# How did I handle seven work presentations over two days?

By [Craig Coffee](/craig-coffee)

I was doing process-improvement work with two other people. Then a senior person told us we'd be on a panel at the company's town halls the following Thursday. We had four days to prepare.

Here was the shitter: it wasn't one town hall. It was seven over two days. Same panel. We had to speak at all seven.

I worked really hard on the preparation. I did well, and I was very nervous. The sessions were recorded too, which I hadn't known.

## What I did in the five-minute gaps

There were five minutes between town halls. I went to the bathroom most of the time and [played my pump-up song](/music-before-speaking).

I did it in the midst of chaos. I did it for me. No one knew. I took that time for myself in my own big moments to work on my emotional state.

## I had something familiar I could use again

Music was something I had already learned to use before speaking. It changed how I felt. Here, I used it before going back into the next session.

That is the particular thing I wanted to explain about those two days: taking a little time for myself while I still had more speaking to do.

## Related answers

- [What do I try to do before a work meeting starts?](/stuttering-in-meetings)
- [How can I prepare without scripting every word?](/preparing-without-scripting)

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