Weekly Business Insights from Top Ten Business Magazines | Week 309 | Leading & Managing Section | 1

Extractive summaries and key takeaways from the articles curated from TOP TEN BUSINESS MAGAZINES to promote informed business decision-making | Since September 2017 | Week 309 | August 11-17, 2023

It’s Okay To Make A Mistake

By Jerry Weissman | Forbes Magazine | August 15, 2023

Listen to the Extractive Summary of the Article

There are situation when the presenter or the speaker make a mistake found later that those were intentional ones.  This is not to suggest that you intentionally grope for words or make a mistake in your presentation but to allow yourself the luxury of doing so. When you lose your place or stumble over your words, every person in your audience will think, “Been there. Done that.” In identifying with you, the audience forgives you.

Of course, if you prepare thoroughly, you can diminish the potential for mistakes. Unfortunately, businesspeople, pressured by time and to-do lists, don’t allocate enough time to prepare. If you find yourself in that bind, at the very least, make sure that you leave enough time to proceed through these five checkpoints:

1. Understand the context by defining your goal and analyzing your audience.
2. Brainstorm to consider all potential ideas
3. Identify you major themes.
4. Organize those themes into a logical sequence.
5. Rehearse your story aloud at least three times in full.

Then, if you do make a mistake during your presentation, just remember that your audience will be forgiving. The least you can do is to forgive yourself, too.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. There are situation when the presenter or the speaker make a mistake found later that those were intentional ones.  When you lose your place or stumble over your words, every person in your audience will think, “Been there. Done that.” In identifying with you, the audience forgives you.
2. Of course, if you prepare thoroughly, you can diminish the potential for mistakes. 
3. Unfortunately, businesspeople, pressured by time and to-do lists, don’t allocate enough time to prepare. If you find yourself in that bind, at the very least, make sure that you leave enough time to proceed through these five checkpoints:  understand the context by defining your goal and analyzing your audience, brainstorm to consider all potential ideas, identify you major themes, organize those themes into a logical sequence, and rehearse your story aloud at least three times in full.

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Topics:  Leadership, Communication