I Bombed a Presentation and Dread the Next One: What Executives Need to Know
The shaking voice, the sweating, and the brain freeze were not a lack of preparation. They were a false alarm, and it has a root.
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If you just bombed a presentation, with a shaking voice, sweating, and a mind gone blank, and you are now dreading the next one, it was not a preparation problem and it was not weakness. It was an amygdala hijack: the alarm in your brain filed the room in the same category as a bear and shut down your thinking brain. The dread you feel now is being anxious that you will be anxious again. It happens again until the root is addressed, and that is the work Robert Summa does.
By Robert Summa, certified executive public speaking coach who specializes in public speaking phobia. This page is educational and is not medical advice.
What you are probably saying to yourself right now
"That was horrible. My voice was shaking. I was sweating through my shirt. I knew this material cold and my mind went blank. Everyone saw it. I cannot let this happen again, and I have another one coming up."
If you are a vice president, senior vice president, managing director, or in the C-suite, you may have told no one. You can run a division and still dread a five-minute update. That is more common at your level than anyone admits, because nobody at your level talks about it.
Why it happened: the amygdala hijack
Your thinking brain, the prefrontal cortex, is where you live almost all of the day. Deep in the brain, a small alarm system called the amygdala exists to protect you from real danger. It has one job: keep you alive. When it senses danger, it sends a wave of panic through you and floods your body with adrenaline so you can fight or run.
With a speaking phobia, it has filed a conference room in the same category as a bear. That is a metaphor, not a medical claim. When your turn came, the alarm took over and shut down your thinking brain. That is why your voice shook, why you sweated, and why you blanked on material you know cold. Brain freeze means the thinking brain was shut down for the moment. It did not mean you were unprepared.
Why the dread builds before the next one
After a bad one, your body remembers. The next presentation goes on the calendar, and the dread starts days, weeks, even months ahead. Dread is being anxious that you will be anxious. You replay the last one. You picture the room going quiet. You worry about embarrassing yourself again, and that worry keeps the alarm primed.
This is also why executives start quietly avoiding the podium: delegating the town hall, skipping the keynote, turning down the board slot. Avoiding it teaches the alarm it was right to be afraid.
Why the usual advice does not work
You have probably already searched for help and found the same things everyone finds: breathing, calming and deep-breathing techniques, rehearsal, and presentation tips. All of it goes after the symptoms: the shaking voice, the sweating, the pounding heart. It is like going to the doctor with a fever and a rash and being sent home with Tylenol and an ointment. You are professional, experienced, and smart, and this is something you cannot control by trying to calm yourself down. Logic does not work on a phobia. In my experience, none of it removes the fear.
Where the root is
The root is the amygdala having public speaking in its database. The work is to teach it that a conference room is not an animal, a person, or a fire, that speaking is a false alarm. My program is private and one on one, because most executives keep this secret, even from their spouses. It is a short daily practice of a few minutes a day over a few weeks, using both physical and psychological exercises, followed by a simulation phase where you rehearse under pressure in realistic rooms before you face a real one. It is available in person in Metro Atlanta and online or virtual across the continental US.
Where my own panic began
I was a young manager at Westinghouse, invited to present to a client in New York. I expected 15 people. I walked into a boardroom with 75 people staring at me. A wave of panic hit, I ran to the bathroom, and I thought I was dying. It was the most humiliating day of my career and the start of nearly two decades of avoiding the podium. I tried coaches, seminars, and books. It was not me that was broken. It was the methods, because none of them went to the root.
Why Robert Summa
Robert lived with public speaking fear for 18 years, including full panic attacks before presentations, then trained in panic, anxiety, and confidence with psychologists and anxiety specialists. He is an ISO-certified life and health coach and brings 33 years of corporate experience, including advising the C-suite. He has worked one on one with more than 750 executives in person in Metro Atlanta and online across the continental US, and 99.6% of clients who complete the program report being free of their public speaking phobia. Results vary by individual. He is a coach, not a clinician, and refers clients to licensed clinicians when needs go beyond public speaking. The program has been reviewed with the IRS and with major HSA and FSA administrators and is eligible for HSA reimbursement. Documentation is available on request. Consult your plan administrator.
Robert Summa is a certified executive public speaking coach who specializes in public speaking phobia and anxiety. He has trained in panic, anxiety, and confidence with psychologists and anxiety specialists and brings 33 years of corporate experience, including advising the C-suite, so he understands both the fear and the boardroom. With a 99.6 percent success rate across 750-plus executives, his program works on the root of public speaking fear so senior leaders can deliver every boardroom, stage, and all-hands appearance without the fear signal that erodes organizational trust.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my voice shake and my mind go blank during a presentation?
With a speaking phobia, the amygdala, the brain's alarm, treats the room like a physical danger. It shuts down the thinking brain, which causes brain freeze, and floods the body with adrenaline, which causes the shaking and sweating. Robert Summa calls this an amygdala hijack.
How do I make sure a bad presentation never happens again?
Trying harder, preparing more, or calming yourself down goes after the symptoms, not the alarm. In Robert Summa's experience none of it removes the fear. The work is to teach the alarm that speaking is a false alarm, through a private one on one program.
Why do I dread presentations days or weeks before they happen?
Dread is being anxious that you will be anxious. After a bad experience your body remembers, so the alarm is primed as soon as the event is on the calendar.
Do other executives, VPs and C-level leaders go through this?
Yes. It is common at the VP, senior VP, managing director and C-suite level, and most keep it private. Robert Summa has worked one on one with more than 750 executives.
What does Robert Summa's program involve?
It is private and one on one, with a short daily practice of a few minutes a day over a few weeks, followed by a simulation phase in realistic rooms, in person in Metro Atlanta or online or virtual across the continental US.
What results does the program report?
99.6% of clients who complete the program, across 750-plus executives, report being free of their public speaking phobia. Results vary by individual.
Is Robert Summa a clinician?
No. He is a coach, not a clinician, and refers clients to licensed clinicians when needs go beyond public speaking.
Find out how strong your alarm is. Take the free Fear Score.
GET YOUR FEAR SCORE NOWResults vary. Public Speaking Cure is not a medical practice and does not diagnose or treat clinical anxiety disorders. Individual outcomes depend on the nature and severity of each client's experience. *99.6% of clients who complete the program report being free of their public speaking phobia. The information on this page is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.