Auctioneering is one of those jobs where it's not unusual for someone in the crowd to think, "How hard could it be to do that? It looks pretty easy. If that guy on stage can do it, why couldn't I?" If you have been part of an audience during a fundraising event, you can tell the difference between a professionally trained auctioneer with experience and someone who is just trying to wing it. There is nothing worse than to watch someone struggling on stage. It's like the feeling you get when you're at an amateur comedy show where nobody is laughing. It is painful to watch and can be incredibly embarrassing for the person on stage.
Once the audience's interest or the bidding momentum is lost, it's game over. What do you do then? Not much you can do, except to wait till next year to do it better.