Few of us get to escape that particular challenge that is public speaking, whether it’s an integral part of our jobs, or just a toast at a wedding or a speech at a funeral. It regularly ranks in the top three biggest fears people have.
And in these days, when publishers mostly only go all out for their top-brand authors, you have to do a heck of a lot of talking to get any attention for your book if you’re not a Richard Osman, a Richard Coles, or some other kind of Richard.
Sure, you can buy marketing help, there’s plenty of services out there, but you’ll need to be Rich in that case, and you’ll still have to do your own plugging at events that are set up for you. And speaking in person isn’t the same as throwing an opinion out into the ether of social media.
Now, I’m one of the lucky ones. I joined Toastmasters, a worldwide club that helps people improve their public speaking, when I was in my twenties and worked hard to get better. I paid a quarter each for my ‘ums’ until I eradicated them, learned to slow down so people could understand me, and took loads of other ‘suggestions for improvement’ on board. It helped that many of the club members were also friends, but they weren’t always subtle about my faults!
All of that was good since I’ve never had the presence of mind when speaking to take on the classic suggestion of picturing your audience in their underwear. I suspect it would just be distracting, anyway.
My other lucky characteristic is that I’d much rather be talking than listening. Okay, so that’s not always a great thing, but for public speaking, it works. I have a supportive family who has always encouraged expression (to put it politely), I’ve earned four college degrees, and I’m a librarian who has read loads of books. So I have lots of things to say. 😉
But that still doesn’t mean I want to be up there by myself staring at a sea of faces, so this is what I do to make it easier:
1. I try to take part in events centered around things I know a lot about. It’s easier to talk about your passions. Just make sure you don’t talk over everyone else!
2. I try to take part in events that aren’t huge, as I find audiences of twenty to thirty people about as much as I can handle stress-wise. You will need to find your limits through experience. Then you can decide if you want to challenge them.
3. I try to sign up for panels, or have an interviewer work with me. Someone I can feed off of (but not in a vampire-y way) when my mind goes blank, who can share the stage and take some of the pressure off.
4. I research my audience. I’ve given presentations dinged for too many acronyms. I also gave one to an English audience using classic American films as examples. Who knew they hadn’t seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High? Well, I should have. Organizers can often help with this, or maybe send your presentation to someone who shares your audience’s characteristics to get feedback in advance. Always listen if you are lucky enough to get audience reviews so you can improve in future.
5. I write down expected questions and my answers beforehand, using bulleted points for things I want to mention.
This has worked pretty well for me so far, but the final thing to remember is that nothing will ever go perfectly. I thought we’d had a lovely discussion at a recent book fair until the video came out and the autocaptions had turned someone’s book title from The Pianist to The Penis. Stuff happens. I’ve said things I wish I could take back plenty of times. You just have to learn, laugh, and let it go.
And no matter how many speaking engagements you do, you will still have butterflies. If you don’t, you’re either not trying hard enough or you’re Benedict Cumberbatch. (I saw the man speak at the Hay Book Festival, his stage presence is seriously palpable.) But keeping in practice helps to build your confidence and improve your performance, so volunteer to do that wedding speech, that presentation, that full-throated bullhorn announcement at the protest march.
Do remember, however, when you are speaking, people are looking to you as an authority. So try not to spread misinformation or say things merely for shock value. We get enough of that from politicians. 😉
Now go forth and speak.