Senior execs hate to rehearse. Mostly that’s because they don’t really know what they want to say. No scripts for them. They believe they need to be “loose” to be good. And, after all, they present in dozens of client meetings . . . and who uses a script in a client meeting?

So, they just charge in and “wing it.”

Now there is a very small handful of “naturals” who can pull that off. But almost everyone else ends up taking 3 times longer to say things badly when they’re not scripted. They fill the air with long rambling sentences and dangling phrases while their brain “looks” for the words they should be saying. There is no punctuation, just a sea of verbiage.

The client is left confused and unimpressed. And the new business presentation runs into overtime.

Mark Twain once wrote, "It takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." So, once. Just once. Try writing a script and memorizing it. You will be amazed at how much better your “stage presence” instantly becomes when you can concentrate on how you’re saying things and also do a better job on being clear about what you’re saying. Hey, if it doesn’t work, you can always wing it next time.

From Robb High’s New Business Boot Camp 3.0.