“If you want me to give you a two-hour presentation, I am ready today. If you want only a five-minute speech, it will take me two weeks to prepare.” – Mark Twain
I love this quote by Mark Twain, and have reflected on it repeatedly over the years as its application goes far beyond public speaking.
Distilling a message, or any piece of communication for that matter, down to its essence is hard. And getting good at it is a life-long practice.
When we’re given the floor, it’s our responsibility to think deeply and carefully about what we need our audience to walk away with.
Twain’s challenge is to re-frame how we approach the preparation and practise of our message. Most importantly, for it to be normal to take an uncomfortable amount of time to prepare for even the briefest of moments with the people we seek to influence.