Once again, never assume anything when you are planning a speech or presentation....

The Importance of Checklists in Public Speaking

Go the extra mile to make sure your speech or presentation is a

grand slam. I make checklists for every presentation, seminar,

or workshop I give. Since any one of a host of problems can

sabotage your presentation, it is important that you do not let

the little things fall by the wayside. In my career as a public

speaker, I have spoken at many conventions and conferences and

witnessed presenters panic because they forgot their visual aids,

can't find their handouts, or didn't get the name of the

individual coordinating the meeting or the new location of the

hotel or meeting center when it was changed at the last minute.

These are mistakes that can frazzle your nerves. To prevent

this from happening to you, I will be providing some checklist

examples you can use so this does not happen to you.

PRESPEECH CHECKLIST


Use this checklist when you are planning to give a speech to an

association or organization. "The sooner the better" is the

motto you should follow when you are putting together your

prespeech checklist. As the date of your presentation draws

closer, make sure to confirm the following points.


- Actual date and time of your speech

Make sure the date and time of your speech is the same as when you

sent the information to the meeting planner along with your

precustom survey. Over the years I have experienced several

occasions when the date and time have changed, especially when

I wasn't the only speaker on the program. However, even if you

are the only speaker on the program, contact your meeting planner to

make sure the date and time are accurate.



SHORT STORY (REAL STORY)



Let me share a story of when a presenter didn't confirm the date

and time. My colleague was scheduled to speak to a large group

at an association meeting in June. He did not call or contact the

organizer after the date was scheduled. The day before the scheduled

presentation, he flew to the city where he was speaking. When he

arrived at the hotel he asked if anyone else from the association

had registered yet. When the hotel checked the reservation list, they

told him they had no record of that association being scheduled to

be at that hotel. Naturally he was confused, and after several

phone calls to members of the association he quickly learned that he

had made a huge mistake. Yes, he was at the correct hotel on the

correct

date, but he had arrived a year early!

Keep in mind, many associations schedule their meetings two or three

years in advance, and it is not unusual for them to book speakers for

the events at the same time. When he was contracted in March, my

colleague had written down the date of the speech for the upcoming June. Since he

thought the presentation was only a few months away and he was never

contacted again by the association, he assumed that everything was all

set. Boy, did he get a very expensive surprise!

This story illustrates the necessity of confirming all dates, times,

and locations. Once again, never assume anything when you are

planning a speech or presentation.