One of the best ways authors can promote their
message, sell a book, or market their brand is to utilize the power of the
podium. Speak up, speak often. The opportunities are out there for speaking.
How will you be an effective speaker and make the most of any opportunity to
speak?
Here are 23 tips for authors who want to be better
speakers:
1. No matter how big the room is or how large a
viewership your screen reaches, the approach is the same: act as if you are
talking one-on-one to an individual. That’s it. Focus on a single person. Have
a conversation and be yourself.
2. Smile. Even laugh. Express yourself with
your eyes, body language, energy, and passion in your voice. Show some emotion.
Let them know you are not just an author or expert; you are a human being just
like them. Acknowledge the crowd. Play off of their energy, if it is giving off
a good vibe. Many don’t care so much about what you know until they see you
care about them.
3. Speak from a glowing inside. Your radiance will
shine from the outside. Emit warmth, speak with conviction, and act out of an
authentic mindset.
4. Don’t overly rely on the strength of your
presentation’s content quality. It is not just about what you say, but how you
say it that inspires others to act. Of course you should have strong facts,
interesting stories, some eye-opening stats, a famous few quotes, some
jokes, and references to people and things in the news — but all of that
gets diluted or lost if you don’t share it in a certain way.
5. Never appear to be scripted even if you are to
a degree. Make sure you can see your notes and read your prompts. If you have
multiple pages of notes, don’t clip or staple them. I don’t want to be
distracted by seeing that. I don’t want a reminder that you are packaged like a
machine. Avoid flipping pages. Never speak when looking down at your notes.
When you are stiff, stilted, rushed, or low energy, you project zzzzzzzz.
6. Create a speaking sanctuary. This is your place
where you can silently prepare, and even give yourself a pep talk. Visualize
taking the stage and killing it.
7. Seek to make eye contact across the room at
various people, but do not really fixate on any one person.
8. Make sure the first 100 words are not boring.
Start off strong and invite others in for a special time.
9. Pause for drama and effect. Don’t rush through
the most important or powerful stuff. Let your words sink in. Change the speed
and cadence in which you speak. Alter your voice and its level of loudness.
Know when to whisper for effect, shout condemnation, build momentum, and talk
with emotion and attitude.
10. Have a clear take-away. Raise some good points
but focus on a key theme, feeling, or idea that they need to be left with.
11. Brevity in an ADHD world rules. Nuff said.
12. Rehearse but don’t come off as staged. Record
yourself practicing. Review it and be a harsh critic. Fix what needs
improvement.
13. Drink water before you speak. Hit the bathroom
before you go on. Then have water near by during your speech. Please, no
alcohol or anything with caffeine.
14. Use language that is lively, current, and
clean. Avoid industry jargon, words that people could find to be confusing,
complicated, or offensive, or words coined just yesterday. Neither sound like a
snotty, PC, woke, big-city elitist nor a conspiracy-minded, monkey IQ, militant
stick hick. See, not so hard.
15. Stop mumbling, bumbling, stumbling over your
words. Stop the ums, uhs, and likes. Consult a thesaurus — don’t overuse
phrases or constantly repeat the same exact word.
16. Avoid distracting people with jingly coins,
glittery jewelry, clothes that do not fit properly, or hats that seem out of
place. Dress for the setting. How formal should you be? How casual? Women, you
can be pretty without oozing sex. Men, show off your muscles at the gym,
but not at the podium. You can be a strong visual aid— to your advantage or
detriment.
17. Whatever you talk about, give examples. Create
a visual. People need to feel what you feel and see what you see. Take us to
where you are going.
18. Express yourself in soundbites. Be quotable
and memorable. Headlines sell the newspaper. Subject lines get your emails
opened. What will you say in a similar vane to pierce the cluttered minds and
distracted souls of your viewers and listeners?
19. Don’t rush. Don’t linger. Just right.
20. Customize your presentation. Poll your
audience to see what the majority knows, thinks, or does. This will guide you
on what to emphasize or ignore.
21. Engage others with questions that you
ask of them. Make them think a little. Ask them things they should ponder. If
you want, let them share their answers.
22. If the situation permits, let people ask you
questions. Lively discussions can correct any misunderstandings, fill in voids,
and re-emphasize your strongest points.
23. Make the assumptive close. Ask for the
sale. No, not ask: tell them what they should naturally feel they must do.
Never forget why you are there. Sell the book, without apology. But only do so
at the very end. Your whole speech is a tryout, an audition, a job interview.
The wrap-up is the foregone conclusion. It is not a question of will you buy my
book, but how many?
Need Book PR Help?
Brian
Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell
their book, and grow their brand. He has 30 years of experience in helping
thousands of authors in all genres.
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About Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This
is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he
now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab
rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and
IBPA’s The Independent. This was named one of the best book
marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com
as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity
for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.
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