❓How do you feel when you speak at an important event?
❓What do you do to negotiate with your nerves and still get the important words said?
❓How do you perform if people with impressive titles or roles are in the room?
Most people tell me they get nervous when placed in the spotlight. These feelings intensify when there are people with important roles or titles in the room.
Often there is the additional stress of dealing with last minute changes and/or audiovisual equipment with glitches. Right before speaking, there seems multiple questions or information shared. Also, there may be exhaustion from traveling and not sleeping well the night before.
This weekend I emceed an awards breakfast at Texas Tech University sponsored by #TexasTechParentsAssociation. Each year #TTPA holds an breakfast to support excellence in education and present Faculty and Student Academic Leaders Awards.
The awards breakfast had all the stressful elements to negotiate. From the travel and last-minute changes to fast-paced questions before the event and AV issues.
I added to the exhaustion by attending the annual meeting of the National Advisory Board and the awards ceremony of the @TTU_CoMC the day before
Media and Communications the TTPA event. Incredibly, after hosting their own event, many of these CoMC peers attended the breakfast the next day.
The guest list and attendees included the President of the University Dr. Lawrence Schovanec, the Provost of the University Dr. Ronald Hendrick, the Deans of the colleges, and important partners on campus. We also had 20 awardees to introduce and capture a life-time worth of accomplishments in a few minutes.
Guess what?
The event was a success! Here’s why:
✔️There were leaders who went above and beyond to do their job.
✔️Instead of creating and delivering the presentation myself, it was upgraded by one of our amazing staff.
✔️Where it might have been chaos, everyone stepped up and helped. Our leaders and staff prepared the room, the awards, and our honored guests for success. We could not have accomplished this breakfast without our board members, staff, and Parent Ambassadors.
✔️The awardees and their families made the event worthwhile. They didn’t know about the last-minute details or hours upon hours of work to prepare for a ninety minute program. Instead, they and their families experienced the support and engagement for their success.
Whether a high-stakes negotiation or a high-stress presentation, your success lies in preparation, practice, and surrounding yourself with high-performers.
Go Negotiate!
Photo creds to another friend of TTPA’s and fellow alum Curt Langford