My dad told me to just 'wing it' on my first big client presentation

He said overplanning would make me stiff, so I went in with just bullet points. I completely blanked halfway through and had to ask for a five minute break. After that disaster, I made a full script for my next pitch in Denver and landed the account. Anyone else have a piece of advice that backfired completely?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah_kelly781mo ago

Just bullet points? That's terrifying.

blairstone20d ago

Totally get that, it gives me flashbacks to my last job lol. My manager would send these insane bullet point lists for the simplest tasks, like three levels deep just to ask for a coffee order. It sucked all the joy out of just talking to another person. Felt like getting instructions from a robot manual or something.

xena_allen1mo ago

Bullet points can feel so final, right? My old boss used them for everything, even birthday party invites. "Bring chips. Arrive by 7. No gifts." It made a barbecue sound like a military operation.