These clever words were written by copywriter Kevin Millicheap when he edited, and improved, the content of the Best Practice Guide on this site, ‘Rehearsal. The Discriminators’.  Experience in recent months, working  with teams from very different companies, confirms just how apt is this thought.

Typically in the first, and too often the only rehearsal, time, angst and energy are expended on revising content, altering visual aids, deciding who says what and when and for how long. Then, with luck, there will be a run-through, stumble-through, of the presentation itself.

All this is fine if it is the first rehearsal. These practicalities must be sorted before proper rehearsals will work and then you need two of them, but aim for three or more. The London 2012 Bid team rehearsed 10 times.

It is fascinating to to observe the real improvements where rehearsal is taken seriously.  From a startpoint, where concern over content inhibits, moving up through the ‘rehearsal gears’ increases confidence.  This leads to a more spontaneous, engaging, personable approach.  People become their normal ‘nice’ selves. 

 And who wants to work with ‘nasty’ people?