Presenting when you’re knackered!

I’ve just got back to my family home after so many days consecutively away that I ran out of smart shirts. I don’t just mean clean ones; I mean anything that I could wear with a tie!  As I write this on a Saturday morning (in Costa Coffee, Gosforth) while killing time before I meet my wife, I can feel the inevitable effects.

I’m tired. I slept well after I got home last night, so it’s not a simple case of needing a kip: my guess is that you know the type of tired I mean… it’s in your bones, as my mother used to say.

So what can the slightly-below-par presenter do to help themselves stay absolutely on top of their game, tiered or not… and – more importantly – engage with their audience? Here are a few tips based upon experience…

• Don’t panic. Very often you don’t need to have slept well the night before, so long as you’ve slept well for the few nights before that. Plan your working (and playing!) week around getting rest in the few days before your presentation so you’ve got reserves. If that means an early night on a Wednesday and Thursday ready for a gig on Friday, so be it. Don’t be tempted to stay up rehearsing too much.
• Drink well, eat wisely. Don’t over-do it; stay away anything with too much spice and too much alcohol! (Shame!)  Stay hydrated – but there’s not much point in drinking during your presentation; by then it’s too late!
• Avoid the tea/coffee cycle. This depends on the length of your presentation, of course, and how you react to the stimulants in those drinks, but at least think it through before you use them. If the ‘artificial up’ from a cup of tea wears off before you get to the end of your presentation the ‘bounce down low’ can be a really serious problem.
• The same is true of things like Mars Bars and anything else that you’re tempted to use for a sugar rush. Perhaps you should think of something with a slower energy release, no matter how tiered you are.
• Consider changing your make-up. That way at least you can hide how grey your skin is. Gents, this isn’t the time to be falsely macho – it’s not about you, remember?!
• Stay fit. I’m not suggesting taking up doing Iron Man Triathlons but I am urging you to be better-than-averagely-fit. That’s not asking much, given how unfit most people are, but you know what I mean. Presenting is exhausting. It takes it out of you. You need to have stamina to be the same at the end as you are at the start.
• Treat any injuries you may have straight away. You’d be amazed at how much below your best you are if you’re having to limp slightly to protect a bruised knee cartalidge. (Trust me, this is the voice of experience.) Even the most trivial of injuries can have a disproportionate effect on your on-stage-energy.
• Treat yourself to good kit. A little treat I allow myself, which sounds remarkably sad now that I mention it like this, is that I wear black padded sports socks when I’m presenting. The extra padding and cushioning is a Godsend when I’m on my feet for a long time! :)
• Remember why you’re there. You’re there because you’ve got something important to say, something that will make the lives of your audience better for having heard it. (You haven’t? Go home!). Just reminding yourself that you’re changing the world for the better just a little tiny bit can give you a lift.
• Remember that your audience is giving you the most precious thing they’ve got – their time, their attention and their good will. If all else fails to raise your energy level, the guilt of betraying your moral contract can help.

These work for me. The people I’ve spoken to say they work for them, too. :)

That said, of course, what I should really have done is not get into the position that I needed to use these tricks of the trade in the first place! :)

What works for you?