Brett Favre Plans on Winging it for His Hall of Fame Speech

He's going to just wing it on his acceptance speech. Is this really a good idea? Look, folks, if you're looking for a role model when it comes to hard work, being a good football player, tenacity, longevity, sure, Brett Favre can be an excellent role model. But just because somebody's good at one thing doesn't mean they're good at something else. I happen to think that just winging it is one of the worst possible things you can do as a public speaker. Is this going to taint or ruin Brett Favre's reputation? No, because he has such a long, long track record of appearing in people's living rooms on Sunday on their TVs, really demonstrating excellence. But for those of you who are in the business world, the political world, you can't demonstrate excellence in a way a professional football player can. You can't solidify a reputation of greatness, of spectacular skill, that often, for that many decades, in front of tens of millions of people. Therefore, I think your strategy should be completely different from Brett Favre's when it comes to public speaking. For many of us in the business world, the political world, civic life, when we speak in front of people, that's really the only time people can judge us and get a sense of who we are, other than when we're working one on one with a client or a colleague. So this is the time to really demonstrate excellence. Brett Favre had all the other times he needed to demonstrate excellence on the playing field. I'd still make the case he'd be better off as far as positioning himself for future endorsement deals, TV contracts, but maybe he doesn't want that. He's got plenty of money, so he can get away with it. But it doesn't mean you should prepare for every presentation. There really is no such thing as winging it to make it better. As Winston Churchill once said, it takes me two weeks to prepare a great impromptu presentation.