Think about the next time you're making a presentation, or sharing information with a group large or small.
| Over more than a decade, I've facilitated more than 1,400 presentations. To this day, they last from 45 minutes to 7 hours in length. Here are some of my practices...and, yes, I still practice them every time! |
| Ready for the meeting |
| If you're a facilitator, planner or manager, consider getting into your room early. Me? 60 minutes is my minimum, 90 minutes is my comfortable...if I can be in there about an hour before participants start arriving, it gives me plenty of time to get in, get ready and get going. Over the past years, I've learned an important lesson: This can be an issue for some buildings. You see, a lot of companies I work with are "highly secure." (I even had to go through a multi-week, multi-stage background check to work with one financial institution on the east coast of the United States!) |
| Ready for the meeting |
| When I tell them I want to be in the room early - up to an hour and a half early! - they often "umm and uhh" on the phone. So, I explain the few reasons I have for doing this... |
| Ready for the meeting |
No surprises, more productivity
What I get to do while I'm in the room is especially important to me. As you continue reading, think about the next meeting you're leading, or the next presentation you're facilitating…
Place materials appropriately. Workbooks, job aides, copies of the book, bottles of water, snacks/fruit, even flowers (if I've got them!)...all that needs to be out and well-placed before anyone comes in for the workshop. I like to find pens (and paper!) for the participants and make sure there are pens for the white board or flip chart. I want to make sure my digital camera (or smart phone) has a full battery charge, and my own water bottle is filled (*room temperature water, no ice, please). Oh, one more thing, I look at the set up through the participants' perspective, walking around, sitting in their chairs, and observing the setup from as many angles as possible. (Also, this is a good time to check the temperature of the room, and ...oh, this is big... how the speakers "throw sound" from the front to the back of the room.)
Walk the room. Now, this is a personal preference...I don't do well behind a podium. Anyone who has seen me speak, you know this one! I move around the room, and I want to be used to/ready for this long before the attendees arrive. So, I practice. I walk along the side walls, to the back of the room, around the front "dance space." I still wear a pedometer, I never know how much I will walk around a seminar; I'm often surprised. (The "longest-distance-ever-seminar" was in Berkeley some time ago...15,000 steps in about 7 hours!)
Set up all the technology systems. Are you presenting from your laptop, iPad or mobile phone? Make sure all the tech is set up. This is actually the FIRST thing I do. (Yes, even if I see that the room furniture needs to be moved/rearranged, setting up the tech is a priority I don't put off...) This is SO important to a well-managed day. I like to test all the tech long before people arrive; this way I have time "just in case." There have been many times I had to put a call in to the I.T. department to ask for help in getting some wire connected to some machine!
Welcome attendees as they come in. Let's say the program begins at 1pm. Generally, I'll notice people "starting to arrive" by about 12:40-12:45pm. (15 minutes seems to be it...) I use that time, with the room set up and ready to go, to introduce myself, start learning people's names, and join in the conversations about why people are here, and what they're hoping to get from the day.
So, the net result? The earlier arrive, and the more prepared I am for the day ahead, the better equipped I am to deliver a successful program. So, for those of you who lead meetings, what do YOU do when you arrive a bit ahead of time?
