I’ve had to do that more than once — actually several times. The most recent time was when a colleague was scheduled to attend a meeting out of town and came down with the flu two days before he was supposed to leave. My boss asked me if I could attend the meeting and make the presentation my colleague was supposed to make. I had two days to learn everything about the project. I went over pages and pages of notes and put together a presentation of my own, incorporating input from my colleague, whom I spoke to on the phone several times a day. Not only does this interviewee say she has taken over an assignment at the last minute, she talks about a specific case. She shows how she stepped in and learned what she needed to learn in order to make a successful presentation.
Never Say: “Yes, it has happened.” Give an example.