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If This Is Your First Time Speaking at Apartmentalize, Read This Before Taking the Stage
If This Is Your First Time Speaking at Apartmentalize, Read This Before Taking the Stage
Speaking at Apartmentalize is a big deal.
I say that as someone who has had the privilege of speaking there a few times. I also served on the education/session selection committee one year, so I've seen the process from the other side too. I saw a lot of strong proposals that didn't get selected.
So if you made the cut, congratulations! But getting selected is not the finish line. Now the real work begins.
I want you to know... the room wants you to crush it.
But the room also knows pretty quickly when you are not ready.
They know when the session was built to sell a product or service, rather than serve the audience. They know when someone is winging it. And they definitely know when a speaker thinks information equates to transformation.
So, if this is your first time speaking at Apartmentalize, here are four mistakes to avoid...
Mistake #1: Thinking information is enoughBut the audience does not need you to prove you belong. You're already there...chosen. You belong.
The audience needs you to help them. Yes, credibility matters, but the fastest way to build trust is to make it about your audience and not about you--even when you're talking about yourself. Show the audience that you get them. When people think, "Okay, this person gets me," that's when they pay attention.
Mistake #3: Not sharing the stage wellOne of the biggest mistakes speakers make is treating their section like a solo performance. They wait for their turn, deliver their content, and then mentally sit down. But the audience doesn't think about it as "my part" and "your part." They see it as one thing.
So if you are sharing the stage, learn how to share it well. Pay attention when your fellow speakers are talking. Listen for moments you can tie back to. Reinforce their strongest points. Tee them up when it is their turn. Make the session feel connected.
A simple "I love what Sarah just said about…" or "That connects directly to what Marcus mentioned earlier…" can make it all feel more cohesive. The best multi-speaker sessions feel like a conversation with purpose, not a group project where everyone stapled their part together the night before.
Mistake #4: Not respecting the clock
Ending on time is not just a nice professional courtesy. It is part of serving the room. People have other sessions to get to. They have meetings scheduled. They have calls to make. They may need to cross a massive convention center to get to the next thing. And if you are in a multi-speaker session, your timing affects the other speakers too.
I learned this one the hard way.
At one Apartmentalize session I spoke at, the speakers before us ran about ten minutes long. That left me and my co-speaker with roughly five minutes to get ready, get settled, and begin. Five minutes. That is not ideal. TBH--it sucked. And to this day, when I think of those speakers, I still remember how frustrated I felt when they kept talking and talking and talking.
So, keep track of the clock and respect it. Before you take the stage, practice your section out loud. Know what you will cut if time gets tight. Do not make your fellow speakers pay for you trying to cram in "just one more thing." And don't make the audience choose between being polite and getting to their next thing.
Apartmentalize is a big platform.
Utilize it well by serving the people in the room. I tell my public speaking students, "speaking is serving". If you do that well, you will stand out because people will leave your session thinking:
"That helped me."
If this is your first time speaking at Apartmentalize, congratulations. I'm rooting for you!
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P.S. Have fun.
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