It is never too early to begin thinking about a speech.
Before they meet me, many of my corporate clients believe “preparation” starts the week before the presentation. Some believe it starts the night before. Too many believe it starts when they open PowerPoint.
That is not preparation. That is assembly.
A powerful presentation begins long before you write a single sentence or design a single slide.
It begins with thinking. Observing. Listening.
Noticing what frustrates your audience, what excites them, and what keeps coming up in conversation.
When I coach executives, I often say: your best content is already living in your head and your experience. You just have not captured it yet.
If you know you will be speaking in three months, preparation starts then.
Carry a notebook or open a notes app. Jot down stories, questions you are asked repeatedly, moments of insight, objections you hear, and examples that land. That quiet, ongoing process is where clarity is born.
A speech is not what you “put together.” It is what you discover.
Only after you are crystal clear on your message, your audience, and your objective do you begin to structure.
Only after the structure is complete do you write. Slides, if used at all, come last.
PowerPoint is not a thinking tool. It is a visual aid.
When you start with slides, you force your message to serve the software rather than the audience.
Great speakers do not rush the process. They respect it.
They know that clarity takes time.
That confidence comes from preparation.
And that the strongest presentations feel effortless only because the thinking happened early and thoroughly.
If you want to sound spontaneous, you must prepare deliberately.
If you want to be memorable, you must think before you write.
And if you want to influence decisions, inspire action, and elevate your reputation, remember this:
You cannot start preparing too soon.
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Need help for you or your team on improving important conversations and presentations? The Fripp Customized Approach will work for you. Contact Fripp today!
