Failure happens on stage and off.

In this roundtable, Brian Miller, Ioana (Jo) Jongsma, and Francisco Mahfuz share their most painful speaking fails from a joke that died in the opening line, to a mass walk-out mid-talk, to offending a client with a poorly framed stat, and the exact fixes they use today. You’ll get practical tools to prevent repeats, recover in the moment, and turn misses into material.

What you’ll learn:

• Why opening with humor often backfires (and how to signal it so it lands)
• Where to test new material (hint: never first or last)
• How to use stakes and statistics without triggering guilt or defensiveness
• Reading the room: audience, culture, and context cues to adjust on the fly
• The “great talk, no bookings” trap and how to set success metrics upfront
• Simple recovery lines and pivots when the room goes cold (or leaves)

🎙 The SpeakerPath® Podcast is from Clarity Up, a boutique message design firm that teaches smart people how to explain their big ideas to the rest of us.

Connect with our hosts:

Brian Miller, Founder & Principal Messaging Consultant:https://linkedin.com/in/brianmillerspeaks

Ioana (Jo) Jongsma, Presence & Performance Coach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ioana-jongsma/

Francisco Mahfuz, Story Specialist & Lead Consultant: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fmahfuz