06/08/2026
I learned a long time ago that no matter how many times you have delivered a presentation, you can't phone it in. Each group is different. Each group expects you to know your stuff and to be excited to share it. Each group deserves you to be fresh, interested, and dialed in.
About 15 years ago, I gave a talk where I bombed. I took everything for granted and didn't learn enough about the audience, only did minimal prep, and was unrehearsed. The audience response was so flat that I seriously considered giving up on the speaking part of my business.
After getting over my pity party, I decided to dig in and truly commit myself to becoming a better speaker. A more seasoned speaker told me to "always honor the work." In other words, you have to deserve the right to get a great audience response.
One of the ways I honor the work is to review my deck and organize my flow for every single talk or workshop, no matter how many times I've delivered the content. After typing the agenda, I take oversized index cards and write down the flow and key prompts. For example, I'm very conscious of including a lot of interactivity to keep the audience engaged, so on the card, I put the work ACT whenever I include an interactive element.
My prep with the index card is like a ritual that puts me in a good headspace before a talk. The interesting thing is, after drafting my cards, I hardly ever actually look at them. When I do it's usually during a break. Somehow, though, the ritual of the index cards is a sort of pre-talk offering to the audience gods to show them that I am deeply committed to doing a good job, and hopefully, earning their positive response.
