Co-Presenting With An Idol
Following on from the last discussion, I have been asked to provide some insight when your presentation is co-hosted with someone you consider an idol either personally or in the field of your presentation topic.
My approach is the same. I do the research, even when I think I know the person, focusing on what has been presented recently and looking at the presentation style used by my co-presenter.
In this instance it is very important to try and make contact well before the event so that you are not feeling overwhelmed by the occasion as well as by your co-presenter. Even making contact with their personal assistant (if they have one) will help you feel you re part of the presentation team.
At the back of all this is an underlying reason why YOU are presenting with this person. Don’t ever forget that! But don’t try to impress them to the detriment of your presentation itself.
The focus of your joint presentation still remains your audience so you still need to consider all the questions I have talked about in other posts:
- Who – Who will be in the audience? Who are they representing? Who will hear about the information you impart?
- What – What is the actual topic of the presentation? What do you want the audience to do as a result of the presentation?
- Where – Where will you be presenting?
- Why – Why are they there? Why are you there? Why are you speaking them?
Once you accept the invitation to co-present with an idol, celebrate that you have this opportunity, then get back to the real task at hand which is preparing for your presentation.
One last tip – if the presentation isn’t working well, don’t second guess why and don’t blame yourself. Focus on the audience and your own part of the presentation, do the analysis after the event, not during it!