5 reasons presenters MUST arrive early

I have a saying that I’ve repeated to many people in recent years: “If you’re not early you’re late.”

This principle has served me well for business meetings, airline flights and all-manner of business-related engagements.

It’s most critical to adhere to this principle when you’re heading to a venue where you’ll be making a presentation of any kind. It’s important to build time into your commute time for unexpectedly heavy traffic, getting lost, parking time and hunting down the right room and contact person.

If you don’t make a commitment to arriving early several bad things are likely to happen.

1. You’ll make your host nervous. People like to work with people who don’t make life difficult. Always make sure to give your contact person a mobile phone number so they can ease their concerns by contacting you en route. Always make sure you have your contact’s phone number as well to keep them apprised of any material mishaps.
2. You’ll end up harried. A wide-eyed sweaty visage doesn’t inspire confidence in the people who hired you. You will look unprofessional, shell-shocked, moist and in need of a shower. Your heart rate will already be in overdrive and you have yet to come face-to-face with the anxiety-inducing audience.
3. You’ll look irresponsible. Calling your contact person from the road to say you’re running behind doesn’t inspire confidence or raise expectations that you’re a true professional who is taking the assignment seriously. Don’t put yourself, or the person who trusted you, in this position.
4. You won’t have time to properly set up your equipment. Arrive late and you’ll be forced to rush the assembly of audio/visual or other equipment. This sustains the too-fast heartbeat, creates more perspiration and raises the odds your equipment will malfunction and need to be rewired or rebooted – with an audience looking on. The heart starts beating even faster and anxiety continues to rise, largely because you know that your audience has already pegged you as amateur who’s wasting their times. Can you hear the smart phones clicking away with text-message epithets about you?
5. You won’t have time to get comfortable with the room. Arrive early and all of the above goes away. Everything changes for the better. You can set up your equipment calmly and surely, and test it. You can project your introductory visual on the screen so the audience is greeted by your title slide. You also get a chance to case the room. You can stand behind the podium or the head of the board room before anyone arrives and get a feel for what the experience will be like. This alone reduces anxiety by taking the mystery out of physical and visual stimuli you’ll be experiencing. You can walk onto the floor and check out the audience’s vantage and determine how imposing or readable your slides will appear. A sound check can do done. You can sit, relax and put yourself in the proper mental state for making your presentation. You can review your notes – especially your opening comments to ensure you get off to a strong start.

There is yet another key reason to get to your destination early. I’ll write about that next week.

Until then, remember: If you’re not early you’re late!

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