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Presentation Day: Your Checklist for Success

By Tom McCarthy
Apr 30, 2003 - 1:31:00 PM		 Email this article
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If you've done your preparation, the actual day of your presentation should be an event to look forward to. But there are a few more things you can do that day to ensure a successful outcome to your presentation as well as your own enjoyment of the entire experience. Think of the day of a presentation like the day of a big race for a runner. Runners spend hours every week, if not every day, preparing themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally for competition. When the day of the race arrives, the runners are as ready as they can possibly make themselves. Yet if you watch the top runners, they all have different routines they follow to make sure that when the starting gun goes off, they'll be in top form. As a presenter you, too, can develop routines that will help you be your best when you're introduced to a group and it's your turn to "run."

Let's start with some suggestions for preparing yourself the night before.

The Night Before a Presentation
The first thing to do the day or night before any presentation is to get yourself back into your OPI, your optimal performance identity. Try the following routine.

· Review your optimal performance identity. Say it to yourself several times, with feeling and positive emotion. Ask yourself, "How will I show up in this identity tomorrow during my presentation?" See yourself in front of your audience in this state.

· Review your OPI emotional recipe. What emotions do you need to be at your best as a presenter? Repeat your emotional OPI to yourself with passion, using "I am" statements: "I am caring," "I am powerful," "I am committed," whatever your OPI emotions are.

· Put yourself into each of your OPI emotional states, using the three triggers of physiology, language and submodalities, and beliefs.

· Do a final check to see if there are any disempowering beliefs, language patterns, or feelings that you need to get rid of so you can be your best tomorrow, and use the scramble techniques described in the last chapter to eliminate them.

Preparing yourself emotionally the night before a presentation guarantees that you will have easy access to your most powerful emotions and identity when you're in front of a group. And the more often you put yourself into these states, the more they will be at your fingertips in even the most stressful situations.

Once you've accessed the identity, emotions, and physiology of a great presenter, you're ready to focus on the specifics for the particular presentation you're about to do.

· Review your outcome for this presentation. Make sure it's absolutely clear in your mind, and that it is something you can completely support.

· Review what you know about your audience. Associate to anything you can truly like about this group.

· Visualize yourself achieving your outcome at the end of your presentation: you're getting the order, your audience is applauding you, you've created enormous value for the group, and so on.

· Review the "ladder rungs" of your content-each of the six steps of FIRE-UP! (We'll be going through these steps later.) Make sure that every aspect of your presentation contributes to its outcome.

· Review your presentation materials. Make sure you have all the audiovisual materials ready (with backups just in case), and that the materials are organized and easily accessible.

· Make sure your clothes for the next day are ready, too-you don't want any last-minute surprises caused by a suit not back from the cleaners or an unsuspected spot on the shirt you planned to wear!

Now you can go to sleep knowing that you have done everything you possibly can to be ready for your presentation. And a good night's sleep is also a great way to prepare to be at your best the next day.

Presentation Day: Before You Arrive
Just like an athlete on the day of a big race, setting up a morning routine is a great way to make sure you take care of every aspect of your preparation.

· Get up early, so you have plenty of time to get ready. There's nothing that will throw you off faster than rushing because you're going to be late.

· Make sure your body is stretched out and relaxed. I recommend that speakers do some kind of mild exercise the mornings of a presentation so they're feeling in great shape physically. Stretching, yoga, calisthenics, walking or jogging, are all excellent. Whatever exercise you do, however, it should be something that energizes and relaxes you rather than something draining.

· Some people like to eat very little before a presentation, while others like a hearty meal. Find out what works for you, and do that. But always make sure to drink lots of water the day of a presentation. You want your mouth and throat well lubricated so you can avoid problems like coughing, clearing your throat, losing your voice, and so forth.

· Do one final check of all your presentation materials before you leave for the presentation. Take with you copies of your outcome, your OPI, your OPI emotions, and any important information about the group you will be speaking to.

· Leave early enough that you will arrive at the meeting location at least thirty minutes to an hour in advance.

Why arrive so early? Because the next stage of your preparation occurs at the presentation location itself.

Learn more about presentation skills from Tom by signing up for his free newsletter ezine. Click here to signup now! 		Latest Presentation Skills Headlines
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