This morning I held a “dress rehearsal” at The Coffee Shop in Greenwood for the Ignite event presentation I will be giving on March 23. This experience provided another set of various “firsts” for me. From beginning to end, I expanded my knowledge as well as my professional relationships. It was the first time I had ever even considered organizing my own event, let alone actually doing it. It was an enlightening and educational journey, and I could not have done it without my community of connections.
Getting The Ball Rolling
When I first submitted my proposal for consideration of the Ignite event, I did not expect to be selected to speak. I figured it would not hurt to at least try, and that was my primary motivation for even submitting a proposal. I didn’t consider what steps I would take to create an outstanding, enlightening presentation. Within a matter of days after my proposal submission, and at the time that I was notified that I had been selected to present, the event was only 5 people away from being sold out. The only way to register was through the Smaller Indiana event page, and my fiance was not a member of the site. There wasn’t enough time for him to sign up before the event was full, and it was important to both of us that he be a part of this event.
This is what got me started thinking about holding a “practice event” so that he could still be a part of it in some way. Now, for any presentation or public speaking event I ever do in the future, I will definitely include a practice session or dress rehearsal in my methods of preparation.
To get the ball rolling, I posted a discussion on the Greater Greenwood Chamber of Commerce LinkedIn group page. The Chamber members have been so supportive in the past, I knew that I could count on them to provide me with guidance on where to host the event and also to participate as my “lab rats” for the experiment. I received a few great ideas on where to hold it an a very warm response from members that wanted to help me out, just as I expected.
About The Experiment
One member suggested I should hold the event at a brand new coffee shop (The Coffee Shop). As soon as it was mentioned, I wondered why I had not thought of that myself. It was the perfect, mutually beneficial setting. I was able to bring people in on one of their slowest days, and owner Teresa Clements was very welcoming to have us there.
At first, I wanted to hold the event over a number of hours, giving the presentation once each hour on the hour. I wanted to do this so that anyone who wanted to come could have as many options to coincide with their schedules as possible. Then I began to realize that it wasn’t really necessary, and also that it would be far too draining for me to spend an entire day away from client work and other things I need to get done. The event ended up lasting only two hours, from 9am to 11am.
The Invaluable Feedback
Only a few people showed up, but it was the perfect mix of people. Mary Messerlie of Colonial Life is involved in Toast Masters, and she provided me with invaluable insight into the technicalities of my presentation. Denise Speer of Virtual Office Analytics provided great insight into many details of the content in my presentation, especially my wording of a particular political example that I gave.
Jim Shireman of Dant Insurance and Scott Emmett of Hubler Automotive provided a wonderful balance of left-brained (analytical) and right-brained (creative) perspectives. For left-brained Jim, the amount of information and statistics that I included was ideal. However, for a right-brained person such as Scott, it was far too overwhelming. This will especially be helpful as I continue to develop future events in considering who my target audience is and who is actually sitting in the audience of the presentation.
The Best Decision I Ever Stumbled Into
As with most things in my life, organizing this event was a progression of revelations and ideas that evolved into one of the most beneficial experiences I have had. It taught me more than just presentation skills. It taught me how to organize an event, helped me to further develop my professional relationships, and it taught me a lot about the differences in possible target audiences for my business. I am so very grateful for having such a welcoming, encouraging professional community.