Last Wednesday night I was the featured speaker at the “Over 40 Females Connecticut Chapter.” As I had hoped, it was a lot of fun! It was such a great group of women, with tons of energy in the room.

Of course, for me, the 60 minute talk itself was just one small piece of the overall event; there was a lot of preparation, both before and after:

Before:

I created my presentation; I put together my speaker notes; I practiced it out loud; and I chose my outfit (my favorite part of prep!).

I also updated my “Yes” form, something I hand out which gives audience members a chance to get a copy of the presentation, sign up for my newsletter and schedule a 30 minute consult with me to talk about their business.

Finally, I made sure I had the right address for the event and confirmed that the projector would be on site and ready to go when I arrived.

After:

I pulled out my speaker’s checklist the next day (you have one of these, right?) and made sure I didn’t miss a step in my follow up:

• I wrote a thank you note to the host
• I posted the event on my RocketGirl Facebook page
• I added those who requested it to my newsletter list (welcome all of you!)
• I sent copies of my presentation to those who requested it
• I scheduled follow-up meetings with those who were interested
• I invited people I met to connect with me on LinkedIn
• I added those I met to my contact database

Most people think of public speaking opportunities as just the event itself. That’s important, of course.

In my experience, though, the biggest gains come from the work you do before and, more important, after the talk.

Create your own speaker’s checklist (feel free to borrow mine above) and you won’t miss a beat the next time you have an opportunity to present!