Short Notice

Could you speak, tonight?

There are very few crunch situations that I would recommend experiencing. Even fewer that I would recommend you, and hope that I experience periodically. Recent I discovered that if you really know the materials that you are going to speak on there is no better way to do it. Sure, it can be a bit intimidating to think about and that is exactly why I think it is important to be in that situation at least once. With no time to script out what you want to say you may just be able to pull something out that would have been missed in a well plan dialog. Plus, it's just more natural!

There are a few things that rightly happen when we know that we are going to address any group. From your 8 year-old's career day to a keynote address in front of congress if we know we are going to speak we pull out the other self. The that almost fits. The one that is stuffed away in the closet or living in a travel-bag if you speak a lot. That version of you is all suit and glam. Not the you that is around everyday, but the you that is engineered to put on the best show that can be planned. Okay, so maybe you are a great speaker. That doesn't always translate into the best you up there.

Discovery

What do I have to back that up? Experience. Said experience assumes that you are in the right frame of mind and (warning:most-important) that you actually know the material. That is where the biggest fear comes in. Do I know it? Will I forget something? Did I just bust a zipper? A thousand questions driven by fear that you will not do your best. The idea behind the short notice keynote is that you don't get the change to spend hours worrying over the preparation. There you are, just you and the space between your ears. You got this!

Okay, so the short notice speech isn't for everyone. Some people can't even deal with a simple introduction that they have weeks to prepare for. Nothing wrong with that at all, but if you can approach a simple non-presentation talk on short notice imagine the confidence you will built for one-on-one conversations with your boss. What extra oomph will you be able to bring to the next client meeting. You may not want to bring all of you into everything; restraint can be a good friend, but a little of you can add to whatever your doing. After all, you're the one who made it this far - maybe a little of you should be involved in all "this far" entails.