Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hi, and welcome. I'm really glad you're here because
I know what it feels like to stand in front
of an audience and wonder what something
unexpected happens. Over the years, I've given countless lectures and
presentations to students, professionals, and
audiences of every kind. And I can tell you
from experience, no matter how much you prepare, real situations
always surprise you. Someone interrupts,
someone argues, or you get a question you
don't know the answer to. This course is built exactly on those moments, not on theories, not on abstract is, but on what I've actually
done in real classrooms, lecture halls, and
conference rooms with real people
in the audience. It's what's truly worked for me. Here, I'll share with
you practical tools to prepare for unexpected
situations with your audience. How to prepare smarter, respond with
confidence, and even turn challenges into
opportunities to shine. You'll see that nervousness
isn't your enemy. It's part of being professional. You learn how to handle
questions, interruptions, even mistakes, and still stay
in charge and authentic. By the end of this class, you'll feel ready not only
to present your content, but to handle whatever
the audience throws your way because
that's what makes the difference between
just giving a lecture and truly connecting as
a confident presenter. So let's begin. I can't wait to share with you
what really works.
2. Prepare: Prepare. The first and most important
thing you can do to help yourself get ready to deal with any situation is to prepare. Obviously, everyone prepares, but this is a class
about your audience. So that's something you
should prepare for as well. First, what I do and I
suggest you do as well, is to think about questions
that you could be asked. For every part of the content
that I plan to talk about, I ask myself questions. I go over the material and ask questions
that come to my mind. Say, I want to lecture on
the fairy tale Cinderella. I prepared the opening slide and there was once a girl called Cinderella who lived
with her stepmother and her two step sisters. Then I think of questions that the audience may ask
when they hear it. I read it again
and I ask myself, where was her birth mother? Why does she have a stepmother? Where was her father? These are things that aren't
written there. Or when I tell them about
the fairy godmother, so they can ask, did she come from the door
or did she just appear? You know? All these questions that may be obvious to you as
you know the content, but someone who
doesn't might ask. Then for every question, I look up the answers, so I have them if someone asks. All sorts of questions
could come up, people could ask, why did the stepmother agree to have
Cinderella at her house? Obviously, why didn't
she like Cinderella? People will want to know these things as you
tell them the story. So make sure you have
all the answers. Even if for you, it's
something that's obvious. And you will see that one question will lead
to other questions. You will begin with
very simple things, and then we look
for the answers, and you will have new
questions and new questions. And it's actually
quite a fun thinking and research activity for you. I kind of like it because
it's about learning and getting more
proficient in what I do. It's a good way to make sure you know everything
that you need to know. Not just by writing down
what you need to know, but by asking questions. For some of the
questions you ask, you can decide that
it's actually important enough to be part of your original lecture to
add to your presentation. Like for the question,
where was her birth mother, it makes sense that
you will add to your lecture that her
birth mother died. Also, if there is something that you think you will forget, you don't really
understand it well, or something that you think
you will forget in real time. Also add it to the presentation. It's an old freak of presenters. If you're not
proficient enough in something or think you will
forget it, just write it up. Some other questions may not seem important
to you at all. Some things might be
questions that will be asked, but they shouldn't be
in your presentation. So, for example, you may ask, how did the stepmother have
all the money that she had, but you don't think
that's something that's really important to add
to your original story. So you can either choose to just say some things out loud. You don't have to
write everything. And also make sure
not to go overboard. Some of the questions
you will write, it's perfectly fine to say this is something that's
not important at all. I went too far
with the question. That's not something
that will come up, or even if it will come up, it's not something that I should know as an expert on
what I talk about. It's too far off. There are also questions that you should
know the answer to, you want to know the answer to, but just in case
someone asks you. There are certain things
that you say that's not important enough to
be on my slides, that's not important enough to say out loud as
