I seem to spend a large proportion of my life in the media on some kind of stage. Over the years, I’ve hosted countless events, moderated panels galore, and appeared at or put together events ranging from pub quizzes to game shows to intimate live podcast recordings, from pubs in Soho to Cannes Lions and the glorious Madfest events.
But recently, I’ve been reflecting on something that’s often missing from many public speaking engagements in our industry: brutal honesty.
As an industry, digital media and marketing loves to champion authenticity, openness, and transparency. We pat ourselves on the back for being progressive, innovative, and forward-thinking. Yet, at many industry events, I find myself yearning for more unfiltered truth.
Honesty isn’t about sharing success stories or delivering polished presentations; it’s about admitting mistakes, sharing lessons learned the hard way, and being vulnerable in front of an audience.
And I’m not talking about those scripted, ‘and that’s why we pivoted’ talks about the wild success that came from a strategy chance but just simple mea culpas on getting things wrong.
But think hard and try to remember the last time you were taken aback by a speaker’s honesty at one of the scores of on-stage appearances you’ve witnessed throughout your career.
Take panel discussions, for instance. In a column I wrote recently, I questioned the growing trend of pre-agreed questions and extensive preparation calls.
The response to that column generated loads of great discussion on LinkedIn,and the responses made me think more deeply about honesty overall.
It’s not just the perils of over preparation. In a world where we’re all under pressure to present a perfect image – to be seen as experts, innovators, and leaders – it’s easy to shy away from admitting real mistakes. Yet, those admissions are often what make on-stage appearance truly memorable.
At our event in December, one of our speakers discussed the failure of one of his company’s app launches. A launch seen as significant for overall strategy.
His openness about the mistake was so refreshing, so unusual, several people mentioned to me the impact it had on them.
Back in the days when we all loved Facebook, its mantra, “move fast and break things” was refreshing in its willingness to admit that breaking things – making mistakes – is part of innovation.
Have we lost that belief as an industry? Have we become so risk-averse, so obsessed with perfection, that we’ve forgotten the value of honest failure?
Honesty in public speaking isn’t about oversharing or airing dirty laundry. It’s about being real. It’s about saying, “We tried this, and it didn’t work.”. And it’s about trusting your audience enough to let them see the cracks.
When you own your mistakes, you connect with your audience on a deeper level. They trust you more because they see you as human. They listen more closely because they know you’re not just feeding them a rehearsed narrative.
So, here’s my challenge to anyone stepping onto a stage in our industry: be honest. Don’t just tell us what went right; tell us what went wrong. Don’t just share the polished highlights; share the messy bits too. It might make you nervous, but I promise you, it’ll make your message stronger.
