Sage advice worth heeding ahead of your next meeting

By Alec Hogg

I spent a precious hour yesterday with the inimitable actor, activist and political commentator Pieter-Dirk Uys. It was a rare opportunity before he heads home to Darling after a successful three week run of his one man show (what else?) at London’s edgy Soho Theatre.

Pieter-Dirk Uys aka Tannie Evita. Pic: Alec Hogg.

We covered a lot of ground – as you’ll hear from the podcast. Off air, I also discovered PDU spends two hours before every show alone, quietly finding his centre. As a result, by the time the curtain opens he’s in full control, knowing exactly what to do next.

It’s a practice worth replicating. Too often I’ve sat down with people who regarded the meeting as fulfilling an obligation. In the worst cases, their behaviour showed they’d much rather be somewhere more important.

Those occasions inevitably turn out to be a waste of everyone’s time. Surely if a meeting is worth having, it’s worth preparing properly for? Thanks for the reminder, Tannie Evita.

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