In a horse race, the winner wins by a nose. So the difference between success and failure for the second-place horse was a nose.

If the second-place horse had persisted and exerted extra effort, they probably would have won by a nose. But, as it was, the second-place horse lost by a nose.

How often do you fail in your presentations “by a nose” and give up? Then you will keep making the same mistakes in future presentations.

Success is just the other side of failure.

Below are three points to follow when you fail.

Don’t Take Failure as Final

Humans are complex beings. Your creator endowed you with free will. Because of that free will, you can choose your reactions to a situation. Are your reactions positive or negative when your presentation fails? The former will reward you with success. The latter will produce failure every time,

I’m not a psychologist, but I have been around for a while to notice that when your reaction is negative, your ability to think about why your failure happened is severely hampered.

Your negative emotions rob you of the motivation and ability to think through your failure and create a get-well plan for your presentations.

Remember the expression, “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.” The analogy with your presentations is don’t give your failures the potency they don’t deserve.

You might ask your presentation’s attendees what they thought about your presentation. Their answers will give you indications of why you were unsuccessful.

The intensity of your ability to resist the temptation of giving up is directly proportional to your success.

No one who gives up is successful. This is as true as the sun rising over the horizon every morning.

In addition to never taking failure as final, your ability to dissect your failure in detail is vital to not repeating past mistakes and delivering successful presentations.

Dissect In Detail Why You Failed

Remember the analogy of the horse that lost by a nose? You may have been very close to success in your presentation. However, it might have been very successful if you had changed one or two parts of your presentation.

If you are unwilling to dissect every part of your presentation to discover flaws, you don’t deserve to deliver successful presentations.

Many times after a presentation failure, the last thing you may want to do is examine what went wrong in your presentation. However, this is when you must choose a positive outlook that will motivate you to thoroughly explore your failed presentation.

On his way to inventing the incandescent light bulb, Thomas Edison failed while performing thousands of experiments with different materials.

In response to a question about his missteps, Edison once said, “I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”

Nevertheless, Edison knew he would find a material that would not burn up in a vacuum. Because of this persistence, Edison discovered the tungsten filament we still use today. Call it turning lemons into lemonade.

A tungsten filament inside a light bulb can reach temperatures as high as 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The glass “bulb” enclosure prevents oxygen in the air from reaching the hot filament.

Edison’s persistence and examination of his failures in detail today let us enjoy light in our evenings.

So, you know (1) failure is never final if you don’t accept this myth and (2) your ability to dissect your failure in detail is essential to not repeating past mistakes and delivering successful presentations.

Take this last tip from the best college and professional basketball players. Don’t let past negative circumstances affect future performance.

Reset Your Thinking Every Day

The basketball guard drives on the basket and misses. But he then grabs the rebound and stuffs the ball through his team’s basket.

Have you ever wondered how this could happen? The player just missed an easy layup. You would think they would be disappointed by the miss. Instead, after practicing second chance points at practices until their reaction is automatic, they get the rebound and score two points. They don’t allow previous failures to be linked to future circumstances.

Is the resetting of your thinking after a presentation failure automatic, or do you let past failures affect future presentation performance? If you do the former, you will succeed. If you do the latter, you will not succeed. It’s as simple as that.

Ponder your action of positively resetting your motivation, attitude, and expectations after you have a presentation failure.

The greater the intensity of this positive mental reset, the closer you will be to presentation success

As usual, positive actions in your presentations positively affect other parts of your life.

On your way to work, a person cuts you off. Do you let this ruin your day, or do you shrug it off and have a great day?

Your boss is not happy with the way you managed a project. Do you let this bother you, or do you ask your boss exactly why they did not like your project management? If you feel the former, you will make the same mistakes again. If you feel the latter, you are on your way to success.

At a cocktail party, you said something to another person in the presence of your wife that embarrassed her. Do you brood about it or quickly and humbly apologize to your wife? Two different ways of thinking with two different effects.

Remember, (1) failure is never final if you don’t accept this myth, (2) your ability to dissect your failure in detail is vital to not repeating your past mistakes and delivering successful presentations, and (3) your ability to reset your thinking every day is essential to your future presentation performance.

Success is just the other side of failure! Believe it!

Call to Action

• Don’t give past presentation failures the power they don’t deserve. Failure is never final unless you consciously believe it is. Don’t.

• Examine your past presentation failures as if you are a different person dissecting them.

• Realize the power of past presentation failures diminishes when you reset your thinking to positive thoughts daily.

Frank DiBartolomeo is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and award-winning speaker, presentation and interview skills coach, and Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. He was awarded Toastmasters International’s highest individual award, Distinguished Toastmaster because of his outstanding work in public speaking and leadership.

Frank formed DiBartolomeo Consulting International (DCI), LLC (www.speakleadandsucceed.com) in 2007. The mission of DCI is to help technical professionals to inspire, motivate, and influence their colleagues and other technical professionals by improving their presentation skills, communication, and personal presence. Reach Frank at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com and (703) 509-4424.

Don’t miss Frank DiBartolomeo’s latest book!

“Speak Well and Prosper: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Better Presentations”

Available now at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com

Frank DiBartolomeo is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and award-winning speaker, presentation and interview skills coach, and Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. He was awarded Toastmasters International’s highest individual award, Distinguished Toastmaster because of his outstanding work in public speaking and leadership.

Frank formed DiBartolomeo Consulting International (DCI), LLC (www.speakleadandsucceed.com) in 2007. The mission of DCI is to help technical professionals to inspire, motivate, and influence their colleagues and other technical professionals by improving their presentation skills, communication, and personal presence. Reach Frank at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com and (703) 509-4424.

Don’t miss Frank DiBartolomeo’s latest book!

“Speak Well and Prosper: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Better Presentations”

Available now at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com