You have just been asked to make a presentation/give a speech/lead a pitch team/represent your firm at a meeting with your biggest client a month from now.

It is an opportunity you have been waiting for. A chance for you to shine. A potential career-enhancing moment in which you want to excel.

This makes you feel pretty good about yourself. Today is a good day.

What do you do now?

1. Call your Mum to share your excitement

2. Start thinking about tonight’s trip to the pub (it’s worth a celebration isn’t it?)

3. Put time in your diary to make sure you are fully prepared ahead of your big forthcoming opportunity

In truth you can do all three.

But I know from experience that most people are pretty unlikely to do the third – the most important of these.

The first thing you should do to make sure you’re prepared for any big piece of communication is block out the time required to undertake the preparation itself.

If you don’t do this your preparation will be piecemeal. It could get squeezed by other priorities altogether.

Unforgivably, you may not do any preparation at all thinking instead that you can wing it. You can’t. No one can.

Instead make preparation a habit that will lead you towards better performance.

Stanford University professor B.J. Fogg coined the phrase ‘Tiny Habits’ to describe his proven process of embedding good practice through pairing a new habit with a current habit.

So, when you put the presentation/speech/pitch/meeting in your diary put the necessary preparation time in your diary too.

Think about how much time will be required and how far in advance you will need to start your preparation.

For example, if you are making a presentation writing the content and designing the presentation itself are one thing. Don’t forget the time you will need to rehearse the presentation itself.

Then, start doing this for everything you do that requires preparation.

Soon that simple process becomes a habit ingrained in how you work.

Think:

After I ADD AN EVENT IN MY DIARY, I will BLOCK OUT PREPARATION TIME too.

Start a new habit today. I know the amount and quality of preparation you undertake ahead of important things like presentations, speeches and meetings will increase.

And your performances in these big moments will improve too.