“We’re going live now but you have only 15 instead of 30mins for your speech/ presentation.”
Has that happened to you?
As we revert to more in-person events, my media coaching clients say what unnerves them most is having their best laid speaking plans messed up in front of a live audience.
So how can you manage these curveballs?
✅ Figure out your key message and decide beforehand which is the least important information to cut out.
✅ Learn to be flexible – can you spend 30s or 5 mins on a slide? You must be able to discern on the spot how much time you can spend on each presentation slide given the reduced amount of air time.
✅ Prepare, prepare, prepare – it’s hard to accomplish the above without knowing your content (and its purpose) inside out.
✅ SMILE!!
That last point has always worked for me — smiling under pressure helps you keep calm — and years in the newsroom have taught me this: it’s how YOU respond that matters.