There’s a key difference between the two. Being unprepared means walking into a meeting and not having answers to the questions that will be asked. Winging it means knowing so much about what we do and offer, innately, that there aren’t questions we wouldn’t know how to answer.
Being unprepared is dangerous – the thrill quickly turns to fear, the feeling that the shoot might not open after all.
A great way to be unprepared is to forget to do research before a meeting. Another great way is to walk into that meeting, unfed and without our morning coffee.
Winging-it is less dangerous, almost exciting – there’s a thrill to thinking on your feet and making it work wonderfully that is unmatched by studious and minute contemplation of what is to come.
Those who succeed at winging it regularly have a secret: they aren’t really winging it. They know so much about what they do, it is second nature. They don’t plan every line of the conversation they will have because they don’t fear the conversation itself. They are confident in their abilities because they have knowledge of their subject – and their market. This knowledge removes the fear and replaces it with confidence and excitement.
Hence the adages on knowledge and power from minds of the past.
When it matters to your bottom line wing it the way the professionals wing it: with research and planning that provides knowledge and allows you to soar.