If someone asked you if you could speak in Mumbai, India on Sunday, in Singapore on Monday and in Munich, Germany on Tuesday, would you accept?
What if I added that the speech in Mumbai would end 8.00 PM (!) and for the speech in Munich you would have to be at the conference ballroom at 7.15 AM (!) for the sound check.
Would you do it?
Could you do it?
Is it even possible to do it?
I just did.
After speaking from 7-8 PM in central Mumbai I jumped into a taxi for the 90 minute taxi ride to the brand new Mumbai Airport.
Boarded a plane for Singapore that left 23.50 PM and landed in Singapore at 6.30 AM Monday.
Went home to my kids and played with them for a couple of hours and then went to sleep from 10 AM to 3.30 PM to make sure I would not have any jetlag to slow me down.
Went to a Parent-Teacher meeting for my oldest daughter at 4.30 – 5 PM
Then off to venue for my evening speech.
Arrive at venue 5.30 for sound check (thank goodness for the lack of traffic jams in Singapore).
Did my speech 6 PM to 7 PM.
Jump into taxi and arrive at Changi Airport at 8 PM
Check in and board plane that leaves at 9.20 PM
Sleep in the comfort of the Qatar Business class seats.
Arrive in Doha around midnight and fly onwards to Munich (this time in their brand new business class seats that are the best I have ever had (apart from Singapore airlines business class seats which are the best by a mile…). Slept like a baby.
Land in Munich at 6.30 AM.
Driver picks me up and takes me to hotel.
Shower and change to speaking suit.
Go down to ballroom and do sound check at 7.15 AM Tuesday.
Then attended the morning sessions of the conference and got up on stage to deliver my speech at 11 AM, less than 40 hours after standing on stage in Mumbai.
The lesson here is that it is quite possible to do speeches in different parts of the world even if the dates are close to each other.
Just make sure you sleep, nap and rest as much as you possible can so that you are not tired when it’s time to stand on the stage.
And make sure that all the clients involved are aware of, and comfortable with, your travel schedule.
Hopefully this post will inspire you to take on more international speaking assignments without feeling that you will have to put in a lot of “extra days” in order to get them done.