part of my lecture. But if someone asks, I have the answer and that's the most important goal
of asking questions. If someone asks, you
have the answer rate. Sometimes you may not find all the answers to
all your questions. In these cases, prepare and answer something that
if someone asks you, you will know what you say. Like if someone asked, how come the stepmother and
your daughter are so rich, you can say something like some sources say that the stepmother came
from a rich family, and some say that Cinderella's
dad left them money. But there's no definite answer. So it's okay if you don't know
the answer to everything, you can let them in on
the debate on the issue or say that you looked it up and you couldn't
find any information. And then even if you
don't have the answer, they know that it's not
because you don't know. It's because you're
really professional and you know even about the
information that isn't there. You show them that you know the material and the
professional debate, and if something is not there, you just not there, or
you couldn't find it. That's also fine, but
they know that you tried. So it makes you
look professional and that you have a
handle of the material. And of course, an added benefit of preparing by asking
yourself questions and thinking what the
audience might ask is that you really do get the
better handle of the material. When you make a lecture
based on what you know, that's what's there,
what you know. Even if you expand on it, by asking yourself questions
that you could be asked, you expand more broadly
on what you know. The more you expand,
more questions come up and you
expand even more. By the time you come to present, you have a way better
grasp of your content. Even if you want
everything you know, you will be more confident, you will have better knowledge. Also, there's a good
chance that they will ask questions that
you didn't think about. So then if you have
a lot of knowledge, it will be easier for you
to find proper answers. As for AI platforms, this is how I suggest
you use them. It's a good idea to use
them to ask questions. Let them know what
your material is, give them the content
of your presentation, and ask them to ask questions
that people may have. It's a good way to start
your thinking process. I do suggest, however, that once you start, come up with your own
questions because the idea of this exercise is not just to have more
and more questions. It can also wear you out.
You don't want too many. It's more of an exercise
for your mind to think of questions that may arise and make you more focused
on what you do. So if you let AI do it for
you, you will think less, and the questions
about what you do will come from someone
else and not from you. The thinking process
will not be as deep. So it's a great idea to use
it to have a good start, but come up with
their own questions. And also, be critical of
what the AI tells you. You want to make sure
that it fits with your content and what you do and doesn't take away
too much focus, that it fits with what
you do and what you need and doesn't create more
unnecessary work for you. So do that as a first step while you prepare your content or after you prepare
your content. And the added bonus is
that the more you know, the more confident you will be. And that's something that we will talk about
in the next video.
3. Trust Yourself: Trust yourself. This is the kind of advice that
seems so simple to give. But when you hear
it, you're like, Wow, thanks so easy to say. Trusting yourself doesn't
mean be overconfident. It doesn't mean know everything
and make no mistakes. What does it mean then? Trusting yourself means
that before you go up, you will know that one, you're professional
in what you do. Two, you prepared well
for this lecture. Three, you know enough about
what you need to teach. Four, you study this
class and now you're prepared for the most common
situations that can happen. Out of all of these, the most important
one is number one. The most important
thing to trust yourself is to know that you're
professional in what you do. Trust that you are. Trust
that you know what to say, how to say, and you're so professional that you're
prepared really well. So even if you make
a mistake or forget something or don't know how to handle a
certain situation, that's not the end of the
world because you know what you're doing and have all the knowledge
that you need. It's not only about
preparing endlessly, it's also about reassuring yourself that you're
there for a reason, and the reason is that
you're professional. So if you do both, prepare and trust yourself after
you're done preparing, that's what will give
you more confidence. If you're not afraid
of making a mistake, it's less likely
that you'll make them because you trust
what you're doing. And if you do make mistakes, you will have enough
confidence to get over it. In the next videos, I will teach you how to handle different situations
that may occur. So we will be better prepared
and a better professional. But first, after talking about preparing and trusting yourself, I'll talk about being nervous because that's also
common and legitimate.
