Doreen McGettigan

WRITING WEDNESDAY

Public Speaking Part #3

Preparing Your Talk:

I’d be perfectly happy to stay curled up in my comfy writerly world but unfortunately if I want people to read what I write I need to let them know I’ve written something.
Does the thought of public speaking terrify you? The secret to a winning speaking experience is being prepared and practiced. Today’s Writing Wednesday tips are on preparing your talk.

Before creating your talk:

You need to know the audience. Have a list of questions for the person booking you. What is the demographic of the audience? Are they expecting to learn something, be inspired, be challenged or all three? Ask them what your time frame is and if time will be allotted for questions and answers. Will there be equipment available for illustrations, presentations or short videos? Do you need to provide chords, bring your laptop or a flash drive? Will there be sound equipment and someone that knows how to operate it?
If you are speaking for an organization you also want to do some of your own research. Do they have a mission statement? Try to collect ten-times more information than you’ll need.

Preparing your speech:

Choose a subject and stick to that topic. What is the point or points you want to make? What is the takeaway for your audience? You basically want to write a synopsis. Your talk will have a beginning, a middle and an end. Your beginning should be light and personable. Give a bit of yourself away and let the audience know that you know who they are. The middle is your topic. You want to be clear, interesting and persuasive. Personalize your talk with names and places that will be recognizable to the audience. Use your own experiences and use words that help create a picture for the listeners. Think about using props, illustrations photos or video that will help your audience visualize your subject.

Wrapping it up:

Be sure you’ve answered as many who, what, when. where and how’s as possible in your talk. When wrapping it up, be sure you’ve tied up any loose ends. Reemphasize the main points of your speech. End on a light note.

Insecure Writers Support Group

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

Follow us on Twitter; Instagram and Facebook. Our Hashtag is #IWSG and #theIWSG

May 1 question:

What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

I learned early on that if I spoke or wrote in certain ways people could become extremely angry with me or be quite happy with me.
The earliest memory I have of this is a debate with my father at the dinner table over peas. I was 7. Like most parents said back then my Dad said I needed to eat my peas because there where children starving in Africa. That statement made no sense to me at 7 and it still doesn’t. After a frustrating back and forth, I didn’t eat the peas that night. That weekend my father and I bought peas and other canned goods and sent them to an orphanage in Africa. That Halloween I collected change for UNICEF. I’ve continued to volunteer with and donate to causes I’m passionate about ever since.

The 2019 Annual IWSG Anthology Contest is now open for submissions!

This is SO Exciting! I’m thinking of entering.

I don’t write middle grade, so it’ll be a fun challenge.

Guidelines and rules:

Word count: 3500-5000

Genre: Middle Grade Historical – Adventure/Fantasy

Theme: Voyagers

Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.

Submissions accepted: May 1 – September 4, 2019

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no page numbers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your full contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges. You can see who they are and get more information here.

The latest IWSG book was just released:

The awesome co-hosts for the May 1 posting of the IWSG are:

Lee Lowery, Juneta Key, Yvonne Ventresca, and T. Powell Coltrin!
Be sure to stop by and thank them!

Have a wonderful writing filled May.
Doreen