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3 Ways to Sound Prepared, Even When You Aren’t
Woodrow Wilson was once asked how long he needed to prepare a speech.
“That depends on the length of the speech,” answered the President. “If it is a 10-minute speech, it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it; if it is a half hour speech, it takes me a week; if I can talk as long as I want to, it requires no preparation at all. I am ready now.”
Over the past 150 years, similar quotes have been attributed to Mark Twain, Thomas B. Macaulay, and Abraham Lincoln.
The idea here is that we can open our mouths and ramble anytime we are called upon to do so; but, of course, that disorganized rambling will never have us seen by others as effective communicators.
We live in a world that is fast paced and seems to be moving, some days, more quickly than we are. We don’t always have that time to prepare as much as we would like.
But here’s some good news.
If you learn to prep smarter, you can show-up sounding clear, concise, and get things communicated in a confident way, regardless of the situation or time frame.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when you are asked to speak about, present on, or have a conversation about just about anything, and you don't have a lot of time to prepare.
