Preparing For and Doing Your Talk Onboard (Part 3 Lessons from an actual cruise)

The time has come to do your talks. First, how will you learn about when you’ll do your presentations?

As a general rule you will only give your presentations when you are at sea or on “sea days.” At your meeting with the activities coordinator and he or she will sometimes tell you “about” when your talks will be. Sometimes the activities coordinator will call you the evening before or the morning of your talk.

But don’t count on it.

The absolute best way to know when your talks are scheduled is to closely monitor the daily onboard newsletter which will be delivered to your cabin every evening. This is the ultimate authority on when and where you will present.

Next, you must show up at least 30-miuntes before your presentation. If you are unsure of exactly which venue you will present in, go a few minutes earlier to find your way in plenty of time.

Once you arrive at the venue confirm that all of your equipment is there. Note: Don’t freak out if the equipment is not there. Many times the Audio/ Visual Technician won’t arrive with it until 15 minutes before you are to start. If he or she has not arrived by 10 minutes till, call the activities coordinator and advise.

To build rapport with the audience I will greet and introduce myself to them as them enter the venue. I’ll ask their name, where they are from, how they are enjoying their cruise, etc.
For the talk itself I usually use a short PowerPoint program or a follow-along guide (described in Speak on Cruise Ships http://www.speakerscruisefree.com/cruise-free.html ) or both.
Clearly, you must not only know your material but you must be enthusiastic about sharing it. Another crucial thing is to introduce yourself and let your audience know how you got to be standing in front of them. In this intro it is crucial that you describe as many common threads as possible. In other words, you want to show that you have much in common with members of your audience. For example, you have common interests, common experiences, have made similar observations, etc.

I will also incorporate as much light humor as my topic will allow. People absolutely adore speakers who can make them chuckle. Similarly, I will use a variety of audience participation strategies like allowing questions and observations throughout my talk and will even incorporate games or role plays where I’ll bring someone up on stage and role play with them. It’s all good fun and gets your audience to invest in the program.

For information on what kinds of programs the cruise lines are seeking and how to put them together I refer you to my Speak on Cruise Ships e-program at http://www.speakerscruisefree.com/

At the end of my talk I will always thank them for coming and, using my discretion, I will suggest that if they liked the program that they should tell the cruise lines about that fact when at the end of the cruise an evaluation survey is distributed to them.

That’s it for this installment. Watch for the next one, coming soon.