Sarah ArcherProfessional Speaker, Organisational Consultant & Coach, Lemon Squeeze Limited · International Speaker | Speaking Coach | Top 1% Podcast Host | Helping Organisations Unlock Business Transformation & Growth Through Strategic Storytelling | Helping Experts & Business Authors Nail th

You’re not "not ready”, just unprepared #publicspeakingtips #presentationskills #keynotespeaker

3 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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In this segment, the speaker introduces the classic "best time to plant a tree" analogy to illustrate why public‑speakers should start building their presentations now rather than waiting for a perfect moment. By investing time, energy, passion, and purpose into a ready‑made talk, speakers position themselves to say yes to opportunities, actively seek stages, and deliver a high‑quality message when the chance arises. The speaker argues that lacking a prepared talk leads to missed opportunities and hesitation, whereas a pre‑crafted talk empowers confidence and proactive engagement with audiences.

Chapters

There's that saying, when's the best time to plant a tree? 10 years ago. What's the second best time? Today. Start thinking about the talk that you want to give to your audience and what they need from you. Start building that talk now so that when an opportunity presents itself, you are in the best place to say yes. If you haven't got a talk ready, chances are when opportunities come up, you'll say no because you want to do a great job. But if you've got the talk ready in advance, if you've put the effort in, if you've invested the time, the energy, the thinking, the passion, the purpose to create this amazing talk, you will be absolutely not only saying yes but looking for opportunities to get on stage and share that message with the people who need to hear it.