My podcast this week is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Yes, it has a cover! (I recorded the podcast before I had the cover, so you'll get to hear me be excited next week.
Enjoy!
The Podcast:
The Transcript:
I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for January 17, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This is from the Effective Public Speaking book.
Organize with What, So What, Now What
Internal presentations require just enough value for the people who attend or participate. While I still recommend all the ideas in Design-your-talk, you might have just ten or fifteen minutes for this internal presentation. In that case, consider this as a way to organize your thoughts:
- What: The “what” question clarifies what brought these people here, to this presentation. This is essential if you're delivering a status report of some sort, because no one wants to be here.
- So What: What is the impact of your presentation on these people? I like to consider the decisions they will make after your presentation.
- Now What: How can you support their decision-making after your presentation?
What, So What, Now What can help you decide which stories to tell. For example, you might want to tell a story about an unhappy customer who did not get what they wanted. That's relevant (the So What) because that information will help the various decision-makers decide what's next.
The Video:
Here's the link.