Ideas and Tips on Public Speaking for Writers

How to Prepare for an Author Talk About Writing

Sep 20, 2009 Marg McAlister

The ability to speak confidently about writing a book will help boost any author's career. Scary? Maybe... but there are ways to make an author talk both easy and fun.

Whether writers want to promote a novel, a self-help book, or the writing services they offer, it's a huge advantage to be able to speak about it in public. For some writers this comes naturally: they could talk underwater if necessary. For others, the very idea of public speaking gives rise to heart palpitations and rivers of sweat.

The good news is that it's possible to work up to that oh-so-public author talk. Writers don't have to start off speaking to room full of people.

Start Out With Shorter Talks

Any writer new to public speaking goes through the same thing: a dry mouth and a brain-freeze. ("Aaargh! I've forgotten what I was going to say. Lemme out of here!") Luckily, there is a way to gradually build up to speaking to larger groups. Here are some suggestions.

For writers who also work outside the home : volunteer for short presentations at work to a small group of workmates
For writers who are invited to a seminar or conference:– ask if it's possible to start out on a panel of writers, just answering questions or giving an opinion– suggest co-presenting with another writer in the same genre
For writers who are thinking about offering a workshop: advertise a workshop limited to six people, then prepare a short introductory talk

Know The Content of the Speech

The main fear for most inexperienced speakers is that they'll forget what they wanted to say. This worry disappears if speakers know their material inside out (and most writers do). All that is needed is a simple list of points. For example: for a writer who has been asked to give a talk about her latest novel, the points to talk about might look like this:

Idea for novel: where it came from
Characters: How I came up with the main character
Plot: how I decided where the story would start; how I came up with the ending; how I used my Plot Notebook.
Problems encountered along the way - (1... ) (2...)
How I write – timetable, writers block etc .

This is just a short list: it will vary for every author. It's easier and more audience-friendly than a formal speech.

Know the Audience

Anyone who speaks in public regularly knows how widely audiences can vary. A talk given to a Rotary club meeting might be quite different to one given to members of the local writers' centre, or to a Friends of the Library group.

When invited to speak, an author should find out as much as possible about the audience, and take care to relate what he or she is saying to the lives of those people. An audience comprising other writers will want to know about plotting and marketing to publishers; whereas one made up mainly of readers will be interested in the characters.

Tell Stories to Make the Speech Flow

Public speaking becomes much easier (and much more interesting for the audience) when the author tells stories. Writers can tell stories about their families, about making mistakes with research, about funny letters from fans... there are endless stories to tell. The bonus is that stories are so easy to remember: the writer simply tells it as it happened - just a word or a phrase on a piece of paper is enough of a reminder.

Invite Questions at the End of a Talk

This is akin to being on a panel: it's much easier to answer questions than to prepare a talk! For nervous first-time speakers giving a talk alone, the speech itself can be quite short, with plenty of time left over for the audience to ask questions about writing, or about the novel itself. Tip: provide the organiser with three or four questions that are easy to answer, so if people are shy at the beginning, the MC can kick off.

For questions that are rude or intrusive: have a stock answer ready: "I'm sorry, that's private" or "Sorry, I'm not really prepared to discuss that... it lies outside the boundaries of this talk." For questions that are too personal: "Sorry, I never discuss my family/private life. But I'm ready to discuss anything about the novel."

Take Props as Reminders and Points of Interest

This is a true life-saver! The author's book itself would be the first prop: hold this up and be prepared to discuss the cover art or testimonials, or how it ended up being published. Other props could include such things as tools (for how-to home maintenance books or craft books); photos ("my main character was inspired by this photograph...") or newspaper/magazine tear sheets ("my book was inspired by this article"...") Author talks in schools can have lots of different props, especially for picture books written for small children.

Author talks can, at first, seem intimidating. By starting with smaller groups and building up, writers will find that not only are they easy, but they're a lot of fun! It could even become addictive. Maybe Oprah next...?

The copyright of the article Ideas and Tips on Public Speaking for Writers in Writing Fiction is owned by Marg McAlister. Permission to republish Ideas and Tips on Public Speaking for Writers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.