Situational Awareness

06 Jul Situational Awareness

Situational awareness or SA is a necessary skill in law enforcement, ship navigation, emergency response, and other potentially dangerous lines of work. However, if you’re presenting an important talk or pitch, leveraging these skills will also serve you.

The definition of SA is “Perception of the elements in the environment; Comprehension of the situation; and Projection of future status.” Here’s what it means for speakers. You enter a room to deliver a yearly economic report. The window behind you has sunlight streaming in, which will dull your PowerPoint and blind your audience. You know that attendees’ chairs must be repositioned or the windows covered so that your presentation isn’t derailed. This happened to one of our clients. He froze and failed to make the necessary changes. His presentation tanked.

When delivering a keynote, we will check out the location (e.g. conference room) the night before, walk the space, and rehearse out loud to an imaginary audience. We work out any kinks then-and-there.

The same applies to webinars. Check out your background, lighting and sound whenever you’re presenting virtually. For any speaking space, consider your setup, challenges and how to fix them. Think like a pro and you’ll always do well.