Added for You - The Check List

Let me restate this : I have to deliver or facilitate a few different training sessions or events every month. Oh!

I currently deliver and facilitate more than 15 different courses/events in a given year. Half of those are delivered once or twice a year. A third are designed and delivered only once. All of them require props , handout , speakers, accessories, tools , pens, flip charts , index cards etc. I write a delivery scenario for each of those courses, speeches, or event. That scenario follows a strict timing that dictates when to use the thing . I use special visual cue in my slide-show to help me remember all this. But then , this is the now of the show...what about the before?

I remember fondly a time when everything was simple...I would walk in the classroom or presentation auditorium with my speech in mind, deliver it flawlessly , enjoy the massive standing ovation , walk out , take my check et voil? !

Not really.

This never happened. A typical event rather included the wrong handout, a non-functioning projector ( obviously, this occurred AFTER the start of the presentation in front of an executively impatient audience!) , a computer crash ( this was before I switched to a Mac!), a previous -an incomplete- version of my presentation being shown, a non-functioning computer, no flip-chart, a U-shaped room when I required a classroom setting, no attendance sheet ( in an organisation that craves for that check mark next to the names of their employees), no session evaluation ( when my client wanted proof that my sessions were good!) and a missing prop that was supposed to be the ultimate way to convince people to change their behaviour. Oh, I forgot the magic trick that transforms you into a complete idiot, the defective animation in PowerPoint that mutates you into a red-faced-balloon-attached-to-that-great-pure-silk-red-tie-that-was- supposed-to-look-so-good-with-that-white-shirt....

My humble solution : the check list.

Create one for every course, presentation, speech etc. EVERY single one. Build it as you design your presentation. Add crude cues in the presentation draft version. Once the content is completed, review the presentation to refine the delivery and copy your crude cues in a simple table in a text document ( Word, Pages etc). A table is great because it is simple to create, simple to use and simple to RE-use.

My current check lists now include 5 columns.

Column 1 : The item . A prop,a handout, pens etc.

Column 2 and 3 : To Prepare. I split this one in two : To do and DONE. I simply add a check mark for those item to be designed, photocopied, folded etc.

Column 4 and 5 : To buy. Again I split this one in two : To buy and DONE.

I found that separating the Prepare and Buy items helped me plan ahead. Sell E-Books and Reports and Get Rich from the Internet
I started off with the easy ones, paid surveys and advertising on a few small sites that I created. A year went by and I made a little extra income but I knew I could make so much more.So I sat back and thought about my past efforts and then thought about all the money I had spent. I thought, man, I’ve spent a lot of money on e-books and reports. Those guys really made a killing off of me. Most of the e-books and reports I purchased were of some type of value.The problem was, I did not know how to crnt. That scenario follows a strict timing that dictates when to use the thing . I use special visual cue in my slide-show to help me remember all this. But then , this is the now of the show...what about the before?

I remember fondly a time when everything was simple...I would walk in the classroom or presentation auditorium with my speech in mind, deliver it flawlessly , enjoy the massive standing ovation , walk out , take my check et voil? !

Not really.

This never happened. A typical event rather included the wrong handout, a non-functioning projector ( obviously, this occurred AFTER the start of the presentation in front of an executively impatient audience!) , a computer crash ( this was before I switched to a Mac!), a previous -an incomplete- version of my presentation being shown, a non-functioning computer, no flip-chart, a U-shaped room when I required a classroom setting, no attendance sheet ( in an organisation that craves for that check mark next to the names of their employees), no session evaluation ( when my client wanted proof that my sessions were good!) and a missing prop that was supposed to be the ultimate way to convince people to change their behaviour. Oh, I forgot the magic trick that transforms you into a complete idiot, the defective animation in PowerPoint that mutates you into a red-faced-balloon-attached-to-that-great-pure-silk-red-tie-that-was- supposed-to-look-so-good-with-that-white-shirt....

My humble solution : the check list.

Create one for every course, presentation, speech etc. EVERY single one. Build it as you design your presentation. Add crude cues in the presentation draft version. Once the content is completed, review the presentation to refine the delivery and copy your crude cues in a simple table in a text document ( Word, Pages etc). A table is great because it is simple to create, simple to use and simple to RE-use.

My current check lists now include 5 columns.

Column 1 : The item . A prop,a handout, pens etc.

Column 2 and 3 : To Prepare. I split this one in two : To do and DONE. I simply add a check mark for those item to be designed, photocopied, folded etc.

Column 4 and 5 : To buy. Again I split this one in two : To buy and DONE.

