In an ideal world, we’d rehearse for every presentation we do.
It’s better for us. The presentation’s more likely to work.
And it’s better for our audience. It’s more respectful of their time. And they’re more likely to get more from it.
But, of course, work often gets in the way of rehearsal time.
And then there are some presentations which are so important to us, that we need to do a LOT of rehearsal – sales presentations, town halls, conference keynotes, strategy roll-outs, interview presentations, etc.
So, how do we find time to rehearse?
Well, as always, the secret to great time management is great diary management.
In other words, when you schedule time in your diary (Outlook calendar) to do something, you always have time to do it. But when it isn’t in your diary, you don’t…
… Which means doing it outside work time; or – probably more likely – not at all.
For example, when I’m asked to do a presentation, I immediately schedule at least three things in my diary:
- Skeleton – the first time slot is to help me become clear on my desired outcomes and key messages. How will I start? How will I end? What is the ideal structure?
- Flesh – I now add the flesh/content to my skeleton. What will I talk about under each heading? How can I make it interesting and interactive?
- Rehearsal – my final time is reserved for practising. I spend most time rehearsing the most important bits. The start must be epic (first impressions). The end must impress (or it’ll fizzle out). The links between topics must be seamless (so things flow). I must say my difficult messages well (so I say them right first time), etc
For important/hard presentations, each of these three might need 2-3 time slots in my diary. So a total of 6-9!
For “easy” presentations, I might do all three in one time slot…
…but, there will always be time in my diary for all three!
Are all three always there in yours?
Action Point
For your next presentation, ensure you schedule enough time in your diary to do all the prep and rehearsals you need, to be epic.