What Public Speaking - In Person - Looks Like Post-Quarantine
Those gum and beer commercials are pretty spot-on.
Today I coached an HR exec who’s prepping for an upcoming, post-pandemic conference. An in-person conference. Socially-distanced, vaccines required (yay!), but still - in person.
As we prepped her speech, she shared some concerns with me. What if she forgot something - not just in her speech, but a small, logistical thing? What if she entered wrong? What if…what if?
“I haven’t done this in front of an audience in nearly two years,” she said.
I told her she was in good company. Earlier this year, I forgot to take a break during a 2-hour workshop. I forgot because it’s been that long since I was in front of a live audience.
We laughed and nodded in recognition. “We’ve gotten so used to this,” she said, gesturing to our shared Zoom window.
I likened our conference experiences to those beer commercials depicting people having a difficult time in the real world, like this gem from Heineken:
And don’t get me wrong…I absolutely love doing (fully vaccinated, socially-distanced) in-person speaking engagements. I’m happy to see people again -as are most of us.
Extra gum did a great job with this one. This commercial, while hyperbolic, captures the joy I feel these days going to a concert.
I prefer the longform version of this commercial:
How are you feeling, being back in the world again? Tell us in the comments below.
One of my favorite post-pandemic conference swag items. This was at an Association conference where I presented my workshop “The Art of Public Speaking.”
About The Author
Hi! I’m Marianna. I make the process of public speaking easier for my clients. And I present at conferences! I help speakers and presenters (even reluctant ones) with everything from preparation to managing anxiety and nerves to speaking with strength and confidence.
Workshops & coaching are available online or in-person! I will bump your fist when we meet.