I messed up a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t a biggy.

Most people probably didn’t even notice it.

But I did.

Here’s the story.

I was invited to give a presentation about my ebook “17 building blocks to a great life sciences investor presentation” at JLM-Biocity, an organization that helps accelerate the bio ecosystem in in Jerusalem.

Even though I have three ready-made presentations at my disposal, which I adjust to each speaking venue (from a short 30-minute one to a long 4-hour workshop), I decided to do something different.

The reason? It was the eighth day of Hannukah, and I thought that the spirit of the festival of light should be present. So I decided to rebrand the presentation and call it “Bring on the light with a kickass presentation” with the nine Hannukah candles setting the framework for my talk. Great idea!

I worked hard on the new format, rehearsing the sequence a couple of times, just to make sure that I was comfortable with the new flow.

The only problem: All the rehearsals were done in my head. I didn’t speak aloud during them or record myself on camera so I could see how I really looked and sounded.

This turned out to be a big mistake.

After the presentation I received a lot of compliments from the more than 50 people present.

I thought that I nailed it.

But then someone sent me a tape of my delivery, from which I learned that I used the word “OK” more than 40 times during the presentation.

The horror!

Now, because I believe there’s nothing wrong with using humor in marketing, I made a compilation of my OKs so I (and you) can learn that this is anything but OK. I think it’s really funny to watch.

You can see it here:

Steve Jobs once said that “We’re here to put a dent in the universe.”

To follow his guidance: Make sure that your solutions make a dent in the universe rather than you denting your chance to make the intended impact, simply because you are not prepared. And that means rehearsing your pitches in front of a camera so that all the glitches are ironed out well in advance.