Most People Want to Feel “Fully Prepared”
After working with thousands of professionals on formal presentations, one theme shows up again and again: people want to feel fully prepared. And that makes sense—for scripted moments, you can rehearse, refine, and control the message.
But spontaneous moments? Those are different. You can’t plan for every question, curveball, or unexpected shift. Trying to prepare for every possible scenario actually increases anxiety rather than reducing it.
The Goal Isn’t Prepared — It’s “Walking Prepared”
Instead of trying to predict every situation, we teach people to be walking prepared—to carry a few guiding principles that help them respond confidently in any moment.
1. Get Clear on the Actual Problem
When something urgent or emotional happens, the first reaction is often confusion. Before responding, slow things down:
- What exactly is the issue?
- Who is affected?
- What’s the real challenge beneath the emotion?
Sometimes this takes 10 seconds. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes. Either is fine. The goal is shared clarity.
2. Define the Target State
Once you understand the current situation, shift the conversation to the opposite of the problem—the desired outcome. What does “better” look like for the people involved? What will they need, feel, or experience?
This is where alignment happens. This is where tension drops. And this is where direction begins.
3. Identify Who Will Do What
This is the bridge between now and better. And in many spontaneous situations, the honest first answer might be:
“I don’t know yet.”
That’s not a weakness. It’s honest, and it’s professional—as long as you follow it with forward motion:
“I don’t know right now, but here’s what I’m going to do to figure it out.”
or
“Here’s what we’re going to do to get clarity.”
You Don’t Need All the Answers — You Need a Process
Walking prepared means you can think, respond, and lead in real time because you always know how to hit these three points:
- Here’s the situation.
- Here’s what better looks like.
- Here’s how we’ll move from here to there.
If you can do that with calm confidence, you can show up with strong presence in any spontaneous moment—without needing everything figured out in advance.
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