The Vote of Thanks Template
If you want to engage your audience, move!
The scariest rehearsal is always the first one.
There are many reasons for this, but primarily, it comes down to one thing.
Because we know the first rehearsal will be the worst rehearsal.
The very essence of practice is that the more we do it, the stronger our performance becomes.
And so, we avoid that first rehearsal because we know the initial output will be poor. We avoid it because we know that beginning means a commitment. A commitment to improving, a commitment to further rehearsal and a commitment to the hard work that this will entail.
But here’s the flip side.
Everything that happens after you open your mouth and speak the first word of your first rehearsal will be an improvement on what would have been.
The first rehearsal is in fact constant progress.
The first rehearsal is also therapeutic. Like going to the gym, we dread it, but ultimately we feel a lot better afterwards. After the first rehearsal our mind is in fact much clearer. Whatever the outcome, we now know what needs to be done to improve our performance (more practice, a rewrite, more feedback) and we can make it happen. Our mind is ultimately much clearer, focused and driven. Marvellous.
And finally, the earlier you start your first rehearsal, the more time for constant progress you have, and the better your performance will be. If you begin early, this makes the potential success of your next presentation, huge.
