In this clip, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, when pressed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN to describe differences between the economic policies of Senator McCain and Senator Obama, stumbles, painfully. To make matters worse, he actually puts his train of thought into words, which sounds awkward and uniformed. To make matters worse, when he finally raised an issue, Wolf was able to swiftly counter the issue.

The real shame of this is that Governor Sanford is an intelligent and articulate elected official, and due to the instant access to everything that runs on television, this is the clip that will appear for a while you "Google" (or "Yahoo" or "Ask") his name. This did not have to be the case. The lesson here is to always implement the 3 P’s of public speaking — Prepare, Practice and Proceed. The reality is that we all freeze or draw a blank on occasion, and that is ok — with preparation and practice you will ALWAYS be able to maneuver your way out of a "mind blank."

Whether you are running for President or local school board, whether you are the CEO or a front line employee, every time you speak you are representing your organization, your personal brand and yourself. It is critical to prepare and practice EVERY time prior to speaking. Ultimately, the entire package of "you" - what you say, how you say it, where you say it, when you say it, what your body says, and the list goes on and on, — is the message, each and every time your mouth opens.

In this age, when YouTube allows for the instant posting of each and everything someone says, you owe it to yourself to prepare and practice, even if only for a few minutes (my advice would be substantially more time due to the fact that the ability to communicate effectively is not given nearly enough attention). Failure to follow the 3 P’s usually results in failure to deliver your message.