One of the most stressful presentations of my life was when I did my TEDx talk.
I vividly remember the day I learned that I got in. I got the “yes” from the head organizer. I felt 10 seconds of heart-jumping joy, followed by several long minutes of heart-stopping fear.
What did I just get myself into?
I was convinced that I had bitten off more than I could chew. That I had nothing to contribute to a global stage. That everyone, everyone would see what a complete fraud I was.
I did of course, live to tell about it.
So (I hope) it didn’t go as badly as I thought it might have.
In fact, I think I made myself proud that day.
And you already know what I’m gonna say next.
It’s all in the prep.
So here’s your actionable tip for how you can transform your next presentation, keynote or TEDx talk:
Rehearse while you create
Most people think of rehearsing as the last (or optional, eek!) step.
But some serious magic happens when you start rehearsing while you’re still creating the presentation:
🔥 You figure out if you’re saying things naturally (both out loud and on the slides).
🔥 You understand if your slides are supporting your points well or if they’re saying too much or too little.
🔥 You can quickly change the flow depending on how it feels as you deliver it. The rehearsal itself might give you more ideas on what content to add.
🔥 You understand early if you’re spending too long or too little time on a particular slide or segment.
🔥 You start focusing on delivery: this helps you integrate the tone of your voice, your gestures and body language more deeply with your content.
Usually, I start rehearsing when I’ve created about 30-40% of the presentation content.
How to rehearse?
I talked about my preferred way to rehearse and analyze yourself in this LinkedIn post.
I’d love to know what you think and if you try this out!
Till next Saturday, speak fearlessly!
💜
Nausheen
