If you are going to be giving a presentation, the biggest
priority in your mind should be entertainment.
That’s not to negate the importance of information, or
education, or any of the other goals that you may have assigned to your public
appearance. But, trust me, the single distinguishing factor of any presentation
is the entertainment value. Do you capture the attention of the audience, keep
it through out, and leave them happy that they gave you the last 45 minutes of
their life? If not, it won’t matter how pristine your content was, you have
failed.
And, you want the entertainment to be intentional, not
accidental. Yes, there is a sick pleasure to be found in watching someone crash
and burn on the stage, like observing the sinking of the Titanic or the most
painfully awkward moments on The Office. But moments like those will not help
you sell your book. And, really, that’s what it’s all about, right?
So, how do you create the most entertaining presentation
possible, while still staying true to yourself and your goals as a writer?
Here’s my way:
1.
Grab the
audience from the start. Maybe you open with a joke. (Of course, telling
jokes can be one of the most terrifying activities in public speaking) Maybe
you give them a video. How about a quote, or a riveting fact. You say you wrote
a paranormal Romeo and Juliet parody, starring Zombies from the Appalachians
and from New Orleans? And the reason you picked those two locations was because
of the voodoo tradition from New Orleans, mixed with the Rip Van Winkle folklore
of Appalachia? How about opening like this: “Rip Van Winkle was a zombie. You
all knew that, right? He was a brain eating, flesh skewering, never showering
zombie. What, you don’t think that’s true? Prove it.”
2.
Escalate
your momentum. Now you give them the story. Not the story of your book, but
the story of you writing the darn thing. Of course, this isn’t the flowery
story you’ve shared with your friends and family, the one where you were so
frustrated you wanted to quit and take up professional crocheting. Save that
for your blog. Instead, give your audience the truncated, Reader’s Digest
version. Take out all the boring parts. Make it easy to follow. Let the
audience feel like anyone could do what you did, but there’s no way anyone
could do it the way you did it.
3.
Slap them
with substance. You know all that crap about theme and archetypes you tried
to keep from being too obvious in your book. Now’s the time to make it obvious.
And, even more importantly, it’s time to make them relevant. So, your Zombie
romance dealt with cultural differences, grief, and vegetarianism? Give it to
your audience, with details of why those issues are important to them. But,
remember, it’s a sin to be boring. So, give them stories relating to the theme.
Real life stories, and then weave in the story of your book.
4.
Leave
them wanting more. One of my favorite movies is That Thing You Do. In that movie, there’s a band that is on tour,
and their manager tells them to bow, smile, and leave the stage as soon as the
song is over. That’s what you need to do, too. Don’t give them everything you’ve
got, give them enough so they want more from you. If you want to have a
question and answer time, that’s awesome. But, limit it. Let everyone know that
you’ll be happy to answer one question per person at the signing line
afterwards. And if there aren’t any
questions? Leave them with one final story, the kicker, that piece that will
have them salivating to talk to you. It can be funny, sad, or exciting.
Whatever you do, leave them asking for more.
I hope that you all have a wonderful career of public
speaking in front of you, especially if you are a children’s and young adult
writer and you are hoping to make school appearances.
Excelsior!
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