4. It's OK to be Nervous: It's okay to be nervous. Let me be honest here. Even with all my experience and my love for teaching
and presenting, I'm still nervous and excited before giving
a new lecture. And that's a good
thing, actually. I don't want this
feeling to go away. It's what keeps me
focused and professional. I don't want to
stop caring about what I do and how to
do it the best I can. It shows that I care, that I prepare, and I give
my best at everything. There's a difference between nervous or excited and anxiety. If it gives you anxiety
and you feel like you can go up on stage,
that's a different thing. But if you're just feeling
nervous and excited, that's totally fine, normal,
and even a good thing. Often people think
that if you're nervous before you go up
in front of an audience, it means that
you're unconfident. It really doesn't mean that. Also, being nervous and excited doesn't mean
you have stage fright. If you experience real
anxiety that you really suffer from and makes you paralyzed and unable to perform, please take care of
it professionally because no one should suffer. But if you don't you feel a
little bit scared, unsure, not sure if you
prepared everything, want to recheck,
can be unpleasant. That's, as I said, totally fine. Your brain needs time to process everything
you put into it. Your mind needs to prepare
to go up on stage. You want to be focused. That's your brain's
reaction before doing something that you prepare for that you want to be good at, that people will
be looking at you, and that's up to you. It shows that you care
about what you do. Embrace this feeling. Make sure you prepare
enough ahead. So when the time comes and the excitement
and nerves kick in, you don't have to learn new
material or think too much. Just don't forget to
breathe, take deep breath, to get oxygen into
your brain and remind yourself that you're prepared, that
you're professional. Let your brain and
your mind process that you're professional and
that you totally got this.
5. What You'll Learn Next: So now you're all ready to go. Let's get down to business
and talk about how to handle situations that can
happen while you present. In the next videos, I'll
discuss different situations and give you my tried and true
methods of handling them. For each situation, I'll discuss different scenarios and give you examples and different ways
you could choose from. I'll talk about
how to prepare in advance and how to
improvise on the spot. Ready, set, let's go.
6. People Have Questions or Comments: People have questions
or comments. This is very basic and definitely something
you should prepare for. People will ask questions during the lecture and
we have comments. They can do it by raising their hands or they can
just start talking. It depends on each person. It's a good thing
when it happens. It means that they're
engaged and interested. It's important to prepare
with the material, but it's also
important to know what to do with unexpected
questions or comments because it's
an integral part of any lecture or presentation
in front of people. What will happen if you don't prepare in advance
for this scenario? First, when someone
will ask a question, your instinct will be to answer. This can throw you off the entire structure
you planned ahead. You may answer too
long or get confused in the middle or it may
change the subject. My advice to you if questions and debate are not an
integral part of what you do. If you're not so experienced, say that you will
answer questions at the end and
leave time for it. This way, you can do
what you planned as you planned with time for
questions and comments. There are also other
options to handle it other than just leave
everything to the end. You can also decide
that you will answer only simple questions when
the answer is just yes or no. For more complicated things, say that you'll
answer at the end. You can decide to
only answer questions that are directly about what
you're saying at the moment. If it's something more sidewise to where you're at exactly, say you'll answer it at the end. You can decide to answer everything quickly
and not elaborate. Ask if the answer was enough, and if it wasn't them to remind you to get back
to it at the end. And of course, when
you plan your time, don't forget to leave time
for questions and comments. Don't forget that you also
have time constraints. If someone is still not
satisfied with your answer, what I do is when I
answer a question, I normally ask if it
answered the question. So sometimes people will ask
more and more questions, but you will not
have enough time to answer or it will
become too off topic. So then you can do a few things. You can recommend where they
can get more information, like an article 0R
YouTube video, whatever. You can tell them they can come talk to you
after the lecture, which is a very
common thing to do. And also, depending on the context and how
comfortable you feel, you can offer to
contact you afterwards. Also, if you want to make
contacts, that's a great way. And at the end of the day, it's also fair and legitimate to say that this is the best
answer you have right now, or this is what you can give
under the circumstances. If someone asks
something that's just too off topic and you don't find the time and
place to answer it, first, make sure
you realize when something is too off
topic and stay on topic. It's perfectly fine to say so. Something like it's a very
interesting question, but it's not what
I focus on here, or I'm sorry, but we're getting too off topic
or anything like that. You can also recommend where they can get information
on the topic. You can also, as before, offer to contact you or to
come talk to you later. That is if you have an answer for them and if you're
interested in answering it. But really, the best practice in these cases is to just
say that this isn't what you're here to talk
about and remember that you can't satisfy
everyone's needs and you should stay focused. At the end of the
day, you need to focus on the rest of your audience and not
just one person. If you run out of time and people are still
raising their hands, first of all, good for you. Well done. It means that
you did a great job. If it meets your interest
and the context, you can give your
contact details so they can write to you. It's a great opportunity to promote your social
media and invite them to follow you or join your group or mailing
list and ask there. If it's not too many people, you can tell them to come talk
to you after the lecture. And finally, you don't
have to offer any of this. It's totally fine to also say that you're sorry, but
you ran out of time. So these are the basics. Now, let's dive into the
more complicated scenarios.
