Winston Churchill’s lesson for speakers and writers

Winston Churchill was an outstanding speaker. Here’s what he said about his preparation.

If you want me to speak for two minutes, it will take me three weeks of preparation, it will take me a week to prepare. If you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready now.

—Winston Churchill

The bottom line? To speak concisely requires more preparation than rambling. The same is true for writing that packs a punch in a small space.

I’d like to acknowledge Terri Sjodin’s Small Message, Big Impact: The Elevator Speech Effect for drawing this quote to my attention.

Image courtesy of the British Government / Wikimedia Commons