How Executives Can Recover From a Bad First Impression — Humor, Preparedness, and Crisis Management in Presentations

We all know first impressions are critical, yet even seasoned executives sometimes sabotage themselves in the opening moments of a talk.
The most common self-inflicted wound?
Opening with a joke that bombs.

You think you're funny.
You’re not.
And the audience quickly learns that too.

How many business talks have you attended where the opening joke truly made you laugh—not cringe?
Exactly.

Most speakers don’t study humor, don’t rehearse humor, and yet somehow decide to test amateur comedy on a business audience.

Mini-Summary:
Humor is high risk. If you’re not a professional, don’t start your talk with untested material.

You have two choices:

1. Ignore the silence and move on

2. Make a light self-deprecating recovery

Examples:

• “Too bad—that joke played much better in rehearsal with my team.”

• “Clearly my comedy career needs rethinking.”

• “Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

These work because you:

• Show humility

• Demonstrate agility

• Ease audience discomfort

But never return to the failed joke again.
Deliver real value and they’ll forget the misfire.

Mini-Summary:
Let the failed joke die quickly—acknowledge it once, then move on.

The author recounts a painful moment as MC for Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating.
Due to miscommunication among event staff, he enthusiastically introduced the PM…
twice
with no Prime Minister entering the room.

First time: covered it with humor.
Second time: total embarrassment.
Third time: succeeded.

Key lesson:
Unexpected disasters happen—humor and composure are your only weapons.

Mini-Summary:
If you can’t avoid the embarrassment, outlast it with presence of mind.

Tech issues are the second major killer of first impressions:

• Slides won’t load

• Laptop freezes

• Clicker dies

Nothing irritates an audience faster than watching a speaker fumble with equipment while their time is wasted.

Two strategies:

1. If someone else can fix the tech, start speaking immediately

This requires being fully prepared to:

• Deliver without slides

• Use your voice, stories, and presence

• Continue seamlessly once slides return

Never restart.
You already began—keep moving forward.

2. If the tech is dead, abandon slides and pivot to storytelling

Your preparation must include:

• A slide-free version of your talk

• Word pictures

• Narrative structure

The author recalls being tested by a senior Carnegie instructor who pretended the slides failed seconds before class.
Because he was prepared, he answered confidently:
“No problem.”
And delivered.

Mini-Summary:
If you can't present without slides, you’re not fully prepared.

Most presentation disasters fall into a few predictable categories:

• Joke failure

• Tech failure

• Timing failure

• Miscommunication

• Nervousness

Yet most professionals have no Plan B.

The truth:
Surprise—not failure—is the real enemy.

If you prepare for the predictable disasters:

• They won’t derail you

• You’ll appear confident

• You’ll outperform 99% of speakers

Mini-Summary:
Disaster readiness is the secret weapon of polished presenters.

• First impressions matter—but recovery matters even more

• Avoid humor unless you are certain it works

• Self-deprecation is the safest rescue technique

• Always be ready to present without slides

• Plan B prevents panic and projects confidence

Request a Free Consultation for presentation training, leadership development, or executive coaching.
Dale Carnegie Tokyo equips executives to handle disasters with calm, clarity, and professional authority.

Founded in 1912 in the U.S., Dale Carnegie Training has been enhancing leadership, sales, presentations, executive communication, and DEI for over a century. Since 1963, the Tokyo office has supported both Japanese and multinational companies with world-class development programs.