What Happens When You Bomb a Keynote? The Unexpected Lessons of Getting Knocked Down on Stage

By Bruce Turkel, CPAE

People often come up to me after a keynote and say, “I want to do what you do.”

Sometimes they’ve done a little public speaking themselves, and they’ll tell me how good they are.

That’s usually when I ask, “Tell me about the last time you bombed.”

They almost always smile and shake their heads and say with a chuckle: “Oh no, you don’t understand, Bruce. I’m really good. I’ve never bombed.”

And that’s usually when I tell them I don’t think I can help them. Because, in my opinion, if they haven’t bombed yet, it simply means they haven’t been on enough stages.

But first, a story:

A few weeks ago, I gave a keynote at a large industry event. I worked closely with the agent and the bureau, read the prep notes carefully, crafted the talk, flew out, and delivered what I thought was a thoughtful, high-energy presentation.

The audience laughed, nodded, and stuck around afterward to talk. One attendee said, “I can’t wait to see you speak again. You’ve got a new fan.” I took that as a small but meaningful win.

Then the letter arrived from the client.

It was critical. Blunt. One of those you-read-it-twice-to-make-sure-you’re-not-imagining-it kind of letters. They said my talk didn’t meet expectations, that it wasn’t focused on the subject they wanted, that my examples were outdated, and my personal favorite, that they were concerned about a social media post I had made (one that made no mention of their company or event, by the way).

When I could breathe again, I re-read the letter. Then I re-read it again. Then I called the agent to learn more and to apologize.

But I waited a few days to formally respond, because as my former business partner Roberto used to say, “You should write that kind of letter with your heart, not your liver.”

So, after the shock wore off, I wrote a thoughtful reply. I addressed each critique point by point. I explained why I opened the talk the way I did, why I used examples from outside their industry, why I referenced “All About Them,” and how I covered their subject.

I even backed up my viewpoint with empirical evidence, a third-party audience survey that showed 96% found the talk valuable, 95% wanted to hear me speak again, and more than 90% called it engaging, relevant, and inspiring. Plus, three glowing testimonial videos I had recorded minutes after I got off the stage.

Of course, none of that changed the outcome. They’d made up their minds.

But here’s the thing, they didn’t just cancel the next series of events I was booked for. They also asked for the fee to be refunded. Not reduced. Refunded.

Feedback, Failure, and the Fear of Not Being Good Enough

That’s when the self-doubt kicked in.

I’ve been speaking professionally for a long time. I’ve stood on stages around the world, in front of thousands of people. I’ve opened conferences, closed conferences, and sat on panels in places with names I still can’t pronounce correctly. I know how to connect with an audience. I know how to deliver value. And yet, after just one harsh email, I found myself wondering, “Was I not good enough? Did I miss something obvious?”

That’s when I remembered something my father used to say: “Almost everyone suffers from imposter syndrome. In fact, the only people who don’t have it are the imposters. Because they don’t know what they don’t know.”

As my friend Caroline de Posada reminded me, self-doubt isn’t the problem. It’s a reminder that you care. That you’re pushing yourself. That you’re taking risks and trying to deliver real value. Unfortunately, when you do that, sometimes outcomes happen you didn’t expect.

As a branding guy, I know the importance of a consistent message. But as a speaker and a human being, I’ve learned that often times resonance matters more than consistency. Sometimes you’re the right voice for the room, and sometimes you’re not. It doesn’t mean you didn’t prepare. It doesn’t mean you weren’t good. It just means there was a disconnect.

So, if you’re trying to do something great, let me say this:

Don’t judge your ability by the times you crushed it. Instead, look at what you did after the times you didn’t.

No matter what you’re doing, if you’ve never bombed, you just haven’t done it enough or you haven’t tried hard enough. Because, as my friend and great speaker Dan Thurmon, CSP, CPAE, says, “If you want to juggle, you’d better be willing to drop a lot of balls.”