I found that separating the Prepare and Buy items helped me plan ahead. The Sales Letter - 7 Secrets of Copy That Sells
Effective copywriting is absolutely essential to marketing and selling a product online. You can have the best product in the world and it will dead in the water unless you can present the product to the customer in a way that turns prospects into buyers.Copywriting is a challenging art that requires a lifetime to truly master, but you can go a long way toward writing copy that sells by following a basic tested and proven formula.The HookYou must write headlines and subheads ty, this occurred AFTER the start of the presentation in front of an executively impatient audience!) , a computer crash ( this was before I switched to a Mac!), a previous -an incomplete- version of my presentation being shown, a non-functioning computer, no flip-chart, a U-shaped room when I required a classroom setting, no attendance sheet ( in an organisation that craves for that check mark next to the names of their employees), no session evaluation ( when my client wanted proof that my sessions were good!) and a missing prop that was supposed to be the ultimate way to convince people to change their behaviour. Oh, I forgot the magic trick that transforms you into a complete idiot, the defective animation in PowerPoint that mutates you into a red-faced-balloon-attached-to-that-great-pure-silk-red-tie-that-was- supposed-to-look-so-good-with-that-white-shirt....

My humble solution : the check list.

Create one for every course, presentation, speech etc. EVERY single one. Build it as you design your presentation. Add crude cues in the presentation draft version. Once the content is completed, review the presentation to refine the delivery and copy your crude cues in a simple table in a text document ( Word, Pages etc). A table is great because it is simple to create, simple to use and simple to RE-use.

My current check lists now include 5 columns.

Column 1 : The item . A prop,a handout, pens etc.

Column 2 and 3 : To Prepare. I split this one in two : To do and DONE. I simply add a check mark for those item to be designed, photocopied, folded etc.

Column 4 and 5 : To buy. Again I split this one in two : To buy and DONE.

I found that separating the Prepare and Buy items helped me plan ahead. Point Of Sale Systems
An organized enterprise does not exist in a vacuum. Rather, it is dependent on its external environment. It is a humble part of many systems, such as its own industry, the economy, and society as a whole. Thus, the enterprise receives various inputs, changes them somehow, and releases the outputs to the environment.However, this simple model needs to be expanded and developed into a model of operational management that indicates how the various inputs are transformed through the managerial functions of plan people to change their behaviour. Oh, I forgot the magic trick that transforms you into a complete idiot, the defective animation in PowerPoint that mutates you into a red-faced-balloon-attached-to-that-great-pure-silk-red-tie-that-was- supposed-to-look-so-good-with-that-white-shirt....

My humble solution : the check list.

Create one for every course, presentation, speech etc. EVERY single one. Build it as you design your presentation. Add crude cues in the presentation draft version. Once the content is completed, review the presentation to refine the delivery and copy your crude cues in a simple table in a text document ( Word, Pages etc). A table is great because it is simple to create, simple to use and simple to RE-use.

My current check lists now include 5 columns.

Column 1 : The item . A prop,a handout, pens etc.

Column 2 and 3 : To Prepare. I split this one in two : To do and DONE. I simply add a check mark for those item to be designed, photocopied, folded etc.

Column 4 and 5 : To buy. Again I split this one in two : To buy and DONE.

I found that separating the Prepare and Buy items helped me plan ahead. Culture Management and Creativity
Many concepts in the fields of managing creativity are very much applicable to culture management in general. The same concepts that foster creativity and innovation also maximise human capital potential, increase productivity, reduce costs and maintain competitive advantage etc. Some of the many commonalities between culture and creativity management follow.a) A culture of psychological safety and freedom. A culture that limits experience, information and expression and allows relatively few members to cony your crude cues in a simple table in a text document ( Word, Pages etc). A table is great because it is simple to create, simple to use and simple to RE-use.

My current check lists now include 5 columns.

Column 1 : The item . A prop,a handout, pens etc.

Column 2 and 3 : To Prepare. I split this one in two : To do and DONE. I simply add a check mark for those item to be designed, photocopied, folded etc.

Column 4 and 5 : To buy. Again I split this one in two : To buy and DONE.

I found that separating the Prepare and Buy items helped me plan ahead.

Lastly I add the check marks OR the initials of the person responsible for it. Some clients have clerical help who I can rely upon. Alternatively, you might be lucky enough to work with a great administrative assistant. Those are the initials you put there. You then only need to follow up on them to add the DONE check marks at the end.

Print this. Review it. Use it a few days prior to the commitment...and you are done !

I have never forgotten anything since. And that includes back-ups of my presentation slides : one on a USB flash card, one printed form ( my speakers notes and timing), one on CD and one on my iPod ( hard data AND in photos...I just love this ! No need to carry a laptop anymore !)

Bonus : Bring it with you and review it when you leave the premises. This will remind you to bring back your laptop and power supply, speakers, props and evaluation forms !!

The conclusions :

1- Plan ahead

2- Plan ahead...that includes creating a check list.

3- Plan ahead ...review and use that checklist.

4- Plan ahead...when it is time to go back !

The only way to predict the future is to create it. Drucker

....and to use a checklist ! Lavall?e

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