2026-05-04
Do dry-runs, even for short talks
To all public speakers: Do bloody dry-runs.
For the session I presented last week at DataBeers Brussels, the whole intro was holding on one specific joke. It was funny as hell, smart enough to carry the message, and the perfect transition to the actual content.
The day before the session, I dry-ran it to my wife and my daughter. Guess what happened? 😅
The joke didn't work. Like, at all. Worse, even AFTER I explained it... they still didn't get it. So I changed the whole intro. The day before. At 8PM. I made it simpler, and less risky timing-wise.
So again... do dry-runs. Even for 7-minute sessions, even for sessions you think will work as expected. Until you try it in front of real humans, it's all assumptions. 💁🏻♂️
Ever tried a joke that totally fell flat in front of a crowd? 😅
PS. I promise I'm done milking this talk for LinkedIn content... for now.
PPS. I still think the joke was funny.
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100% I just worked with someone doing a very high profile event, and we did a couple of dry runs. Even recruited some friends to lob "unfriendly" questions at them to practice handling hostile Q&A (it happens).
The more high-stakes the sessions, the more you should do rehearsal prep
Daidree
YES!
I recall myself - sharing a funny example on stage where the only person laughing was.... me, inside my head. 😂
It was so funny to me, but the audience was completely silent. They were listening with extremely serious faces and taking pictures of the slide while I was waiting for the laughter to hit. 😅
Dry runs are life-savers!
Bernadeta