by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I’ve definitely made my peace with public speaking in the last 15 years or so. It’s still usually not my most favorite activity, but I’ve gotten to the point where I enjoy sharing information and even providing some entertainment.
The easiest form of public speaking is podcasts. I usually appear on a podcast at least once a year. It’s minimal prep and I can even have notes in the background. The same goes for zoom calls, recorded or not. I have a checklist for appearing on podcasts, which you can see here.
Minimally harder is speaking to writers in person at conferences. I feel very much at ease speaking to writers, so the only hard part is making sure I’m prepared for any questions. I’ve found it’s very important to get a feel for exactly where the audience is, in terms of their writing. Are they just started out? Are they publishing? Do they want to hear more about craft or promo? Usually the organizer can answer these questions for me in advance so that I can be prepared. I answer questions at the end. If a question from a writer gets too technical and seems to be beyond the scope of what the rest of the writers are interested in, I ask them to speak with me afterwards or shoot me an email.
The toughest, for me, is speaking with readers. The very toughest is speaking with book clubs (tip: I recommend keeping all of your outlines to use as cheat sheets before speaking with book clubs), but speaking with other readers is also hard. I’ve found that the audience tends to like my general talk the best. In it, I start out asking for a show of hands to see how many grew up reading mysteries or watching them (Scooby Doo, et al) on TV. Then I talk about constructing mysteries for a bit . . . clues, red herrings, sleuths, and suspects. From there, I give an overview of how I got started writing and then my writing life and routine. I include as much humor as possible and end up by taking questions.
General tips for in-person talks:
Arrive early. This is my biggest tip. It helps avoid tech issues that may crop up. You can also greet the audience as they come in, which I’ve found helps me reduce nerves.
Move around. Although standing behind a lectern feels very safe, it’s less visually interesting for the audience than seeing the speaker walk.
If you use a PowerPoint presentation, have it be image-based instead of text-based.
Keep track of your audience. If people are looking bored or sleepy, pivot and talk about something else.
Focus on delivering value. Not only will the audience walk away from the event feeling they gained something, it helps speakers reduce any anxiety regarding public speaking.
Do you do much public speaking? What tips have I missed?
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Talking to anybody is tough for me.
Good tip about book outlines. It's been so long, I barely remember my first couple books.
I don’t either! I have a book club gig in November, and I’ll be reviewing my outline, for sure.
These are great suggestions, Elizabeth! I think it can be hard for writers to 'get out there' in public, especially if they're introverts. But it's a useful skill to have. I've found, too, that it helps to have a few funny stories to tell. People like to see you as a human being, so if you have a stockpile of little anecdotes even small ones, that can break the ice, or so I've found.
Having funny stories in your pocket is a great tip!
I love it. Webinars are the toughest for me because there is no interaction.
Know your material and know your audience are the best tips.
You’re a pro at this!
Those are excellent tips. I used those when I was teaching kids how to speak to audiences. For them I always emphasized it was critical to know your stuff and to talk about the subject. When it's a memorized (or read) speech, one wrong word can throw you off. When it's a subject you're comfortable with, you don't get so easily off-track. It also helps (me anyway) to remember that the speech/talk is about the audience's needs and interests. Keeping my focus there helps :)
As a teacher, I know you’ve really honed your public speaking skills! Great tip on not memorizing the speech, just being super-familiar with the topic.
I don't love public speaking. I've just started doing online webinars. Thanks for your great tips.
Thanks for coming by, Natalie!
I do pretty well with one on one chats. Actual presentations definitely make my palms sweat.
It’s sort of like reciting in front of the class, isn’t it? Practice really helps, though.
Hi Elizabeth – good tips … especially the 'use more image, than text' if using powerpoint … I do that for my History talks … and make sure the font is large enough (for the small amount of description you'll be using) for being read. Your thoughts on being prepared – so essential too … thanks for these – cheers Hilary
I wish I could attend one of your talks! I bet they’re fascinating.