How can you manage your time and energy while speaking at multiple events?

Absolutely do your homework and planning! As soon as I book a gig (after my happy dance), I start on my outline for my speech when it’s fresh in my mind after talking to the event Booker. I also organise all my travel and other arrangements (such as dog care for my freaky large Golden doodle). I do a lot of homework when prior to booking the gig so I’m off running when I get the greenlight.

I was guilty on poor time management. I used to rush from one event to another, rushing for flights and get agitated over delays. What works for me now is to allocate a gap, in case of any unforeseen circumstances. Be clear with your flight details and itinerary. Anticipate travelling plans and congestion, or even delay in event itinerary.

You need to plan like a pro! Before you book travel, research venues, audiences, and expectations for each event. Create a realistic itinerary with travel, prep, speaking, and recovery time factored in. Not all events are equal. Focus on the most important ones and set specific, achievable goals (e.g., "Increase website traffic by 10% after this talk"). This planning ensures smooth transitions, targeted presentations, and enough downtime to recharge your energy for each event. You will arrive feeling prepared and confident, ready to deliver your best.

I've meet a lot of speaker and honestly, most of them don't like preparing. They don't like to spend time honing their message, crafting their speech and practicing it. If you can do those then you'll set yourself way a head of the competition.

While each presentation might have a unique flare have your key values and objectives be consistent. The meat of your presentation can remain the same while the story and encasing can look different depending on your audience and the format of the talk.

Of course, I have my core topics and Keynotes, although I have found one of the gifts of being a Speaker is researching the audience and what’s going on in their geographic area and the trends in their industry. I always find a new perspective on my topics that can be added that excite me and that in turn really lights up the room at the presentation.

Don't drink the night before. Alcohol will reduce the quality of your sleep which will make you feel tired. It will also ruin the balance of transmitters in your brain reducing your mood and blunting your focus. Actually it's probably best not to drink for two days before anything that's important.

Honor others time is one of my biggest beliefs and pet peeves. Don’t hog the podium! This is where I take my que from Scotty, the engineer on Star Trek underpromise and overdeliver!

Be discipline with what you intake- your thoughts, your food, your nutrition, your hydration and emotion. During hectic speaking engagements, remember you are the most important asset in order to make your session excellent. Practice strict diet and learn to say no. If needed, explain the reason of you skipping supper or certain dietary requirement to your client to help manage expectations. Engage in "me" time to recharge your energy.

Don't just avoid alcohol completely banish it! Alcohol causes inflammation and prevents recovery. It also decreases memory recall so when you are reflecting on your speech you will be less able to remember what went well and what you can improve on.

Learning constantly involves: Become a lifelong learner: Actively seek feedback from audiences and organizers. Analyze strengths and weaknesses to identify areas for improvement. Learn from others: Watch presentations by renowned speakers and identify best practices to incorporate into your own style. Learn from books: Read books on the subject you speak on and books on public speaking and communication. By continuously learning and refining your skills, you can deliver impactful presentations while conserving energy. This reduces prep time for future events as your core content strengthens.

Know your "batttery". Avoid over-straining yourself in the first event, and only to struggle through the next few ones. Learn to disengage when needed during break, lunch and dinner.

Reflection is the bit that most speakers miss. Every time you speak you should review what went well and what you can improve on. This is the second most important thing that practically all speakers miss. I can't stress this enough, consistent and focused reflection is the key to improvement.

Always travel with Red Bull ... and ice ! Dive 100% into the first one. Don't think about anything but that one, that audience and that message. Then when the first one is done, find a green space and go for a walk. Breathe, listen to the birds and drink water ... before the Red Bull. Cleanse your brain with nature and then and only then start preparing for the second one. Enjoy each one to the fullest !!!

If you don't enjoy speaking then maybe it's time to take up water polo instead. I get that some jobs require you to do it but if you expect it to be a serious part of advancing your business or career you'll need to enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it then neither will the audience.

Don't over-schedule yourself. Good speaking is physically and mentally exhausting, and if you spread yourself too thin, the audiences who see you when you're depleted will know the difference. It's fine to think about how to manage your finite resources if you cannot avoid covering a lot of speaking slots in one unique circumstance, but if this is happening repeatedly, you have a larger problem that you need to solve, and there are no "hacks" that can hide the thin quality of an exhausted speaker.

Allow others to speak! Sometimes opening the floor for even 1-2 minutes to the audience not only keeps your audience engaged, but allows you to have a breather from speaking

I would say Know Yourself! If you know yourself well, you'll be able to plan accordingly. If you are someone that needs a few weeks between engagements, so be it. If you can recover quickly and can manage back to back engagements within hours or days, good for you too! I feel that there is no one size fits all solution here.