I gave the speech this morning in a conference room holding about 60 people in that banquet-round-table style beloved of conference organizers. The round tables make it hard to work the audience properly, but everyone loves a challenge, right? So I stood in the middle of the long side and that way was able to see and be seen reasonably well by most people. The arrangement made for a lot of weaving in and out of tables, but there you are.
Lesson: always ask up front about the room layout and negotiate a good one if you can.
The event ran late, and my own start time was delayed 25 minutes. I had to give a little time back on the fly, which is always annoying and challenging. In the end, we compromised and they let me run a little long. The overall event ended on time, something I believe to be essential. No one ever wanted a meeting to run longer than scheduled, and no one ever complained when one ended early.
Lesson: be clear about your time requirements and their time constraints.
How did it go? I had fun, especially because I went to the audience from the very start, interacting with them, giving out prizes for participation, running a contest, and generally carrying on. I like to make audiences 'work' and they like it too. It beats passivity and boredom.
Lesson: the more audience interaction the better.
In the end, I had the audience divided up, telling stories (the speech was about authentic storytelling) and competing for the best story. It was a nice group, and they wanted to declare everyone a winner, so we did, with one participant a little more of a winner than everyone else.
Lesson: everyone's a winner if everyone participates.
Overall, it went fine. I could have done with more rehearsal. I've been spoiled by giving the same speech, or similar speeches, many times. I've forgotten how hard it is to give a speech for the first time.
Lesson: rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
Can’t stress the importance of Lesson #1 (negotiating a good room layout) enough. Consider the layout from your perspective as a speaker as well as the view from the audience. If you are using slides, will audience members at the back be able to see them? The logistics of the presentation set-up are vital to success. Just sat through a speech not too long ago where 2 huge pillars seperated the audience into three sections. Made eye contact difficult and seeing slides nearly impossible. The room had other options, but clearly no one had checked it out in advance. By day 2 of the conference, they had made the necessary changes and the set-up was much improved! If only they had done prior to day 1.