Some of the best “Eureka!” moments occur at the collision of two seemingly unrelated concepts. That's exactly how the original eureka story took place. Ancient math–whiz Archimedes was contemplating a hard‐to‐prove theft while taking a bath when he came up with the idea of measuring volume via displacement.

My eureka moment about systems wasn't as historic as Archimedes', but it can significantly improve your ability to construct better speeches faster. Instead of his collision of a crime investigation and personal hygiene, mine brought together the concepts of speech writing and franchises.

When I first started as a public speaker, it took me up to twenty hours to write a speech. With each new speech, I essentially had to start from scratch, and it ate up huge chunks of my week. I was highly motivated to find a better way. Through trial and error (and practice), I was able to develop a personal method that cut that time down to four to six hours for a thirty‐minute speech—while increasing quality. Sound farfetched? Keep reading.

As my workload increased, I hired Jimmy to oversee one of the departments, and this responsibility included his having to give regular presentations. He was a hard worker and eager to learn, but I noticed that he frequently wasn't completing all of his week's duties or was staying at the office far too late. When I asked him about it, he said that he ran out of time because he was preparing for his presentations.

“How long does it usually take?” I asked.

“I don't know, twenty hours?” Jimmy said.

I was sympathetic, but we couldn't afford him spending that much time on speech writing, so Jimmy became one of my first “clients,” and he quickly learned how to cut it down to four to six hours.

As I've pivoted into professional coaching, I always ask my clients how many hours they spend preparing. Some of them are like Jimmy and spend far too much time. Others of them answer, “Zero. I just wing it.” Then I think of their rambling, pointless, please‐shoot‐me‐now talk, and I think, Yeah, I can tell. It's like when someone asked Woodrow Wilson (the U.S. president during World War I) how long it took for him to prepare a speech. He responded:

It depends. If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now.

A good speech, like the kinds I've been talking about, takes time to craft. But it doesn't have to take as long as most people think. I've had great success teaching my clients proven methods to consistently develop powerful presentations in a quarter of their previous time. That's the first concept behind my eureka moment.

Apart from my passion for communication, I love starting things. It's the Activator in me. I especially love franchising things—taking successful endeavors and replicating them elsewhere. Inspired by the book The E‐Myth Revisited (by Michael Gerber), I've “franchised” churches, feeding centers, and businesses.

At the heart of effective franchises are systems. Systems are what happen when effective policies meet a flow chart of the “If A happens, do X, but if B happens, then do Y” variety. They basically give the new franchisees all the tools they need to replicate your success. I once consulted for a company in southern California where we systematized every single thing it did, from the way it contacted clients to how it dealt with complaints. No matter the situation, we had a playbook for it, and if we didn't, we'd make one. That's not exactly accurate—if something just happened once or twice, it could be an anomaly and not worth the effort. I like what Chandler Bolt, founder of the highly systemized Self‐Publishing School, said. You should create a system for anything that you (1) have to do more than three times or (2) want to hand off to someone else.

Systemizations are key to franchises for three reasons. First, they create consistency. Starbucks may not be the best‐tasting coffee in the world, but that's where I go when I'm in a new town because I know what to expect.

Secondly, they make it easy to hand something off to someone else with a minimum of management (making systems unpopular with micromanagers and control freaks).

Finally, systems prevent you from having to reinvent the wheel every time you perform any given task. By investing extra effort the first or second time to understand the problem, developing a long‐term solution, and documenting it in an accessible manner, you will save everyone a considerable amount of time in the long run. With proper training and empowerment, others will be able to customize the system for new (but similar) situations.

That is to say, I love systems. They've allowed me to accomplish more at a higher level with less effort, giving me time to start more new things! So, the second concept behind my eureka moment was systems.

Here is how the concepts of systems and speech writing collided. While I was still consulting for that Californian company, I decided to write a book. As I said, I'm always starting something new. The book was basically about how to write great speeches in less time. I started writing out all the things I'd learned and the methods I taught to my team members and clients.

Eureka!

My messaging methods were simply new systems—I just hadn't been calling them that. I had effectively franchised myself by giving my clients playbooks on how to give presentations, write speeches, lead meetings, speak off the cuff, conduct Q & As, and more. By using my speaking systems, they eliminated redundancies and cut their preparation time down to a fraction of what it had been.

Systems eliminate redundancies.

