My podcast this week is from the Effective Public Speaking book. (While I only offer you small snippets in my podcast, I cleaned up a whole bunch of “where do I put this” pieces. And wrote a bunch of new words. Very happy about that.)
Enjoy!
The Podcast:
The Transcript:
I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for October 25, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This is from the Effective Public Speaking book.
The first time I practiced a lightning talk, it took me ten minutes for a five-minute timebox. Uh oh. I was glad I practiced. I had to reduce the number of ideas and slides, so I could fit my content into the timebox.
That's why I have this guideline:
Always practice short presentations.
The shorter the timebox, the more I need to practice. That way I can focus on making that small amount of time work best for the audience.
I always need more practice for Pecha Kuchas because I iterate on the design as I practice my delivery.
As I practice, I realize the visuals don't always remind me of what I want to say. Or that the information needs to flow differently than I expected. Especially with a short presentation, the audience needs to understand your information as you present.
While I still do not memorize my Pecha Kuchas, you might want to experiment to see what works for you.
The video link.