I have been keeping a diary of sorts of what I do before giving a talk on a cruise ship in a seminar format or when I am speaking to a crowd in a very large building that is going nowhere.
They are not unlike one another.
For the interested, I encourage you to read the other diary entries
Diary -2 days – Know the Context of Your Talk
Diary -4 days – Focus Your Theme
Diary -5 days – Loading Up Your Deck
Diary -6 days – Choose Your Visual Platform
Diary -9 days – Reaching Out to Attendees
Diary -10 days – Gathering My Thoughts
Today’s entry is the “Day Before” a talk.
I have had more time to prepare for this talk than I sometimes get. And, of course, often I am giving the same presentation but do a different group. This takes minor tweaking.
Tomorrow’s group is more unique and required more tweaking. It is also a group that has a wider reach than some of my other audiences. That is, the attendees are representative of not a few other groups. Not that I treat other presentation opportunities lightly, I am giving this one due diligence.
The day before I spend a lot of time in the park. I have been doing this off and on over the past couple of weeks, but today I make a concerted effort to take a walk in the park … and rehearse.
I rehearse my memory of the slides I will choose. I rehearse my transitions from slide to slide. I rehearsed the main point I want to make with each slide. And I rehearse my timing. I like for slides to appear mid sentence to appear fully at the moment I say the word that makes my point.
The day before is when I make sure I have all that right.
Athletes call it visualization. And for me … it’s just a walk in the park.
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