7. Someone Keeps Interrupting: Someone keeps
interrupting you with comments. That's a tough one. It's better to be prepared for it because once it happens, it's hard to decide on the
spot how to deal with it. So this is how it goes. You're all prepared. You have all your material ready.
You know your content. Your heart is beating. You
see everyone looking at you. You open your presentation
and start talking. It's going great.
You're nailing it. And then someone interrupts. You're ready for it because
you watch the previous video. But then it happens
again and again. This person just doesn't
stop asking or commenting. This scenario is really confusing when it happens
while you present. It takes you off
everything you've planned, even the plan for the
scenario of asking question. You do what you're supposed to do, and it just doesn't work. And then you have a dilemma. If you stop being
nice and responsive, it may make you look bad
in front of the audience. If you keep saying the same
thing in the same manner, you won't be able to continue. Also, it's hard to
notice it sometimes. You keep answering,
conversating with this person, and the rest of the audience gets bored without you noticing. In your mind, you're being
attentive to the questions, but you end up talking
with just one person, and the rest just want you to
continue with the lecture. Pay attention to when you talk too much with just one
person in the audience. You want to be nice,
but in the end, most of the people
will get tired of it. It's perfectly okay and
even better to stop it. Here are some nice ways to stop someone from
asking or commenting. You can tell this person that
you love their questions, comments, and give a reason why you can't attend
to them right now. Some options for reasons, there are more people in the audience and you
need to continue. There isn't enough time anyone
to give all the content. There are other people here who raise their hands
and want to talk. What they say is off topic. The idea is compliment them on their participation and then give a reasonable reason
why you can't answer. Of course, you can refer
them to other places where they can find answers or how they can contact
you afterwards. When push comes to shove, if they really don't stop, even after you try everything, it doesn't happen often, but it does happen. It can also be okay and reasonable to just
put an end to it. Keep in mind, when one person
in the audience takes over, most people won't
be happy with it. You may feel less nice, but sometimes you have to choose between one and the
rest of the group. You'd rather have
one person not happy than all the rest of
them saying that they didn't get all the
information they came for or that they
didn't have time for their own questions or that your presentation was
messing and out of order. Mostly when someone just
keeps going and going, no matter what, the rest of the people won't be happy
with them. Not you. You can put your
foot down and say, with confidence, not right
now, I have to go on. I can't take questions right now or anything
else of that sort. Remember that you want
to attend to everyone, and the ones who talk
aren't everyone. Give them the attention
that's necessary, but not more than that.
8. Someone's Trying to Prove They Know Better Than You: Thought that the person that didn't stop talking
was a challenge, wait until you meet the
one that keeps trying to show you that they know
everything better than you. It doesn't always happen. Don't worry, but it
does happen sometimes, so you should be ready. Sometimes people that
come especially to listen to you will raise
their hands and tell you where you
were wrong that something that you said
wasn't really accurate, that there's research
that shows otherwise. Some people will even say that's not what you
should talk about. Let's take the example
from our first video and you tell the story of Cinderella
and then they will say, the step sisters were
actually nice to her. Or why aren't you talking
about snow white or whatever? Deliberately taking examples
where you're definitely sure that you're right and
you know what you're doing. You will be wrong. It
does happen as well. We'll talk about it
in another video. But this example
is where someone's trying to show you how
wrong you are all the time. Actually, how smart they are. It's definitely a scenario
you should be ready for. When someone wants to show you that they know better
than you or know something that you don't sure won't make you
happy. You're in charge. It's your presentation,
not theirs. Even if you know what you're doing and you have
all the confidence in the world when they say something and you're
in front of everyone, it could make you wonder. What if the step sisters
were actually nice to her, and I didn't know that. It's already stressful enough to stand in front of everyone, and now you have to prove your knowledge and
expertise again and again. Most people will think that
this is what you have to do. Prove that you know better. Don't do that. Remind
yourself this. This is your lecture.
