Presenting in front of a big audience is something that few people relish, but it can’t go any worse than walking offstage halfway through. This week, Transformers director Michael Bay hit the news for doing just that.

Bay – a brand ambassador for Samsung – was appearing at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where he was due to speak about the corporation’s new high-definition TV. During the presentation there was a fault with the autocue, and from that point on, Bay seemed to get more and more flustered, saying: “The type is all off… sorry, but I’ll try and wing this.”

Media trainers routinely advise never trying to “wing it” during a presentation, and sure enough Bay lasted just a short time before saying, “excuse me, I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” and promptly walking offstage.

While nothing can replicate the expertise that comes from public-speaking experience, training and preparation will put you in the best possible position to cope if you’re not totally comfortable with the presentation script, or with tricky surprises, such as an autocue playing up. It seems that neither Bay nor Samsung had done enough groundwork to ensure the event was as carefully organised as possible.

After the event, Bay posted a self-depreciating message on his blog saying: “Wow! I just embarrassed myself at CES… I got so excited to talk, that I skipped over the Exec VP’s intro line and then the teleprompter got lost. Then the prompter went up and down – then I walked off. I guess live shows aren’t my thing.”

There’s no escaping the truth that a little preparation for the showcase would have gone a long way to helping him get his sales pitch right.