I recently heard a high level leader in an organization speak to a group of leaders. His “charge” was to share a broad overview of leadership as it related to the company (all the people in the room were leaders in the company).

Simply put, the guy rambled for 70 minutes and said everything that was really necessary in about 5 minutes.

NOTE to Leaders: Your ramblings might be interesting to you, but they are not necessarily the best way to inspire, inform and educate your team/organization. It shows a lack of discipline on your part when you “wing it” and think that because of your position, “winging it” is just fine. It’s not.

 

So here’s a tip: If you had five mintues rather than 70, what would you say and how would you say it so that it was clear and substantive.

Then, make sure that five minute content is CRYSTAL clear in your 70 minute ramblings. Make your ramblings all fit into the stuff you would say if you only had five minutes.