Since I'm running a Kickstarter for the Effective Public Speaking book, I expect to record several videos about the myths and traps of public speaking.
However, I never memorize my talks. These videos are not exactly presentations because I'm trying to keep them short, so people will watch them or read these blog posts. So I wrote a script.
However, I am never able to read exactly what I wrote as a script for any video. Never. I always ad lib.
In my Writing in Public podcast, that's fine. I can edit to my heart's content. But since I'm talking about speaking in this book, I thought I would show you how I actually speak. The expected transcript is what I wrote.
My Expected Transcript
Public Speaking Myth One: To be more comfortable, think of your audience as naked.
I do not know how or where this myth started, but do you feel comfortable if you imagine your audience naked? I do not. To me, that’s just this side of scary.
I suspect the originator of this myth wanted to help speakers feel more powerful. I don’t find power-over that helpful when I speak. Instead, I want to connect with my audience.
That’s why I take comfort in the fact that every audience wants the speaker to succeed.
Contrast that with the extra little ad-libbing in this video—and my laughter.
The Video With Ad-libs and Laughter
Like this? Back the Kickstarter. That link will redirect to the book page after the Kickstarter is over. And since the Kickstarter has funded, I now get to think about stretch goals. Woo!