In all of my public speaking workshops, regardless of it being overcome fear, beginners, presentation skills, off the cuff or presentation skills for leaders, I always teach that preparation is the foundation of every speech. It was Robert Schuller who said “Spectacular performance is always preceded by spectacular preparation. I have been lucky enough to be doing some training in Coffs Harbour and Grafton in the beautiful NSW north coast. One of my previous participants who attended an earlier workshop came back for another workshop and she told me a little story which I will share with you.
This young lady took away from the first workshop the importance of preparation. She had a major presentation coming up on the Monday and was co-presenting with a senior college. So she spent the weekend becoming very familiar with the content, knowing her audience and her colleagues content also and arrived early on the day at the venue to get familiar and comfortable. Just before the start she heard from her colleague that she had been in a car accident and would not be able to get there. Of course with such good preparation, she stepped up and did the whole session by herself.
She came up to me on the second workshop and said to me, I truly understand that preparation is the key and I am so glad I went the extra step with this presentation. So, are you able to present your content and message regardless of what happens, what goes wrong, or any other unforeseen circumstances. You should be able to, so prepare for them.