You're in charge. You don't have to prove
anything to anyone. If they think you don't know something or they know
something that you don't be it. It doesn't make you
any less professional. The people in the audience
came to listen to you. To them, you're
the one who knows. Another thing that
isn't intuitive, but I really suggest you do is to compliment them
on their knowledge. They didn't do it to show
you that you don't know. They want to show
that they know. Remember that you're the one with the authority in the room. They probably want to show
you that they know a lot. They want to make
themselves look smart. They don't want to hear that
you know better than them. They want to hear that you're
impressed with what they just said. So be generous. Generosity is a
sign of confidence. This person who wants
to show how much they know will be happy because
they were acknowledged. The rest of the audience
will be happy because it will create an open
and accepting atmosphere. It will make you into a confident leader who makes
them feel better and doesn't have to prove
anything instead of a defensive presenter who
doesn't let them shine. So even if they say that step sisters were
nice to Cinderella, say something like you
really know a lot about the story or even
something like, Oh, I see that you really
think outside of the box or you're so
curious and interested, you don't have to say that
what they say is right, if it's wrong, but
compliment them on their curiosity or their
participation on something, smile to them, make
them feel acknowledged. Then they will not
have to prove so much that they know
you will not create a conflict between the two of you and it will make
them more relaxed, that they're acknowledged
by everyone, and they're likely to talk less. Be a confident leader, be impressed with
their knowledge, show openness to
learn from them. If for a minute, you're really
unsure and you're like, Oh, maybe the sisters
were nice to her. You don't have to say that they're right
and you're wrong, but you can say, Okay,
that's not what I know. Or that in the research that
I read, it didn't say that. But okay, don't tell
them they're wrong. So there are definitely a lot of ways to make them
feel acknowledged and knowledgeable
without admitting that you're wrong
and without creating a conflict that will
likely make them want to prove more that they're
right and you're wrong. In the end, as I said,
in the previous videos, when push comes to shove, if they really don't stop, if you're being nice to them, but they're not being nice back, you can always go
to the methods of the previous video when someone doesn't stop talking
and even say, Okay, we don't have time for
more comments, thank you. Come talk to me later
or all the other ways, and just stop it if you have to. Remember, the audience
doesn't want to hear another member of the
audience talk more than you. They came there to hear you. So just by telling them
to not respond anymore because they've talked
too much and you want to hear other people or
you don't have time, it will make the rest of the
audience happy with you. So to sum it all up, try to make them
feel acknowledged, even if it's not the
intuitive thing to do, don't create conflict
between the two of you, and if it doesn't work, you can definitely
put an end to it. Nice and determined. I
9. You were wrong in something you said: You were wrong in
something you said. Happens to the best of us, and it's never a nice feeling. You say something, and then you realize
that you are wrong. There are different scenarios as to how this could happen. For example, you say something, then someone in the audience raises their hand
and correct you. That's not a nice
feeling for sure. Or you can realize that
yourself right after you said it or just
a few minutes later. Also, the person
that is in charge or invited you corrects you. So it's someone with
more authority. And sometimes you can go on with your
presentation and then realize that something in your slides doesn't match
what you said earlier. So you remember it incorrectly, and the slides show you
that you were wrong before. If you realize by yourself that you made a mistake,
that's the easiest. All you need to do is just
say that you're sorry, but when you said X
before it's actually y. Audience will most
likely be forgiving. Everyone gets confused sometimes they know it. It's no big deal. If you realize that there's a confusion between your
words and your presentation, it may take you some seconds to realize because you will get confused by the information in your presentation and then you will realize that you are wrong. It's okay if you're confused and just get silent
for a few seconds, but do your best not
to look nervous. Smile and explain the confusion, said that you were wrong before, and get on with what
you have to say. Again, it's a confusion. You will not feel nice about it, but in the big picture of
your lecture or presentation, it's not a huge deal. If someone in the audience
corrects you, well, that will definitely make you a little bit insecure
and it's really not a nice feeling
that they correct you and you're supposed to be
the one with the knowledge. So first of all, the more
confident I always say this, the more confidence you show, the more the audience will be confident that if you
don't know something, that's okay, that's okay
that you don't know. And then you need to
choose a way to react. So it really depends on
what and how it happens. If they correct you
and you immediately understand that they were
right and you're wrong, just say it and
correct yourself. Make it sound like
it's not a big deal. It can be challenging sometimes to admit right
