Have you ever gone into a meeting or presentation feeling totally prepared, rehearsed and ready and had it tank? Have you ever gone into a situation, alive and excited but not overly prepared and had it work out better than expected?
Last Thursday, I had the honor of being the keynote speaker for Microsoft at their East Coast Sales Conference in NYC. Microsoft has a huge list of great speakers to choose from, so I felt some pressure to deliver. I arrived in the city armed with an awesome deck and my notes, expecting to have hours of time to prep once I got settled at the hotel. A flurry of email and phone calls attacked and before I knew it, I had to crash.
I woke up about 5 am and reviewed the deck. I took a 2-hour walk through Central Park to dial in my thoughts, just feeling the park around me got me centered and focused. The park inspired some new ideas and themes I wanted to incorporate into the speech so I could fire up their teams. Cleaned up, with my head full of fresh thoughts, I hopped a cab over to Microsoft’s plush Manhattan office.
As I walked onto the stage, I felt charged up to deliver an inspirational message and that is exactly what I did. By not rehearsing too much, I was able to worry less about the precise content I delivered and instead focus on being relatable and catching cues from the audience. That allowed me to calibrate and make the message relevant and engage real time, connecting with the energy and emotion coming from the audience.
Later that night, I joined up for some dancing and fun with the conference attendees and felt welcomed and loved by the people there. I was totally in the moment, dancing with my long time NYC friend Stephanie Lawrence, Holy Grail was rocking out and I looked out onto the dance floor. I could see and feel how deeply we had all connected in just 45 minutes! I was filled with a rush of emotion and that just reaffirmed that when you do what you love: you don’t work, you LIVE.
The key takeaway for you on the hunt ahead is to stress less over preparation, but rather be ready and confident and aware in the big moments. Watch for the cues and connect with the people. When you are relatable and make people feel it, the rest will take care of itself.
