A FAILURE TO PREPARE IS…?

When helping my clients to shape the content of an event, I really enjoy the challenge of finding an external expert that will bring a thought-provoking angle, interesting experiences and a unique perspective to the conversation. I take care however to chose my speakers wisely.

There are those who live up to their reputation and leave the audience feeling energised and inspired. These are the speakers that are well-prepared; that treat every opportunity to tell their story like it was the first; that push me to deliver a comprehensive and quality briefing they can build from; the speakers where the audience hangs on almost every word and has plenty of questions to follow.

Then there are those that have a great story to tell on paper, but where they engage with less time spent on briefing, challenging or questioning. This implies a lack of preparation which is often also evident in ‘boiler plate’ content; in errors of both style and content; in a lacklustre presentation style. Often the audience has its own conversations and the Q&A session is an excuse to break early for coffee.

I've been lucky - I don't think I've ever procured the services of a speaker from the latter category. 

More likely though, it’s that I’ve never engaged a speaker that’s not been prepared to invest at least equal time in a 1-2-1 briefing process as I intend they should spend on the podium!