The Earpiece Wasn't Working — And Neither Was Her Confidence

A high-stakes media interview turned into a masterclass on why real readiness can't be scripted, coached, or whispered through an earpiece. Sometimes the moment demands you speak without a net.

The earpiece wasn’t working.

That’s the detail I keep coming back to when I think about one of the most uncomfortable interviews I’ve ever witnessed.

I was supporting an executive at a Fortune 40 company. We’d landed her a coveted interview with a national outlet — the kind of hit that could launch not just a product, but a perception. This wasn’t just a media opportunity. It was a milestone. Her division was introducing a first-of-its-kind product for one of the biggest corporations in the world.

But the interview became something else entirely.

A masterclass in how quickly confidence can collapse when preparation is treated like a formality.

Her team declined every opportunity to rehearse.

“She’s always the most prepared person in the room,” they told me. “She’ll practice on her own.”

So, I waited on Zoom, making small talk with the reporter for ten long minutes. When the executive finally joined, she looked tight. Uncomfortable. Not at all like the polished leader I’d been promised.

The questions started easy. But instead of leading the conversation, she looped. Her answers circled the runway and never quite took off. No clear message. No strong point of view. No narrative. Just noise.

And then I saw it.

She kept putting her hand to her ear.

Over and over again. It wasn’t a tic. It was tech. She was wearing an earpiece — relying on her comms team to feed her lines in real time.

But the earpiece wasn’t working.

Which explained why she was late.

And why she came undone.

The interview unraveled. The reporter was gracious enough to spike the piece. But the damage inside the organization was harder to smooth over.

Here’s what I took away: you can’t outsource preparation.

Not the real kind. Not the kind that holds up under pressure.

If your confidence is tethered to a script, a coach, or a clever workaround, it’ll fail you when the moment demands presence.

Great leaders own their prep. They practice out loud. They test what might go sideways. And when the pressure hits, they show up with clarity — not because someone else handed it to them, but because they built it themselves.

That executive was smart. She knew her product. But she hadn’t practiced talking about it with stakes in the room. And when her safety net vanished, she had no voice to fall back on—because she’d never learned to trust her own.

Sometimes the moment demands that you speak without a net.

That’s not reckless. That’s readiness.

What’s one message you’ve been meaning to practice — out loud — before the stakes get real?