Yesterday morning, I gave a talk on self publishing to a Baltimore Hadassah Chapter. The talk went well and I was able to bond with my audience of 50+ women and even a few men that honored me with their presence. So what's the secret to giving a talk that is well received?
Of course preparation is always key to any successful engagement, and of course as writers, we are or should be well prepared to tell our story. Overcoming our fear of public speaking is not an easy task and it took me many a talk before I conquered my own fear of speaking before a group. One thing I always keep in mind is that "I know more about my subject than anyone else in the room." That knowledge in itself provides me with the confidence that prevents me from panicking in front of my audience. Of course I would never accept a speaking engagement where the audience knows more about the subject than I do. So before accepting any engagement, I always decide on the subject matter and always vet my audience, making sure that they are reasonably astute and interested in the information that I am able to impart. I would never, for example, give a talk about astronomical events in the cosmos to a group of taxi drivers. A mismatched talk like this would be committing Hari-Kiri, figuratively speaking.
I will continue this blog shortly but now its time to satisfy my appetite.
