Gwen how do you avoid over prep over rehearsal this is me and it makes me
sound like a robot versus conversational I love this question but let me let me
clarify something here there is no such thing as over preparation
there is the way in which you prepare that makes you sound robotic okay these are not like
if you say to me Andy I'm gonna prepare for eight hours awesome Andy I'm gonna prepare for 20 hours
awesome you do you do you the reason you sound robotic is because you're scripting everything out
so when I come okay today I told you a little story about about right about my my Triathlon
and the preparing and you get in your mind right and all this and that I this morning this is how
I prepared for that make sure to tell them that I want them to gain the benefits of the experience
um let them know that I had a triathlon and it was the one I trained for and show them my
book and then uh tell them the cute wife story and then talk about you know how difficult it
was but what what was going through my head and then cheer him on that was the whole like
that was it I didn't never rehearsed it I just had the points that was the outline
and then I just talked to you that's it so if you're if you're a project manager for example
you think about the story you want to tell and then you think about okay what's the first piece
I need to tell them okay Andy says bigness heft context what was the context make one note we
were losing 50 million a month we were losing 50 of our customer that's it that's all you need to
prepare don't go writing it all out and then okay then Andy says you gotta tell them seven
steps you know what the seven steps are you lived it you lived the project I gotta do this that's
it just make sure you got the steps then what okay go back through what's the Highlight right
what are the one one or two key words that you gotta remember for step one step two step three
and then bang cap it off okay so then what I want you to do is I want you to talk it out
I don't want you to write it out I want you to talk it out that's a conversation
so first thing I gotta tell them is why did this even matter we had this problem we were losing 50
percent of our customers every quarter or whatever okay that's it that's all you gotta say right so I
was called right rising action 50 we're losing hero comes in wearing the cape all that stuff
right like that's it okay give him the seven steps bang building out the marketing team they asked
you how you would do it you already know the five steps you're gonna go through you're preparing the
outline and then you're conversationally talking about the steps but don't write it all out because
what happens is like people are trying to memorize that stuff do you have any idea how hard it is to
remember all that stuff under duress right so I don't do that I just so like you're like the
weekly Thursday live office hour shows that where I talk for 45 minutes those take 10 minutes to
prep right what's the thing what's the sample story I want to give there okay just make sure
you remember that and then and then I look at it and I go okay I might like I don't even talk
it all out I just hit certain highlights to make sure that the sequencing sounds right and would
they know that and is that the story I want to use and that's it like but the more the more you
script out the more robotic you'll sound and you think well no I need to remember to say
this you lived it you lived it talk it I would rather you talk it out 70 times if you needed to
I that that example I think I said yesterday about Corey in Trinidad when I prepped him four days
in a row we prepped Thursday night Friday nights Monday night and Tuesday night every single time
I told you you cannot write this out you cannot write this out you cannot write this out you go
in front of the board and so we would work on a section how like his stories how to introduce
yourself these key stories those key stories and I made sure I was like don't do that like I need you
to if you want to write it all out if that's you then what I need you to do is work off the words
meaning eliminate the words write it all out and then only peel the one word you need only appeal
the one word you need and so on it remember the outline believe me it will sound so conversational
when and by the way you know like for those of you that come to my live office hours on Thursday
you know and in a lot of these these questions are right q a I don't I don't know what you're
going to ask me right but I know the topics you're going to ask me so when somebody asks
me a question I create that outline in my head on the Fly and then I either say it out loud to you
like hey I'm going to give you two perspectives I just told myself I gotta give them this she asked
me a question about that but I don't really want to do that and I would tell her not to do that
which means I have to tell her why I don't want her to do that and then I need to tell her what
she has to do right immediately the outline goes in my head and then I say it to you we're going
to do this and this and this so and I've given you the map I have the map and I've said it to
myself so now I've just said it out loud now I know what it is then I'm going to fill it in so
in an interview when you say I run the project I do these seven steps you're giving yourself the
map you're reminding yourself of what to say and then they heard it and now you're gonna take them
through and so that's why I don't I don't need the notes I use the slides for you guys right if you
wanted me to just talk for two hours I could just talk for two hours but I it's not like I remember
50 000 words I just say talk to them they ask me questions I give them an answer kind of thing I
know I really went off there but like that's that's how I do it and I would rather you talk
it out I'd rather you talk it out and make a little note all right I hope that helped