Building on this understanding of systems, the rest of this section will be dedicated to giving you some of my best speaking systems. This in turn will dramatically increase your confidence. How? I get to repurpose a quote of mine a third time here:

The insecurity of communication comes from the uncertainty of communication.

Earlier, I applied this to uncertainty about how the audience is responding to your presentation (Chapter 6). Then, in Chapter 7, I applied it to the uncertainties around the meaning and purpose of your message. Now, I'm applying it to the uncertainty of crafting your speech. There's no need for me to prove this point. We've all experienced that soul‐crushing, stomach‐churning, despair‐breeding experience of staring at a screen or notebook filled with worthless half‐sentences and aborted openings as the clock ticks ever closer to the deadline.

Ugh. If I never have to go through that speechwriter's block again, it will be too soon. I don't want to go all infomercial on you here—“…and if you use my handy, dandy system, you won't ever have to again!”—but it's kind of true. Not that you'll never face writer's block, but you can learn to consistently craft great presentations, speak off the cuff effectively, and stop rambling. With each new win, you'll gain more confidence in the ability that I believe is already inside you.

By learning these straightforward systems, you'll be able to bypass the uncertainty of the blank page and dive write in. I mean dive right in. You'll become comfortable with the process: Start with “A,” add “B,” brainstorm “C,” and onward.

Before we get started, here are some important notes:

• First, like any new habit, these systems may not feel natural at first. They take practice. Just believe that they've helped many others before you and trust the process.
• Second, after you master each system, you can tweak it and make it your own. Use what you know about your strengths and weaknesses to customize them for yourself. For instance, if you naturally excel at extemporaneous speaking, you might be able to reduce your notes to singular words. If, on the other hand, you do your best thinking when the pressure is off, you may want to create more detailed notes.
• Third, these systems are not comprehensive. It's beyond the scope of this book to give a playbook for every kind of speaking opportunity. There are simply too many, and in some cases, I already have a book that covers that system in depth. Pay attention to the process, and create your own system for any type of presentation you expect to give more than a couple of times. Better yet, talk to someone who has done similar presentations, and see if they already have a system of their own (even if they don't call it that).
• Fourth, a system is not a boilerplate where you fill in the blanks with updated names and figures. It is a format for writing new content in an efficient way. Think of two weddings you've attended, one where it's obvious the couple found i officiant via a Google search and the other where it's equally clear that the officiant has known the bride and groom since childhood. The Google officiant will use a boilerplate service, but the long‐time pastor will be able to write a service that draws off years of past weddings while still being very personal. That's a “wedding service system” (and, yes, I have one of those).
• Finally, franchises and systems are more focused on consistency and greatest return of quality on the lowest investment of time. As I said before, Starbucks may not be the best coffee you'll find and not even their marketing team pretends otherwise. However, I believe that people don't need the perfect answer; they want a good, solid, and helpful answer. I'd prefer to give ten great speeches than one perfect one. I say that to preemptively address common criticisms of system‐based writing, such as calling it formulaic (yes, it is formulaic … that's the point). Just as there are formulas for great screenplays that make a lot of money (even if they don't win an Oscar), there are formulas for very effective speeches and presentations. Plenty of directors are happier with the title “box‐office leader” than “award‐winning,” and if I was a director, I'd be one of them. The goal isn't an award‐winning speech but great presentations that you can give with confidence.

However, I believe that people don't need the perfect answer; they want a good, solid, and helpful answer.

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As you could probably guess, I have systems for almost everything (and I'm always developing new ones). All of my books are essentially codifications of some of my systems, including:

• Speak with No Fear: Systems for alleviating paralyzing fear.
• Lead with No Fear (written with Steve Gutzler): Systems for courageous leadership.
• Grow Your Soul: Systems for restoring your spiritual life.
• Write to Speak: A complete system for crafting presentations.
• Connect through Emotional Intelligence: Systems for increasing your EI—which is more important than your IQ.
• Speak and Meet Virtually: Systems for becoming a “Zoom rock star,” including effectively leading and participating in meetings.

In the next few chapters, I'm going to give you systems aimed at the three areas that have been the biggest confidence‐killers for my clients: developing a prepared talk (a highly abbreviated version of Write to Speak), off‐the‐cuff speaking, and avoiding rambling while speaking. Clearly, these aren't the only systems you'll ever need, but they'll go a long way toward helping you craft a confident message.