“Hope for the best…prepare for the worst” – Chris Bradford
A prominent leader was once asked what the most important advice he could give someone to have a successful career. He replied, “Prepare relentlessly”
Have you ever found yourself getting jittery about an upcoming presentation or event? If you are, my question to you is: “How prepared are you?”
Several years ago, I experienced a cheap lesson in the value of being over-prepared. I was scheduled to facilitate some training at the headquarters of a major corporation. I had put together a PowerPoint presentation and I was assured by the event coordinator that all I needed to do was bring the presentation downloaded on a thumb drive. As a backup, I decided to bring my laptop. It is a good thing that I did! When we began setting up for the session, the tech set-up person ran into some difficulties. The system would not work. He began to panic. I didn’t. Instead I pulled out my laptop and it saved the day. The session went smoothly, and I felt good about it afterwards.
When you are anticipating a future event, here are two questions I have:
What are you concerned or stressed about?
What can you do about it?
Answering that second question can lead to some additional research or rehearsal. I will leave you one of my favorite quotes from Dale Carnegie:
“When you go through life unprepared,, you won’t go alone…FEAR will be your constant companion”
