What Makes Good Rehearsal?

What makes good rehearsal? This question was asked of me recently, during a workshop that I was delivering on Executive Presentations. I was emphasizing the value of practice and rehearsal in ensuring a smooth and co-ordinated delivery of the presentation. Rehearsal not only helps to ensure you know your material, but also in how that material can best be delivered to suit the audience that it is intended for.

The question was an excellent one, because the value is not just in rehearsing, but in rehearsing the right things. ‘Perfect practice makes perfect’, not just practice! So, in thinking carefully about the answer, I emphasized a few things:

1. Make sure you practice delivering the entire presentation, not just elements of it. Think of it as building up to a full dress-rehearsal if you were performing a play.

2. Practice delivering it in different ways – modulating/emphasizing different words, and from slightly different positions within the ‘allowable’ movement area of your ‘stage’. That way you can be flexible with your audience.

3. Practice in front of your team, and in front of other ‘trusted’ significant others, and be open to their feedback (but be sure to learn what to ignore so that the variety of comments do not ‘muddy the waters’).

4. Practice within the room, and with the equipment, that you will be using for the actual presentation, so that you become fully familiar with the entire room set-up.

5. View your visual aids (and listen to anything auditory that you may have) from the furthest edges of the room, so that you know exactly what your audience is going to see and hear.

6. Do not over-rehearse. Leave something to spontaneity as it will allow your personality to shine through. Do not learn the ‘script’ but rather the story, so that you can bring it to life.