When it doesn’t go as planned

“Last minute change. We have a panelist who needs an interpreter. Who can do it?” my boss asks, running into the room.

I don’t look down in time.

“Caroline! Excellent!

The panel discussion starts in 10 minutes. He’s going to talk about the impact on the sector of current market trends. Do what you can.”

My German is a bit rusty.

And yet, here I am, standing at a lectern in front of 250 international conference delegates, furiously scribbling notes as the panelist speaks…

Then offering up the English version. Bit by bit.

I get through the introductions and the first few sentences.

Then, as he gets into his stride, his sentences get longer. And more complex. And he seems to speak faster and faster.

I signal to him to slow down, but by now the terminology is beyond me.

I manage to pick out a few words and string them together, but eventually…

I grind to a halt. And so does he.

There’s an uncomfortable silence in the room. I hold my breath…

Then someone else jumps in, and the panel springs back to life.

*

As I crept out of the conference room that day, two delegates came up to me and said,

“That wasn’t easy. You did a good job.” And, “We learnt a thing or two.”

What?...

I was so fixated on what went wrong, that I wasn’t connecting to what was happening in the room.

When things don’t go as planned, it’s rarely the train wreck we think it is.

In showing up and doing our best – however imperfect that turns out to be - chances are, we’ve made a difference.

More than we think.

What about you? When did a communications “disaster” turn out to be not so bad after all?

Photo: Hansjörg Keller on Unsplash