Sometimes when you step on stage, the map you had to guide you through getting to the impact you wanted isn’t relevant anymore.

Conditions have changed.

Your joke didn’t land.

The room is only half full.

Your time on stage got cut in half — two minutes before you walked on.

So, what do you do? Yep, just tear it up and do what needs to be done to get you where you want to go, regardless of what you mapped out for yourself.

This is the most delicate and important balance — to have a map and then to have the courage and presence to throw it away and route-find to your destination.

In my thousands (yes, thousands) of hours of coaching, it always plays out that the things we’re doing to prepare for our most important moments on stage are the same things we do in life.

And in the middle of the COVID outbreak, while I’m writing this, lots of us are realizing we might have to throw away our maps and route-find to where we want to go next. To dance in the moment and do what needs to be done, even if it’s a surprise or not what you mapped out for yourself. Our destination may be the same, but our path is altered.

Thing is, on stage, when we’re willing to throw our maps away and do what’s needed, right here, right now, it usually is THE thing that makes the moment and its lasting impact magnificent.

It’s hard. And freeing. And courageous.

So, yes, have a map — and then be willing to throw it away.

To help you on your way, download my 21 Things you can do to be impactful, courageous and in control of your presentations.

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