This week, my podcast has what I just wrote in the speaking book.

Enjoy!

The transcript:

I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s WIP for February 9, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.

This excerpt is from the speaking book, as yet untitled.

You might have heard of this for public speaking: “Tell them what you will tell them; tell them; tell them what you told them.”

That's a great start. And for me, it's not sufficient. Instead, consider this design to educate, influence, and inspire your audience:

• Start with a relevant problem and how that problem affects your audience.
• Offer a vision of a different future.
• Clarify several options to achieve that future.
• End with a brief recap of how these options solve the original problem.

Why start with problems? Because problems help the speaker connect with the audience. And if you're at a conference, those problems help people decide to leave right away and find some other session. Those people—and their obvious disappointment—won’t derail your delivery. So yes, help your audience choose you because they want your content.

Connect With Your Audience

In the Introduction, I contrasted two speakers–one that succeeded and one that did not. The successful speaker connected with her audience. The unsuccessful speaker did not.

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