OMG I have a speaking engagement today. My very first (not counting medical/scientific talks). And I am nervous. This is so different from a podcast interview or a platform presentation where all I have to do is essentially explain my slides.
I’m sharing my life and my planning techniques and hopefully in a way that seems interesting and relevant and has some sort of coherent message. I have created an outline and done some practice, but I just don’t know how things are going to land, you know? So basically I’m thrilled to be doing it, AND I can’t wait for it to be done.
(Notably, the audience is legal/tech – I’d be far less intimidated by a group of physicians. Haha. But I’m trying to remind myself that the challenges are probably similar; I mean, I very much know that from all of your comments since readers and listeners come from ALL kinds of fields*. Also I am excited that I found deep in my archives this post (2013!!) from when I went to a work/life balance talk att work that made me want to throw things and then give up. I hope to just . . . NOT be that experience for anyone ever.)
WISH ME LUCK because I so want it to be a success!! I would love to go around proselytizing planning, and I know that the ability to do it again hinges on me doing well.
*Interestingly, the most common career represented in BLPA Round 1? Academics! Many professors of various things, from engineering and medicine to the humanities. So cool and also interesting! There are lots of others (physicians, lawyers, business, teaching, etc) but I found the trend fascinating.
PS: OMG WHAT AM I WEARING? I think maybe this dress . . .
Okay time to practice (and drive to Miami which is its own challenge)!
20 Comments
I love that dress! This is so awesome. I also find that interesting about who uses it. I am a Ph.d student with ADHD and you have inspired me to attempt to plan and actually stick with it.
Good luck, though I have no doubt that you don’t need luck, because you’ll be AMAZING!!!
I am cheering for you through my disappointment that this post is not about how to buy tickets for some kind of live event 🙂
I suspect that your ability to recognize there is no one-size approach will help make it less likely people are wanting to throw things. Also, is this opt-in or required? If the former, that further reduces the likelihood.
I predict part of the academia appeal is that our freedom with time is also a challenge. Whenever Gretchen Rubin reminds me that which can be done at anytime is often done at no time I feel so seen.
Good luck Sarah 👍
All the best Sarah, you’ll be great. Love your choice of dress.. Please post feedback on how it went. Ps. Didn’t book fast enough so no BLPA for me this time round x
I would say Break a leg! But given your intense training and my family name-curse I won’t!
You are SO good at speaking. You are sound engaging, approachable, poised, charming… Nothing to worry about.
Please do consider a freelancer cohort for BLPA!
I am a lawyer! Planning is critical to being successful and for many of us lawyers it is not an innate skill. I actually am listening to a planning and time management webinar for lawyers now (which is useful but very dry). You will be great.
Good luck! You will do awesome.
Good Luck ! hope your talk goes well and will inspire your to take more opportunities like this. Coming from tech I think people could definitely benefit from your knowledge, while we do formal planning at work, many people I know don’t think about planning their personal life.
Good luck! I know you will rock this. Also that dress is super cute!
Good luck!
I hope it went well!
good luck but i know you won’t need it because you’ll be prepared and kill it 🙂
Hope it went really well. I am sure it will have.
Good luck!! We’re all rooting for you!
You are right when you recognize the many people that read and comment are in different areas. I am more in academics and you also have inspired me with planning and also with real conversation around life. Wearing what makes you feel great is key for presenting and for a first live, don’t be too hard on yourself. Even now after teaching for 18 years, I still tweak to do things “better”.
As someone who was at the event I just wanted to say what an amazing job Sarah did! Not only was her presentation fantastic but her prompts for planning encouraged people to engage in meaningful dialogs about planning and future goals beyond the usual networking chit chat. Fantastic job Sarah!
awww you are the best!!!! <3 thank you again for thinking of me and having me!!!
By now the presentation is done so I can’t wish you good luck but I hope it went well – although I am confident that it did. The fact that you practiced is KEY. I presented at a conference this summer which is something I do not do very often, and I practiced so many times and timed myself so I knew how long I was talking. I am sure your content was super well-received! That dress is super cute! I’m all about wearing dresses for conferences or client meetings. I hate business suits so much and do not feel powerful/confident in them so I exclusively wear dresses for important engagements!
Very interesting about the representation of careers within your first BLPA. I bet it would be interesting for you to do a survey of your podcast listeners. Lots of other podcasts do this and I love it when they share the results!!
I just read through your blog post from 2013 and seeing the shifts and changes you’ve made in your life are really heartwarming and encouraging. And with two more kids! Hope the talk went well!