Mastering a 2-Hour Show: Tips and Tricks for Nervous Presenters

[4kids4me]

I am doing a show in the morning for around 30-50 ladies. It is in a hotel, I have the room to myself for 2 HOURS! Downside is I have no kitchen or water source. I will have a microwave. Anywho, I havent' done a show in a few months, and even then I've only done 3 shows in my life!!! I am very nervous! Please share with my outlines or suggestions for what to prepare that has gone well for you. I'm really nervous! I'm also doing the Creative Memories presentation for 2 hours before this, and they have a whole line of new products I have to become familiar with. AND I've got a terrible cold.

Wahh!

So anything you have to help with would be HUGELY appreciated! TIA!

 

[chefann]

Relax! Let them know that it'll be a little longer to take orders with such a large group, but you still want to have a chance to connect with each of them. You may want to consider not doing a full demo, but just mention a few of the big product collections (stoneware, cookware, knives, SA, etc.), and then take orders.

 

[4kids4me]

Any suggestions on what to demo? or what food to precook? I am going to be there a while w/o a fridge, so I can't really do anything perishable. I want to bring my trifle and SA - maybe filling with candy??? Any suggestions on anything I could make copies of to pass out?

 

[pckelly]

WOW, how did you get such a huge show booked? I thought about doing demo's once a week at the Marriott here, just an idea!! Relax, you will do great, and you can prepare the food ahead of time and just do some simple demos that showcase the knives and amybe 8 inch saute pan!!

 

[chefann]

The colossal chopped salad would be a good demo. You can precook the pasta, and take everything in a cooler and it should be OK. It also makes a lot, so you can give a taste to everyone. It's made in the large SA bowl (the square one), but if you don't have that, you can even make it in the ss mixing bowls.A trifle is a good idea, except that it doesn't really hold enough for everyone to have a taste. But you can set up a pretty display with it.

 

[abrahamlaur]

I would definately do what ann suggested ... because there are so many people you ahve to take orders for ... you dont want to spend all your time demoing ...

maybe what you can do is set out EVERYTHING you have, since there will be so many people there, and they can either test out some stuff or just look at it then you would be walking around mingling and asking for any questions ... whenever someone would be ready to order, you would be ready to take it ...

i just know that my usual show takes about 2 hours .. and thats with a max of 15 people. you could make a nice center peice out of your triffle, your SA filled with candy or cookers or something, stack up your SS mixing bowls and put a bow with drapping ribbon on top. set out your batter bowls and utenzils .. tell them alittle about the new products, the host special for Sept and oct and maybe give away a nice prize for the person with the highest order/anyone that books .. hope it helps and good luck!

 

[4kids4me]

Thx for all the ideas - I'll check the recipe for that salad. That sounds easy enough!

Oh, you'll never guess how I booked this amazing show! I was giving something away on Freecycle (The Freecycle Network) in JANUARY and this lady called to see if I'd be interested in doing the show. I have my info on my sig line. Actually, at the time I was just doing CM and was in the process of signing my PC contract, so when I mentioned that, she was thrilled to fill 2 spots for her conference with just one person. Woo hoo!

 

[KellyTheChef]

Good luck tomorrow! I just checked out that site and there are a few of them with postings from very close to me...I am joining now! That's a super idea!

 

[4kids4me]

Freecycle is awesome - you can't use your sig line when you're posting, but you can when you're responding. I have got a LOT of business through Freecycle - for all my businesses!! (PC, Creative Memories and my home daycare and tutoring / piano lessons.) Keeps me busy, lol.

Back to panicking about tomrorrow - I decided against the Colossal Chx Salad. Bit expensive for me unfortunately. Although I did just hear from the coordinator that she is expecting fewer ladies - 15-20 now. And at least one guy who is a HUGE PC fan. YAY!