What do you do if you're feeling overwhelmed by tight deadlines for a public speaking event?

Feeling overwhelmed by tight deadlines for a public speaking event? Take a deep breath and break it down. Prioritize your tasks—focus on the core message first, then polish the details. Practice in short, focused sessions to manage your time effectively. If possible, delegate or seek help with non-essential tasks. Remember, it's better to deliver a clear, concise message than to overwhelm yourself with perfection. Stay calm, and you'll do great!

If you're feeling overwhelmed by tight deadlines for a public speaking event, the best way to handle it is by prioritizing your tasks. First, list everything you need to do. Then, decide what’s most important, like finishing your speech or practicing it, and focus on those things first. Break bigger tasks into smaller, manageable steps so they don’t seem too overwhelming. Don’t try to do everything at once - work on the most important things first, and save the rest for later. If you have a team make sure you delegate the less important tasks and focus on your core- which is practicing your speech and internalising it. This way, you’ll stay calm and get everything done on time without too much stress.

Some say practice what you preach, well in this case you can preach what you practice! Being put on the spot can be a surprise especially when given no time to rehearse and fact check and rinse and repeat. Speaking to what you do know and expounding upon those ponderings and deep thoughts will keep your audience engaged and their thoughts interested to keep up with the content. If you try falsely trick your audience that you are the know all be all, that can backfire and obviously it can be smelled a away with a well rounded crowd. But having an open dialogue as you would with your selfs mind cam stimulate the crowd into thinking differently and seeing your content from a different angle that they may have never encountered before. ????

When I'm up against deadlines, I’ve found it helpful to draw from my previous speeches or presentations. Reviewing these past materials not only provides valuable content I can "recycle" and repurpose, but it also re-energizes and refocuses me. I’m often pleasantly surprised by the great content I uncover, which I can then apply and leverage in my current work.

If carving out time for self-care tasks exacerbates your anxiety around a speech, this is often confirmation that you have overcomplicated the task. A speech that will not be successful without an all-nighter will likely still be hindered if you cut out sleep to prepare. Pinpoint the aspects of your preparation that directly limit your ability to meet your health needs and push yourself to brainstorm 2-3 alternatives to this preparation that could still lead to a successful speech. Identifying alternatives that allow you to feel like sleep is an option will greatly lessen your general anxiety, promoting a sense of calm and well-being.