Preparing for the big day

By
Isaac
 – 09/09/2010Posted in: Article, Performance Edge, Sports Performance, Technique, Uncategorized
logical levels front

I recently found something  really helpful when preparing for a big day. I’ve tried it before job interviews, big presentations and even before a big fencing competition and its worked really well. As far as I can tell, the long term benefits of this is debatable but it seems to work great for me as a short term support technique before the big event. The technique might be a bit weird at first but hang with it and it will definetly pay dividends.

I usually do this the night before and then again a few hours before the event. The theory behind this is called ‘NLP Logical Levels’  which I won’t go into here but if your curious about the theory just search it on Google and there are plenty of resources.

In this example we will assume you are preparing for a presentation.

Before you get started

Grab 6 sheets of paper and a pen/permanent marker.

Find a quiet room where you will not be distrurbed

Now Lets get Started

On the 1st sheet of paper write ’1. Environment’

On the 2nd sheet of paper write ’2. Behaviour’

On the 3rd sheet of paper write ’3. Capabilities’

On the 4th sheet of paper write ’4. Beliefs & Values’

On the 5th sheet of paper write ’5. Identity /Role’

On the 6th sheet of paper write ’6. Purpose’

Laying out the sheets of paper

Place the sheets of paper on the floor as you see fit.  I seem to lay them out like a skyscraper but that is just my preference.

Doing the Walk

Now its time to walk through the model . (Order is very important)

1st go and stand on the Environment sheet and describe /imagine the environment where you will be giving the presentation. Imagine every detail, what the room look like, is it bright or dark, what type of tables are there etc.

2nd go and stand on the Behavior sheet. Now that you’ve established the environment,  describe/imagine what Behaviors are required from you to have a sucessfull presentation. For example, maybe you need to be very relaxed or very active. Feel these behaviors as you stand on the 2nd sheet. Be as detailed as possible

3rd go to the sheet called Capabilities. As you are standing on this sheet ask yourself the question “what capabilities do I need to give a great presentation”

4th go to the sheet labeled Beliefs & Values. As you are standing on this sheet ask yourself the question “What beliefs do I need”. For example, maybe you need to believe that you are a great presenter, or that you believe you have the answer to all the questions.

5th Move on to the sheet labeled Identity/Role and ask yourself what your role at this presentation(maybe you are the lead presenter or you are speaking about a particular part of a project, etc)

6th Go to the Purpose sheet and ask yourself, what is My purpose for doing this? It might be because you want senior management to see how hard your team has been working, maybe its to get that promotion to secure a better future for your family etc.

Now that your at the Purpose sheet walk your self in reverse order starting at Purpose and finishing at enviornment either repeating or adjusting your answers as necessary. You might find it usefull to do this a few times to really reinforce your answers.

Give it a go and I would love to hear how it works. Good luck on your big day.

Isaac

About the Author