Putting Off Your Presentation Prep? Go on EAT THE FROG
“I would have sent you the draft last weekbut I kept putting it off and putting it off until the last minute”
The other day I was helping my fantastic client rehearse for an extremely high profile speech she had to give after dinner in front of hundreds of her senior colleagues.
Let’s call her “Alice”. She’s funny, feisty, full of joie de vivre and incredibly charismatic.
She’s also very human and like most of us, dreads the thought of having to stand up in public in front of hundreds of her peers in fear of being judged, doing a bad job, forgetting her lines, boring her audience, annoying her audience, breaking out in a rash, falling over, shaking, and all those niggly things that prey on your mind when you venture outside your comfort zone.
Then she admitted to me that she had completely rushed the draft script and it wasn’t really fit for purpose for our rehearsal because she hadn’t done the one dreaded thing she was supposed to do…
Eat the Frog
She told me…
“Eventually I had to eat the frog last night, even though the famous Mark Twain quote advices you should eat the frog first thing in the morning, so the results aren’t brilliant”
Here’s the quote..
“Eat a Live Frog Every Morning, and Nothing Worse Will Happen to You the Rest of the Day” Mark Twain
Reddit reddit reddit – this made me laugh. Her entire team now uses this phrase for anything they would rather not do.
Are You Avoiding the Frog Right Now for Your Pitch or Presentation?
Do you have things you put off and put off because you can’t bear to tackle it head on, even when you need to?
I.E prep for the pitch, the VAT return, responding to that difficult client over email?
Yes, me too.
Have you ever made yourself EAT THE FROG first thing in the morning?
It’s far better than eating the frog at night. You need to JUST DO IT.
Most of my clients have these massive great “frogs” jumping around their offices because they’ve PUT OFF preparing for their presentation, speech, pitch practice or slide deck.
That’s where I come in.
I understand you’re busy, and it’s time consuming.
That’s why when you work with me, I will always tell you not to worry about hours of written prep. We can do this together. I know you won’t have eaten the frog before I turn up. (Yes, don’t worry I just know. It’s a talent of mine.)
Remember. Mad Rushes Create Nothing but Inferior Results.
Most of the time when I’m helping with bespoke speeches or pitches - before I arrive – clients are:
- In a mad rush
- Throwing some slides together (from last time)
- Ferociously printing endless notes (that will never make the final edit)
- Forgetting about creating a beautifully crafted script
- FULL of guilt, anxiety, cortisol (stress hormone) and dread.
In other words, there’s a HUGE frog sitting in the room.
I can help you EAT THE FROG.
If you’re staring at a blank page and you don’t know where to start, that’s where having someone to teach you how to eat that damned frog for an hour or 2 is extremely valuable and a very efficient use of your time.
So, it dawned on me that my job description is now Esther Stanhope – The Impact Guru who helps you EAT THE FROG.
Never worry about writing your speech, presentation or pitch again.
You just need to get me in to dissect, chop, dice, fry and simmer your frog for you so you can get it down with ease.
Stop putting it off – give me a call and we can tackle that big old croaker together. Drop me line esther@estherstanhope.com