The last minute inspiration

Earlier this week I posted about the frantic last hour before a ministry event.

Last night I went through the frantic last minutes before speaking.

Normally I'm quite (some would almost say over) prepared, but for this gig, I was only signed up to speak the previous day due to the original bloke having a medical emergency.

And plans were... quite fluid.

Including the start of my talk.

In order to make a stronger connection with the night's theme I added a reflection exercise which only really hit me ten minutes before going on to speak.

Usually this is the blueprint for disaster.

But, on this occasion, it worked fairly well.

In fact, this is just the second time that I can ever remember following through with an idea which not only hit me in the moments prior to speaking but also transformed the structure of a talk.

When would I do it again?

First, only if the point must ACTUALLY adds to what I'm going to say. It's usually unwise to go with the last minute inspiration because it's majorly undercooked and there's no point adding another loosely connected or developed tangent. Better is the aim, not just more.

And second, the addition only makes the cut at the cost of something else. There's little point adding to what you're going to say if you've timed your talk accurately and have a timeframe to work towards. Again, better is the aim, not more.