If I’m working with business leaders to produce an internal staff conference or a leadership town hall event, I like to organise a rehearsal for presenters to attend if they want to.
The rehearsal is an ideal opportunity to get all the presenters into the right frame of mind and prepared for what going on stage is going to feel like. Being on stage can really change the way people think about delivering a message.
It also gives everyone an idea of timings and running order. And if you’re working with technical crew they can experiment with sound levels and lighting too.
The best leaders always ask for feedback at rehearsals and it’s great to be able to give that in a way that can improve the quality of the event (rather than feedback always being an after-thought).
Presenters value feedback on things like body language, dress style, pacing, audibility etc. I can also give feedback on the signposting in their speeches to help them leave the audience with the right key points in their minds.
If it’s an external event I encourage all the presenters to put the event hashtag and their own Twitter handles on every slide. I also assign two or three people to live-microblog on Twitter. It really helps the audience interact and then the impact of the event can live on beyond the conference room and people can make connections with each other even after the event has finished.
If I can help you plan or rehearse your own conferences/events then do get in touch with me at andrew@andrewhesselden.com.