WEBVTT - Practice makes perfect

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to build time to practice skills into

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<v Speaker 1>your life so you can achieve a breakthrough in the

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<v Speaker 1>next year. When we say the word practice, we tend

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<v Speaker 1>to think of athletics or music. We shuttle kids to

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<v Speaker 1>their lessons and harangue them to practice their instruments. Unless

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<v Speaker 1>someone's got a musical or athletic hobby, we tend not

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<v Speaker 1>to think about practicing in our own adult lives, but

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<v Speaker 1>this is really a missed opportunity. All skills benefit from

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<v Speaker 1>focused practice and consciously thinking through what can be practiced

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<v Speaker 1>and how allows you to move your career forward in

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<v Speaker 1>incredible ways. Practice doesn't necessarily make perfect, but it does

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<v Speaker 1>allow you to make more of your work automatic, so

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<v Speaker 1>you can focus your attention on the most valuable aspects

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<v Speaker 1>of what you do. So the first question, what skills

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<v Speaker 1>do you use repeatedly that can benefit from practice? Most

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<v Speaker 1>people have at least a few of these. There are

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<v Speaker 1>obvious ones, such as a medical procedure you do over

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<v Speaker 1>and over again, or if you're always fixing air conditioners,

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<v Speaker 1>but there are less obvious ones as well. Do you

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<v Speaker 1>ever speak in public or lead meetings? Do you ever

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<v Speaker 1>introduce yourself or tell people about your organization? Do you

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<v Speaker 1>write for anyone other than yourself? And what exactly are

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<v Speaker 1>you writing proposals, calming letters to angry customers, marketing materials,

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<v Speaker 1>social media posts? Do you ever need to coach employees

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<v Speaker 1>or give feedback? Do you need to interview people, either

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<v Speaker 1>for hiring or for informational purposes? Do you conduct any

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<v Speaker 1>part of your business in a foreign language? Do you

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<v Speaker 1>need to explain a concept to customers? Frequently? Identify the

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<v Speaker 1>skills you use repeatedly, and then think through what practice

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<v Speaker 1>would look like. What are the trickiest parts? How could

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<v Speaker 1>you increase the number of times you try these tricky

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<v Speaker 1>parts in lower stakes circumstances? How can you get feedback

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<v Speaker 1>from people who can help you improve. I do a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of public speaking as part of my job, but

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<v Speaker 1>I still practice before every speech. Often I'll practice multiple times.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll time myself giving the speech in my house so

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<v Speaker 1>I make sure I match the time target my hosts

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<v Speaker 1>have given me. I have the material I might use

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<v Speaker 1>in different forms for various groups completely memorized. This allows

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<v Speaker 1>me to deal with complications that might arise in the moment.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe the CEO of the company where I'm speaking has

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<v Speaker 1>decided to sit in the front row and lob questions

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<v Speaker 1>at me throughout the talk. Or maybe I'm informed while

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<v Speaker 1>going up on stage that the conference is running behind

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<v Speaker 1>and I need to turn my forty minute talk into

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<v Speaker 1>a thirty minute one. Because I've practice to the point

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<v Speaker 1>where I know my material and exactly how long each

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<v Speaker 1>segment takes, I can quickly reconstruct the speech into something

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<v Speaker 1>coherent at any length. Similarly, if you're pitching work to

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<v Speaker 1>a potential client, practicing ahead of time means you won't

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<v Speaker 1>get tripped up on the basic material. You can describe

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<v Speaker 1>exactly what you do and how you do it in

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<v Speaker 1>language that you know is appealing you, thus free up

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<v Speaker 1>brain space to address your clients specific worries. Practice is

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<v Speaker 1>particularly important in situations that might become emotional. Maybe you,

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<v Speaker 1>as a manager need to give employees tough feedback. Practicing

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<v Speaker 1>exactly what you intend to say and how to convey

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<v Speaker 1>it clearly allows you to stay calm even if someone

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<v Speaker 1>becomes belligerent. The only way to achieve that level of

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<v Speaker 1>calm is to practice a lot and that takes time.

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<v Speaker 1>They're The good news is that it doesn't take a

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<v Speaker 1>ton of time. Focused practice can do a lot quickly.

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<v Speaker 1>When I got the opportunity to give a TED talk

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<v Speaker 1>a few years ago, I knew that the whole thing

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<v Speaker 1>would only run about twelve minutes. That meant that practicing

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<v Speaker 1>my speech five times weekly in the month prior to

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<v Speaker 1>the event still only took one of my hundred sixty

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<v Speaker 1>eight hours each week. Practicing a forty five minute presentation twice,

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<v Speaker 1>it's just ninety minutes. Giving someone a concise explanation of

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<v Speaker 1>what went wrong and what you'd like to see change

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<v Speaker 1>probably shouldn't take more than five minutes or so if that,

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<v Speaker 1>which means that you could run through it four times

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<v Speaker 1>on your commute into the office if you wanted so.

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<v Speaker 1>Think about how long focused practice might take you, and

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<v Speaker 1>then think about where you can build this into your schedule.

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<v Speaker 1>Block these times in protect them. This is important. And finally,

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<v Speaker 1>if you really want to improve, get feedback from people

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<v Speaker 1>who are similar to those who will be experiencing your

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<v Speaker 1>work in the moment. At a certain point, you can

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<v Speaker 1>start to see problems yourself. About twenty years into my

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<v Speaker 1>writing career, I'm probably tougher on my first drafts than

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<v Speaker 1>most editors would be, but for anything new or high stakes,

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<v Speaker 1>get feedback from others. One of the upsides of giving

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<v Speaker 1>a TED talk is that the organization set me up

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<v Speaker 1>with a coach who looked through my speech drafts and

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<v Speaker 1>had me give the talk multiple times through video chat

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure it would work. You can hire a

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<v Speaker 1>coach for this sort of thing, or seek help from

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<v Speaker 1>a colleague, your manager, or a friend who you trust

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<v Speaker 1>to give it to you straight. If the feedback makes sense,

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<v Speaker 1>then incorporate it. Keep practicing until whatever you're doing feels

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<v Speaker 1>incredibly natural. Because when things feel natural, then you can relax.

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<v Speaker 1>You stay effective regardless of what gets thrown at you,

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<v Speaker 1>and that makes you seem like the kind of person

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<v Speaker 1>that people will want to work with, and that can

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<v Speaker 1>lead to all sorts of career breakthroughs. What skills do

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<v Speaker 1>you practice is You can let me know at Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

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<v Speaker 1>number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart

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<v Speaker 1>media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with

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<v Speaker 1>all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to

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<v Speaker 1>staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit

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