I believe it was the great Dale Carnegie who once said that there are essentially three presentations that we all make.

The one we planned to give

The one we actually gave

The one we wished we had given

I’m sure you’ll agree that “presentations” aren’t just given to large groups or exclusively in some  formal setting.

They are also given every time you meet with someone, converse with someone, have a phone chat, leave a voicemail, send an email etc.

They can be made to potential clients, existing clients, your boss, your team etc.

Please look at the 3 presentations from that perspective and think of a presentation you recently made.

Did you actually plan it or did you wing it?

How did it actually go? Did it go according to plan?

Note: This question is best answered after you tell your ego to go wait in the car.

In order to ask ourselves the tough questions, we need to tell our ego to go wait in the car!

Knowing that hindsight has 20/20 . . . Think about the presentation you wished you had given. What would that look like? What would you do more of, less of, better?

What lesson(s) will you take with you for your next “presentation”?

Note: If your ego comes back  . . . remind it that you got this one!

One last thing . . . I’d go through this exercise with a journal so you can capture all these cool new distinctions.

Today, you are cordially invited to learn from your experiences and understand something else . . .

When the student is ready . . . the teacher appears but . . .

The teacher might just be a lesson and not a person!

Peace!