According to a good friend and professional
speaking coach, Kerry Robertson, a rabbit trail is when you lose track of
where you are in your speech and head off to parts unknown. Then, after a
10-minute rampage, you come back and try to remember where you were.The
same thing happens everyday. You start off with a plan, something comes up,
the time zooms by, and then you come back and wonder what you were doing
before the interruption. However, without a plan you never come back. It’s
simply one rabbit trail after another.
Here is another interesting fact. An airplane flying from Los Angeles to
New York is off course as much as 97 percent of the time; however, the pilot
keeps adjusting and making corrections. What if the pilot didn’t have an
accurate and carefully thought-out flight plan? What if the pilot simply
said “I am going to head east and see where I end up?”
Someone once asked Winston Churchill how long it would take him to
prepare for a 10-minute speech.
He said he would like at least a month’s notice. When asked how far in
advance for a one-hour speech, he said at least a week. When asked how
long he needed to prepare for a four-hour talk, he said he could start
now. He made an excellent point for planning. To make an effective
10-minute presentation takes careful planning and organizing.
If you ever doubted the importance of a carefully thought-out plan, you
might consider what Napoleon Bonaparte had to say on the subject:
“If I always appear prepared, it is because before entering an
undertaking, I have meditated for many days and have foreseen what may
occur. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I
should do in certain circumstances; it is thought, mediation, and careful
planning.”
And, if you are undecided and unsure about what you want to accomplish
consider this advice from General Chiang Shang, An Ancient Chinese General:
“Of the many harms that can beset an army, vacillation is the greatest.
Of the disasters that can befall an army, none surpasses doubt.”
And, if you decide to wait and try to squeeze your planning time and goal
setting into you schedule AFTER you return from your rabbit trails, you
might consider this advice from General Douglas MacArthur:
“The history of failure in war can be summed up in two words: too late.
Too late in comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy; too
late in realizing the mortal danger; too late in preparedness; too late in
uniting all possible forces for resistance; too late in standing with
one’s friends.”
Here is some good advice from my friend and personal coach, Mary Pryor.
“Completion of a project, reaching a goal, moving ahead on a new sales
initiative — these things don’t happen if they’re postponed or ‘postponed
until perfected.’ You’d never stay parked anywhere in your car until you
could see green lights in all directions. My guess is that you climb into
your car, start it, take it out of park, and (here’s the important part)
you’d start moving forward!”
