slow in the afternoon, to a well rounded day with relevant, sometimes humorous, personal stories.

I learned to read audiences better, what to cut if it was going long, what to add if it was going short, how to encourage them to have deeper discussions, I became much more comfortable with my material, and I polished my stories.

By then end of the run the evaluations were better, my sales were up (I didn’t sell anything the first week), I was funnier, the comments were better, and most of all I had fun.

But it took working on it every night to get it there: What worked? What didn’t work? How can I fix it? What will I do different next time?

Man, I was exhausted when I got home! Now I am prepping for another topic…a little differently this time. Idaho – here I come.

By: Maureen Zappala

Maureen Zappala — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:42:48 +0000

Very well stated Ed! I especially like the suggestion of “Practice and rehearse as if it were the world championship of public speaking”. Having been down that road, I understand the intensity you mean.

By: Christina Dyer

Christina Dyer — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:42:10 +0000

Great post Ed!
The great thing is that even though the psychologists who wrote “Self-Esteem” suggest that you give yourself a break because you “did the best you could at the time”, you acknowledge that you actually did not, and could have done things differently and better. That is an even greater sign of a healthy self esteem. Keep moving forward!

By: Bob Jensen

Bob Jensen — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:34:18 +0000

Sometimes you make mistakes that are beyond your control. I gave a “best practices” seminar to a bank once, and things were going smoothly…until I brought up an anecdote that involved American Express. Goodwill in the room instantly vanished and was replaced with icy glares and catcalls. I later found out that this organization had gotten into a major public relations debacle with American Express the previous week and nerves were frayed!

By: John Freisinger

John Freisinger — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:59:32 +0000

It is great to hear that even in the rarefied strata that you inhabit sometimes things are not perfect. Sorry to hear that things went badly but what a great message for all of us.
We never reach a point where practice and preparation will not make a difference.

By: Cynthia Lay

Cynthia Lay — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:58:00 +0000

BRAVO, Ed!

This is a fabulous way to look at it — and learn from it. I will definitely use this for future presentations.

Thanks for showing that you’re “human” like the rest of us!

Cynthia

By: Chris Elliott

Chris Elliott — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:24:15 +0000

What a great post! I have used your analysis method when I know I have just “phoned it in” and it reminds me that being great requires more of a commitment.

Thank you for sharing!