An Open Letter To All Public Speakers And Soon-To-Be Speakers

On behalf of conference program managers and producers everywhere, I’d like to share some insights for all public speakers and soon-to-be speakers. Conference season is coming. Submissions are being examined. LinkedIn pages are refreshing at a furious rate. And you might soon get that email that says, “You’ve been chosen to speak at XYZ Forum in Las Vegas! Congratulations! You’re going to crush it on stage.”

As the person who once-upon-a time chose, managed, and served as your shepherd to that fateful 30-minutes on stage, here are some helpful tips to make you and your session shine.

  1. Your presentation. I know you’ve got bigger fish to fry. Your presentation probably isn’t THE most important thing in life right now, but you know what? It will be for those 30 minutes you’re on stage. Pay attention to the deadline the conference gives you and get it to them on time. And give them the final version. There’s nothing worse than running into a room late waving a thumb drive to switch out your presentation because you had a eureka moment at 2:36 am to change “that” for “which” on slide 17. You know what? No one cares. And if it’s a number or data issue, make the correction on stage. Late presentations also increase the chances for errors so get that thing in and let it go. For some tips on making your presentation turbocharged, check out this post from my colleague Marcia Rhodes.
  1. Check the agenda. Programming an event is a lot like herding toddlers after packets of Fun Dip. There are a lot of moving parts. Things happen. I’ve had speakers cancel for plane delays, traffic, food poisoning, kids falling ill, and babies being born. COVID has introduced even more issues – for instance, a keynote speaker who was denied entry 20 minutes before go-time. It happens and things change so bookmark that agenda page and hit refresh. At least have a look at the agenda before you close your eyes the night before and dream of thundering applause and lines of people congratulating you as you come off stage.
  1. Know where you’re going. Have you been to Las Vegas? The Orange County Convention Center? Those places are immense. HIMSS alone has about 25,000 people and more signs than people. If possible, check where your room is the night before and if you can’t, check over your morning coffee while updating your presentation – which you won’t be doing. See? Caught you. Find your room and make sure you’re registered for the event and your badge is proudly hanging. I’ve had speakers running down the hall while the rest of their panel were taking the stage and, while they are drenched in sweat and trying to catch their breath, we’re trying to fish a microphone down their suit coat. Being late puts you in a bad mood and the AV person is none too happy either – trust me. Come early. Get a coffee or whatever you need and relax.
  1. Introduce yourself to the AV team. They’re there all day, couldn’t care less about the conference, the topic, or your presentation – but they’re making it happen, so introduce yourself. Ask them if everything is running on time (people tend to wax poetic on stage) and ask them where to wait when you’re getting close to your go-time. Be respectful. They might not care about your AI solution, but they do care about getting your mic on and making you sound good. If you’re anxious about your video on slide 24, you can certainly ask to review your deck but remember they’re managing 3-4 screens, have a pile of laptops to coordinate and more. If they are overwhelmed or dealing with someone who brought in a late presentation, it’s best to just trust the system.
  1. Go-time. When you’re finally on stage don’t use the podium. Walk. Pace. Stalk that stage like Mick Jagger, less hips, please. These conference rooms are big, cavernous and frankly can suck the life out of you. You have 20 to 30 minutes to shine. Make eye contact throughout the room. Talk to the audience. Use stories. Anecdotes. Show pictures of your kids. Throw a joke in if that’s your thing. Make it relatable. Show, don’t tell. I had a CISO from a major healthcare org explain to a group his sleepless nights when he realized his career had evolved from keeping credit cards secure to keeping people alive. It hit home. We had a vendor at an event illustrate his story about patient experience by sharing from pictures of a serious car accident he was in – and the room was silent throughout his whole presentation. Not a single piece of text appeared and it might have been the best presentation I saw in almost 10 years.
  1. Be cool. This last piece of advice is my favorite. Be cool. Just. Be. Cool. I might have suggested you act like Mick on stage, but off stage you’re just another speaker in a room full of them. Treat the conference staff well, your fellow speakers well, and the organizing team well. After the applause dies down, thank the emcee as you leave the stage and get yourself to the AV team to let them remove your mic and your job is done. Conferences are a lot of work – look around at some point next time you’re at one and think about all those moving parts. Sure, it’s not brain surgery, but it’s a lot of work and you’re one piece of the puzzle. Be an easy piece. The easier you are, the more you connect with people, the greater chance you’ll have of being invited back. I had speakers I’d email before I even put an agenda together because they were smart, easy, dependable and dynamic. Be that.

There is more but your Golden Rule is No. 6.

Public speaking is a lot. It’s not for everyone but remember, all those people in the audience, whether it’s 150 or 7,000, are there to hear what you have to say so you’ve already been accepted. They want you. The hard part is done. The mic is on, the PowerPoint is perfect and you’re going to crush it. Just get up on stage and take a deep breath. Everyone is rooting for you!

Need some inspiration? Here is a public speaker I thought was a particularly good presenter.

Chris Hayden
Account Manager - Amendola Communications
Chris Hayden joins Amendola with nearly 20 years of media experience under his belt. He comes from HIMSS where he helped build an event program team from small, regional events to can’t-miss industry gatherings featuring some of the best and brightest in healthcare IT. Working side-by-side with healthcare leaders from across the country has given Chris invaluable experience and a deep understanding of the burning issues keeping healthcare executives, providers and researchers awake at night.

While there, he wrote on the topics of population health, data security and privacy, and patient engagement.

After starting at HIMSS several years ago on the editorial team, Chris used his ability to build and develop relationships, along with skillful storytelling, to parlay his position to manage a small but powerful event portfolio. He has worked with hundreds of speakers from the nation’s leading healthcare organizations and managed Cleveland Clinic’s Patient Experience Forum for two years.

His experience in a newsroom is what informs most of his work. He spent time at several newspapers across New England serving as reporter, copy editor, editor, page designer and photographer.

Chris holds a bachelor of arts in Journalism from the University of New Hampshire.
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