I received a phone call last week. A meeting planner I have known for some time informed me that their closing keynote speaker who was slated to deliver a speech in about a week had been involved in a terrible car accident and had received injuries that would prevent him from delivering the speech. He asked if I might be available to fill in. I checked my calendar, saw no conflicts, and readily accepted the engagement.

Years of reading, thinking, speaking, writing, and preparing enabled me to carve out some time that morning and write out the 15-minute speech from start to finish. The first draft, when read through, sounded like a winning formula. I never could have done this 30 years ago. Experience, refinement, and practice has paid off, I am happy to say.

I look forward to knocking this one out of the park.