away that you're wrong, and someone in the
audience was right. Don't do it. Don't let
ego get in the picture. Don't try to prove that
you're right and they were wrong if you know that you
are the one in the wrong. It will only make you
look insecure and it will only make you look like you argue with your audience,
and you don't want that. That will not make
you look good. It's actually better to admit your mistake than trying to
prove that you weren't wrong. On the other side, don't rush into accepting
their answer. Admit that you are wrong if you're sure that
you are wrong, and at the same time, remember,
you're the professional. They might be the
one in the wrong. Just because you
say, I don't know, a number or a fact and they say that it's not correct doesn't mean
that they are right. So it's okay and even important to admit it
when you're wrong, but it doesn't mean you should
willingly jump in to say. There are other things you can say before you admit
to being wrong. First, if you give a fact or a number or
something like that, and they say that
it's incorrect, you are not sure if you
are correct or them, you can say, that's what I know. You don't have to say
that they are wrong. You can say that what you
said is what you know, is the information
that you have. If you're really not sure, you can say, that's what I know, it could be that you are right. Remember when we
said that people like it when you complement
their knowledge. So it's perfectly fine to say, I know this, you could be right. You can also encourage
them to check it. It will make you look in charge. They give out a number that's different from the
number you just said, say, Okay, that what I
know, please check for us. Let us know so we
can all be sure. That will make you look like you're engaging the audience. It makes you look like
you encourage them, that you're open to learn. That's a really nice idea. So if it's something that's
actually important to know and you're not sure
if you are right or they're right, tell
them to check it. It will make you look
confident and engaging. If it's the person in charge that tells you
that you are wrong, it can be harder to keep yourself confident
because they could be the people that invited
you or their manager, or it could be your manager, so it will be harder to
keep your confidence. You will not want
sometimes to correct them. You will not know how to react. So the rule of thumb is, and I say it is someone
that is in charge and sometimes correct,
try to accept it. You don't want to make the
person that's in charge, that has some sort of
authority over you. You don't want to
make them unhappy. Often they will be in
a leadership role, people are likely to
accept what they say. It could be better
for you to accept it. If you know that they are wrong, if you really can't accept it or don't want to accept
it professionally, try really to go into
that's not what I know or thank you for this information or thank you for your contribution or
something like that. People that are in
charge that invited you will most likely
not intervene. If they intervene, it means that it's something
that's important to them. If it's important to
them, try to respect it. As long, of course, as you don't say that something that is
wrong is right, of course. So even if they're totally wrong and you
know that you are wrong, do it with a smile. Try to find what is right about what they said, something like, it used to be this number, but now a new research found out that is a different number,
something like that. Try to find something correct, try to do it with a smile. Don't make the look wrong
in front of everyone. So remember, there's no shame
in admitting you're wrong, but you don't but
before you do it, make sure you're actually wrong. And if you correct someone else, still, make them look
good while you do it. Keep your confidence and remember that you are
the professional. Don't let your ill come in, and at the same time,
keep your confidence.
10. Situations 10 project: Class Project. Now
it's your time. Here's the class project. For each of the videos, pick one scenario that
concerns you the most. The scenario that you
think that you're least likely to know how
to handle in real time, then make a plan
for that scenario, a plan that follows what you
learned here and matches your preferences and
personality, and of course, what you're going to talk about if you already have
something in mind, not something that
just sounds good, but something that
you can really do in real time and feel
comfortable with. That is not your ideal plan, but your real plan. If you'd like, you're
more than welcome to upload your project here
and receive my feedback. If you have any questions
or comments whatsoever, please write them in
the discussion as well. I'm always happy to hear from
you and to talk with you. If you like this course, please
don't forget to write it. It's a nice way to let me
know that you're here, that you enjoyed it, and
to give me a little help. I have a few other
courses for presenters, which together create an entire
journey for lecturers and presenters from the idea stage through building your
presentation to delivery. Take a look at my other classes. If you like this course, you're probably going to find something there you'd like as well that can fit any
stage of your preparation. And last but not
least, thank you. I may not see, but
every minute watched, every feedback, make me joyful that you're
here learning with me. I invest a lot of thought and
effort into these videos, and the greatest satisfaction is to know that
you're learning them. Good luck in your
lecture presentation. I'm sure you'll nail it.
Adi Shimron
