Speaker preparation Having selected your speakers and got them to sign up to your contract, next stage of preparation is working with them to write their talks. Under no circumstances should you allow a speaker to do this alone. If you do, you will lose control over your messages and your overall conference mission. In other words, speakers are going to need to work closely with you and accept their talks being edited – even written for them. In fact, many top company conferences use scriptwriters who produce all of talks for all of speakers. That way delivery of key messages and conference mission is tightly controlled. Of course, this does not mean your speakers can have no input. Their contributions are highly valuable. It just means you need to get them to work with a professional writer who can take their material and shape into something that fits with overall conference objectives. Speakers will usually only be interested in their talk; hence they can disturb balance of meeting as they are not properly focused on conference as a whole. Using a scriptwriter means that you can ensure that meeting does not become unbalanced in any way.

Preparing audio visuals The scripts for each talk can be basis for preparation of visuals for conference. Often, speakers fall into trap of preparing their slides and then trying to write their talk around them. This means presentations can often drift and lose attention of audience as they are not tightly controlled. By writing words first, it is possible to choose visuals that are much more accurately linked to material being said. Also, being able to read text of a talk allows graphic artists to be more creative as they know exactly what speaker is trying to convey. Never start a talk with visuals – always write text first and add visuals later.

Preparing venue You have now reached stage where you have a detailed timetable of programme, words that will be said and visuals that will accompany them. You now need to make sure that environment in which all this activity will take place is set up to help you achieve your mission. You will need to visit venue a number of times to prepare efficiently and effectively. You will need to look out for ways in which your audience will pass through building – gain a good idea of ‘foot flow’. Make sure building is going to help you achieve what you want. If modifications are needed, such as barriers or signage, get them organised now. You will also need to work out items like seating arrangements for audience and speakers, as well as lighting, acoustics and a host of other ‘production’ factors. If you are not experienced in this aspect of conference organisation, you will need advice of a professional conference director or a conference production company. Don’t make mistake of getting these people in after you have made your decisions about venue and your meeting. Get these people in early; seek their advice and their input to your preparation. These people organise many conferences and know all problems – and more importantly can come up with solutions to any difficulties you may face. If you have already organised your mission statement for meeting and drawn up your list of key messages, a conference producer will be so much more able to help.

Practising Under no circumstances should you allow a conference to go ahead without rehearsal. Otherwise, event itself will be first rehearsal. Can you imagine seeing a play’s first rehearsal? Even professional actors can improve upon their first attempts. Yet, you are likely to be using people without such skills as your presenters. Hence, their first rehearsal is almost certainly going to be quite bad, compared with final performance. If you do not have any rehearsals, your conference will be nothing more than a bunch of amateurs trying to do their best, and probably failing. You simply must rehearse; otherwise you will be unable to meet your objectives.

Ideally, you should rehearse each speaker alone, several weeks in advance. Get a presentations coach to guide them through some key improvements and to help them learn some stage skills. If you have people who are new to speaking at conferences, get them some basic training. Then, get your speakers together so they can perform a ‘run through’. In this way, everyone will know what will take place and order of event. They will also get a ‘feel’ for detailed timetable. These kinds of rehearsals can be in any large room – a hotel, a village hall, it doesn’t really matter. However, you will also want your speakers to feel comfortable with venue, so you will need them to run through their talks on actual stage they will be using. Do this a week or two in advance, so they can go away and think about any changes in delivery they need to make and get a chance to practice them. Finally, day before conference you should have a full ‘dress rehearsal’ – lights, cameras, visuals etc. Only then will your conference mission be achievable. To do any less is to accept second best.

Guiding your helpers Throughout conference planning and organising process you will doubtless have a team of assistants, from admin to graphic artists to people who hand out badges to audience. All of these people should know what is happening at every stage of process. For this reason you should produce a complete guide to conference – a manual for team involved. This should show all detailed times, include important information about venue, hotels being used and so on. Make sure all important contact information is included and instructions are added as to what to do in all sorts of eventualities. This manual will be ‘bible’ which every ‘back stage’ participant will need to use to ensure event runs smoothly. In professional theatre, such manuals are an established means of ensuring production runs smoothly. Initially developed by producer, these manuals eventually become stage manager’s rulebook for running show. Your manual should do just same.

On day Firstly, don’t worry. Secondly, don’t panic. If you have done all planning and preparation thoroughly, any difficulties at this stage will be minor. Whatever happens ‘the show must go on’. So, sit back and enjoy watching audience have a good time. If you have planned it effectively, they will. Well done.