Always stand up when you are addressing others. When you are standing, your voice is projected more clearly and loudly, and this too will help with your confidence levels.

Have a prop if you need it, such as a presentation, or a flip chart and pen. Don’t be afraid to put your back to the audience if you need to write on a flip chart. People would prefer to see your back for a few minutes than be unable to read what invaluable snippet you’ve scribbled on the flip chart!

Whilst it’s true that you should know your subject when public speaking, you don’t have to be an expert. There are very few true experts in this world, and those that profess to be can’t possibly know everything about their chosen subject.

People are generally very forgiving, and if you are new to public speaking, tell them!

If you know your subject but are lacking in enough confidence to be able to present it well to others, then sum up all your best acting skills and pretend you have confidence. This may sound like easy advice, but try it. Take a few moments to close your eyes and tell yourself you can do this, you know your subject and these people want to hear what you have to say.

Try to gauge your audience and pitch your presentation accordingly. Thats not to say insert lots of jokes to a younger audience, but more in the language you are using. Try not to use jargon, but if you do, explain it as you use it.

Prepare your presentation in advance and practice it. Don’t be afraid to use a crib sheet as a pointer, but please don’t read directly from a script. If you are unsure of timings, keep a clock in close range to ensure you don’t run overtime. Usually, when presenting you may find the opposite happens, and you finish far more quickly than you expected. Don’t panic, turn it into a Q&A session. Throw it back to your audience for their input. This will also help increase your confidence as it will be a positive affirmation that people are listening to you.

As with anything, the more you do, the easier it gets! The first time for anything is always the hardest.

Planning

Nothing arranged in the last minute will ever be a true success. For any event you need to start planning ideally 5 months in advance. Put it all down on paper first. Work out what your final outcome will be, what you want to see at the event, and what value you want people to gain from it and then work backwards until it’s all written down. Every last detail.

From that point you can work out what it will take to get you there. You can work out who you need quotes from, who you can delegate to, who is on board. Think of your worse case scenarios and how you would combat them. Write it all down. The devil really is in the detail with events, and nothing should come as a surprise.

Accountability & Responsibility.

Know who is responsible for what areas of the event, from planning and organising through to hosting and ushering the actual event itself. People are like sheep, they need herding. If you are lucky enough to have a team of organisers then make sure you allocate according to strengths and that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet. Specify all tasks to ensure that everyone is where of their own areas of responsibility.

Timing

Timing for your event is crucial. Not just on the day, but on the days leading up to it. With a fully documented time plan everyone can be aware of exactly which tasks will be completed by which date. Don’t forget to allow contingency planning. Think about how much time you will need to rearrange certain aspects of the event if issues arise. Don’t be afraid to plan for someone to stand in, in the event of a no show. It’s certainly best to have all the bases covered before you get to the day and find your main act hasn’t shown up. On the same note, it’s crucial that you get firm guarantees from the main acts if you have them and to also keep in regular contact with them, and getting a final confirmation one week before.

Budgets

When working out your budget for an event, make sure that you include as much information as possible. It’s surprising how many people do not account for their own travelling expenses when organising their event. As a rule, if at all possible book the venue without paying a deposit, as a preliminary booking, and get the payment date as close to your event date as possible. There are many hotels which will allow you to pay a deposit a week before, then say 50% on the day and 50% after – negotiate. Your own cash flow is the important one here.

Of course this should mean that you can cancel should you fail to sell enough tickets although that shouldn’t be a problem if you follow the advice detailed in my event planning e-book. Available from Bizpro shortly. Click here to register your interest.

It’s an interesting point, and something that I’m careful about myself. I like to think I’m a reasonably good judge of character, but I’ve had my fingers burned, too (albeit rarely, thank goodness). In business, I am a firm believer in testimonials. They are possibly the most powerful tool you can get which validates your business and your work. They’re certainly not fool proof, (personally, I would always be aware of testimonials whose author would only put their initials to the statement), but if used correctly, they are valuable. I make it a point in my business to ask for testimonials from my clients, if they are happy with the service they have received. On the same side, if they are not happy, I would also like to know about it. Far better for you to be made aware of your faults so you can take steps to remedy them, than it is for everyone else to be made aware of them!

I use feedback forms for training, and feedback forms for my work. Any feedback or testimonial is worth its weight in gold as I know how constructive it can be for a business to know where they are falling down, and where they are exceptional. Likewise, I always try to leave a testimonial or feedback for my suppliers too.

As for the right tools for the job, if we didn’t have them, we wouldn’t be here. ;o)