How can you avoid burnout and stress as a public speaker?

Knowing your limits when being a speaker means knowing what you AND your family can tolerate when it comes to days and nights on the road. In 2012, I met my wife, and that year I was on the road 246 days. I promised her that I could reduce the amount of time on the road, but that it would take time. Fast forward a decade into the future, and now I am only on the road 60 nights per year. I get to spend most of the time at home with her, which is great. In order to strike this balance, it's important for me to be effective with my travel. Sometimes, conferences offer me to stay an extra night or two. When they do this, it is very generous and it sounds amazing! But if I accepted all these offers, I'd miss out on time with my family.

It’s also important to set intentional periods of rest and recovery, and limits on the number of assignments you take. That can look like one weekend a month where you do not accept any speaking appointments, or one month out of the year. Be intentional about setting and respecting those boundaries, and reserve that time for rest, family, or research and planning ahead for future speaking engagements.

Yes! This is very important. For several years, I created a boundary in my professional life: do not take any non-paid engagements during the summer. This limitation has allowed me to create an outstanding work-life balance dynamic. Unless the public speaking engagement is paid and contributes to more quality time with my loved ones during the summer, I am not committing to it.

In my experience, it’s mindfully checking in on how I feel at the end of the week of speaking engagements. And then applying the learnings going forward when I take bookings. Like many speakers, I don’t just do presentations, and have a wide variety of other work offerings and commitments (that change regularly) on a daily basis, so this all needs to be taken into account. I constantly evaluate how I’m feeling and adjust my speaking offerings accordingly.

I recommend not working before speaking engagements. It's important to let your mind wander and think about your talking points, the impact they will have, and the impressions they will leave. Most importantly, it is important to evaluate and reevaluate what the audience needs to hear and wants to hear. Sometimes, they are the same thing. But often, they are not. If there is a difference between what they want and what they need, call attention to it. Also, be prepared for pushback and questions. This means you'll need to be able to defend your points, and objective data are best in this case. It's really valuable for me to keep my mind limber ahead of a talk. Let your mind wander, and you might surprise yourself!

When preparing your speeches, it is paramount to understand your audience's perspective(s) as well as factor in the environment you'll be speaking in. Early morning presentations with slide decks demand a different level of preparation and interactivity than an evening Product Q&A session. Accordingly, the differing level of interactivity of your speaking engagements correlate with the personal energy investment required. For example, fielding questions from an audience is generally more mentally taxing than reading from a script. Therefore, when planning your engagements, consider various formats to suit both your audience and also your personal bandwidth.

Less speaking is better for you and your audience rather than more. Limit your sentences but include descriptive key points in your speech.

I just received a notification from my iPhone health app showing me that my steps have been low for five straight weeks. Really? I usually walk 6.75 miles around the park daily. It’s been raining and cold, so I haven’t been doing this daily routine through which I have reached 7,000+ miles since June 2015. I am eating egg/cheese/onion sandwiches on a white roll with coffee and cow’s milk-daily. Ugh?? I have been stressed and out of my self-care routines; that’s piling on more stress. I have been a speaker for several events and marketing for more opportunities by doing more speaking. I don’t beat myself up. I am grateful for e-nudge. So today, I am eating well, walking, praying, and meditating my way back to balance and bliss!

Some of these recommendations are pretty wishful thinking! Being on the road giving speeches makes relaxation, healthy eating, and sound sleep difficult if not impossible! But it is possible to stay hydrated and to exercise. So, I focus my efforts there. Three protips - 1.) Always drink more water than you need. 2.) If you are flying and have free time between flights, walk around the airport to get some steps in. 3.) Try not to drink alcohol on the road, because it will dehydrate you even more. 4.) Focus also on healthy eating, good sleep, and relaxation when you can - at home. It's tough on the road, but a lot easier to do when you can more directly control your environment, schedule, and time. Good luck!

This is important for some speakers but not for others. Some speakers have a set routine, and others like the variety. In general, speakers and talks come in two stripes. 1.) Evergreen 2.) Everchanging Evergreen speeches are timeless. They can be given again and again and again. Think about motivational talks about leadership, teamwork, or mindfulness. Everchanging speeches are all different. This includes the kinds of talks I give on the economy, financial markets, geopolitics, and future technology. If you like your evergreen talk, you may not need or want to change it up. But if you're an everchanging speaker, you live to learn, improve, and cover new topics! It just depends on what kind of speaker you are!

I don't know about this one. This answer really ignores the tension and stress of being on the road for both the speaker - and their family. As a speaker, I'm on the road a lot. So, my top priority is to stay connected with my family and friends at home - and my life that isn't a nonstop roadshow. This means that the last thing I want to do is go to other events, workshops, or conferences to learn and network. What do you think touring musicians or comedians want to do when they aren't touring? Do you really think they want to go travel around and watch other musicians and comedians in other places? No way! They want to sit at home on their couch with their spouse and dog, play with their kids, or have a night out with their friends.

I really enjoy public speaking! It's a chance to share what I know to help others. Knowing why you're a speaker and what mission you have are really important for helping you derive the most joy, satisfaction, and appreciation from your work. It's not an easy job - But it is a very rewarding one!

Be sure to consider the burnout risk of your family and friends, not just your own. Relationships are like financial accounts, and when you travel for work, you are making constant withdrawals from those accounts. Watch the balances and make sure to make ample deposits to those relationship accounts when you are home. It's really important to be present when you're at home, because you so often are not there.

Balance the outward and inward needs. Communication is energy transfer, public speaking is an elevated form of energy transfer in intensity and alertness. In action, or when in the flow, speakers of experience gives it their all, while basking in the attention and responses from the audience. When the session is over, reconnecting with yourself and search for individual ways of being in the presence of youself, let the excitement grow into gratitude for for the audience and yourself. Look inward, reflect, and recharge. Calmness is my ideal state to avoid burnouts.??