All right, so you've prepped your speech, you've picked out the right outfit.
What else is there to do besides stand up and speak?
Well, of course, there's quite a bit to do.
I like to get to the room and see what's going on there.
The room can make you or break you.
So you want to think ahead, and control those variables that you actually can.
So how do we do this?
Well, first off I think you should get to your venue early.
Now I know this is often easier said than done, and
it might in fact be a room that you've spoken in before and that's great.
Still get there early to make sure nothing has changed and nothing's gone wrong.
I don't like having to immediately start talking once I get to a room.
I want to get there early and check things out.
So what you should be checking on?
Well, set the stage the way you want it.
If speaking's like putting on a production,
then you need to set the stage.
And what I mean by that is move what can or should be moved.
I can't count the number of times I watched the speaker and
thought why didn't you move that chair?
You've bumped into it twice.
Some things you can change, others you can't.
But I want to remove as many barriers between me and
the audience as is possible.
So, I'll scoot a table out of the way, I'll maybe push it back to the wall and
stand in front of it.
I move as many chairs as I can out of the way, out of my zone.
I want a stage that is free of clutter as much as it is possible.
I'll move trashcan for example and other things out of the way.
Often people don't clean up after themselves,
after they leave a speaking space.
So I got to get there early and set the stage the way I want it.
What else?
Check your tech.
Perhaps probably the number one reason to get early to your
venue is to check your tech, especially if you're using presentation slides or audio.
I always like to take my laptop for presentations.
But I just gotta know where to hook something up.
Now, I like working with my laptop simply because that eliminates another variable
that I got to worry about.
I know where stuff is on that laptop.
But I'm going to get there and I'm going to check the venue for
three things, audio, video and Internet.
And often,
one of those three things requires some finessing before the start of the talk.
So finally, after I've got my space and
my tech set, I kind of want to plan out my movement.
And I don't mean choreographing everything.
But simply thinking about where I'm generally going to want to move.
For example, where do I want people to sit?
If I want them to be sitting close to me, I might move some of the chairs in
the back so that sitting there isn't so much of an option.
I'm creating the audience there in front of me.
So I want to think very briefly about the audience experience in that room.
If there's a place that I want to move, I want to clear a pathway.
I like making a clear main area for people to sit.
But I also know people might come late, so
I'll maybe put a couple of chairs right by the door.
And that's if you can control those things.
A speech performance is a performance, so give some thought to your staging choices.
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