Winging It vs. Winning It

If you haven’t said it, you’ve surely heard it: I don’t need to prepare. I’ll just wing it.

And then with all the bravado of a college freshman strolling into an Econ final exam without having cracked a book, the speaker takes the podium.

What could possibly go wrong?

It’s a multiple-choice question. The answer: All of the below!

• ????Speaker disorganization = audience dissatisfaction. Lack of preparation leads to disorganization and a lack of structure in your presentation. Sometimes we mistakenly think that audiences might prefer speakers who are loose, spontaneous and unrehearsed. Think again. Our listening brains crave order, form and signals that alert us to what we can expect, what’s coming next, and what are the most important, noteworthy points. So, when you step up to the podium unprepared, you are doing your audience a disservice by making them crease their foreheads, concentrate harder and follow a weedy, winding path.
• ??????You miss landing your message. Winging it can also mean that your message fails to land. Every presentation, internal or external, big or small, should have a clear goal and message. But even the best messages can get lost or muddled in the ramble of unplanned remarks. Lack of clarity and cohesion in your remarks can be confusing, misleading, and harmful to your credibility.
• ??????You risk running out the clock. It’s nearly impossible to manage your time effectively when winging it. If you haven’t prepared and timed your remarks in advance, you are likely to run out of time, omit important points, backtrack and wind down without a compelling conclusion.
• ??????Speaker nerves and anxiety. Let’s face it: When you decide to go rogue and sans script, the only thing winging it is the swarm of butterflies in your stomach. The level of anxiety a speaker feels correlates directly with levels of preparation. The less prepared we are, the more uneasy and anxious we feel, which in turn leads to lack of confidence and poor performance.
• ??????Speaker disorganization = disrespect. We end where we started – with what’s most important: Your audience. They’ve shown up. They’re sitting in those rock-hard seats and committing valuable time and attention to YOU. They want to know what you know. And they want to know that you care enough to have prepared for THEM. Audiences pay attention to what you say and how you say it, and nothing stings quite as much as feeling disrespected.

“I’ll just wing it” are words to either fly or fail by. And most of us, apart from actors and comics trained in the art of improvisation, tend to lose altitude when we riff and adlib. So do yourself – and your audience – a favor: Prepare, rehearse, and rise to the occasion.

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? Lucinda Trew, 2023