Minutes Before I Present... Killing the Crazy

I'm sitting in a hotel meeting room in Kansas City. In about one hour, my 600 closest friends in the seed industry will make their way through my breakout session to learn about media planning. I am their teacher over the next 2 days.

Anxiety has been an unfriendly monkey on my back since I can remember, and it's times like this - right before I present - in fact about 2 days before I present - my entire persona changes. I agonize, I stress, I pace, I talk fast, my tone gets higher in everyday conversations. I sweat. It's ugly. Not attractive at all.

So how am I trying to get over this? Well, here are some of the things I do in order to stop being nervous and start being confident, energetic, positive, and poised, and professional. After all... I need to kill the crazy so my mind focuses on the present and the task at hand.

MY PRESENTATION

I practice, practice, practice. I finished my presentation about one month ago. But I've been tweaking it in my head every minute since then. Last night, I practiced my presentation from about 5 to 6:30pm, threw out some slides, moved some stuff around, went to dinner and met customers, had two vodka gimlets, then was back up in my room my 9pm. I chilled out for about an hour, practiced for another hour, then chilled out for another hour. Asleep by 11:30pm. Now it's game day. I know my slides. I feel confident. I'm jamming to The Black Keys, The Whites Stripes, and  R.L. Burnside. My people.

MY ROOM

I visited my breakout room last night so I could get the lay of the land. Our customers picked out which breakout sessions they were going to attend in advance. Given that I have 5 breakouts, the max capacity of my room is 40 people, but my room is set for 60.... this means that 50% of the attendees think media planning is important, they need help with it or need a refresher, or they just really love Greta. I'll go with "they need help and think it's important" to their businesses.

My projector and screen are good to go. The temperature of the room is great, nice and cool. Surroundings are in check. Having everything ready to go, my handouts ready, my feedback forms ready, my AV equipment in check is fabulous. Everything is in it's place.

KILL THE CRAZY

Breathing is very important. I sometimes forget that. First impressions count too. I never forget that. My problem is, if I forget to breathe, then the first impression that I sometimes make is the wrong one. So here's what I did to prep and other things I'm working on: 

• Belly Breaths - Yes, I need to breathe. You do as well. Let's do it together. It calms you, focuses you, and helps you center yourself and your surroundings.

• Being Grateful - I am grateful for this great opportunity to work with so many wonderful, smart, amazing people. I am grateful that I get to speak about a topic I enjoy doing - media planning. I don't do it anymore, but I did it in an old job and I was very good at it. I am grateful for that opportunity because it has led me here today.

• Accept My Feelings Right Now - I'm in the moment. I am presently in the present. I've stopped thinking about home life, the fact that the siding guy just called to tell me he's putting siding on only one side of our house, the fact that I have a lump in my throat. I'm not going to think about that. I'm going to think about providing my customers with an awesome presentation. I'm only drinking water - no more caffeine. I accept that in 45 minutes I will start to present to great people who want my help.

• Take It Easy - It's all about one thing at a time and being chill. The Rolling Stones are playing. I'm going to a baseball game tonight. I'll get to have a beer with some awesome people. One thing at a time focusing on the now.

• Sleep - It's funny when people ask me "Do you miss your husband and baby when you travel so much?" The answer is of course I do. However, I welcome the sleep. I sometimes sleep better on the road. Could be the hard/firm beds, which I like, or it could be that I'm just exhausted. It's not always like this on the road, but for the most part, I make sure that I get plenty of sleep so I can function successfully.

So here we go. I'm gonna roll in 30 minutes. I think the crazy is under control. My feedback needs to be positive and I already can't wait for my ratings to come back from customers. Wish me luck!