One of the biggest things you learn at McKinsey is the 80/20 “rule.” This “rule” says that 80% of the results you want can be achieved by 20% of the activities you do. The trick was to figure out of all the things you do daily, which ones had the highest impact.
For example, a typical new McKinsey consultant might work 2,000 – 3,000 hours in a year. However, when you look at decisions to fire or promote consultants, those decisions are made on perhaps the 20 hours of work that were observed by a senior client or senior partner.
If you screw up an important one-hour presentation meeting, nobody cares about the 999 hours you put into doing the analysis and writing the presentation. It’s the one-hour presentation that determines the outcome of six months of work.
That one hour is a high-impact, high-leverage activity. If you do an exceptional job in those moments, it’s a huge boost to your career. If you completely mess it up, you may end up creating such a negative perception that it could be difficult to overcome.
One of my mentors at McKinsey told me the following:
“If you screw up and ruin your reputation in a professional services firm, you should quit. Join another firm where nobody knows you and start over with a blank slate.”
In other words, no reputation is much better than a bad one.
Public speaking will be one of the highest impact moments in your career — especially as you become more senior in your career path.
There are three keys to successful public speaking:
- Recognize that it is a high-impact, high-leverage opportunity.
- Prepare for the presentation.
- Practice.
A lot of people don’t do any of the above, and the results speak for themselves.
If you can at least do those three things, you can avoid a bad outcome.
While those basics are necessary to avoid a bad outcome, they are not enough to deliver exceptional career results.
If your goal is to deliver a speech that doesn’t get you fired afterwards, that’s one thing.
If your goal is to deliver a speech that gets you promoted, that’s something completely different.
They are NOT the same speech!
What you say and how you say it make a big difference on how you’re perceived.
If you say stupid things with confidence, you do not succeed.
If you say insightful things with bland, unenthusiastic delivery, you also do not succeed.
You must say the right things in the right way. That’s the key to success.
If this idea resonates with you, I invite you to learn more about it in my Gravitas Public Speaking Practice Intensive, which will be available soon. In this intensive, 8-week workshop, you’ll have many opportunities to grow and practice your public speaking, receiving feedback from others to help you improve. To learn more and be notified when enrollment opens, submit the form below.
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