From Podcaster to Pro Speaker at PodcampToronto 2011

Tomorrow, Saturday Feb. 26, I’ll share tips with Toronto’s leading multi-media, audio podcasters, vloggers, web show hosts and online content creators at podcamptoronto 2011. If you are in town, it’s a great event and I highly recommend it. Chris Brogan was one of the original founders of the event, and it is a true un-conference and a great learning fest for all concerned. Plus, I hear pub night is awesome. Registration is free, and you will find the networking is world class.

Today, I’m putting the finishing touches on the notes that I’ll share at Podcamp. To be honest, the notes are as much for me as they are for the audience. Since this is a special event, I will use the slides as ‘triggers’ or ‘prompts’ so I can figure out what I need to say or ‘riff’ on a topice until the next point or slide.

It also helps me to have the slides so I know what I’ve already covered and won’t miss key points or information that I’d really like to share. What I want to use the slides for is to avoid repeating myself, droning on about something that people don’t or won’t want to hear about, or have a public peri-menopausal ‘duh’ moment.

The slides will also help me remember stories that I think will help folks know what it’s like to get front of an audience, the kind of things they can expect, how to create good relationships with meeting or event planners, or ideas about topics or things they can do to start or kick-start their own speaking careers.

None of my ‘stories’ are ‘rehearsed.’ So if you heard me talk, I’d welcome your comments to tell me if they ‘flowed’ well into and out of the rest of the content.

If you want any more information or insights, or have suggestions for topics, please let me know.

Hopefully my talk will go as I hope it will, and everyone there will learn more about the world of professional speaking. If more people can become actively involved in charity, cause, event, educational, public and professional speaking with new, fresh, solid, thoughtful ideas, then all of us benefit in the long run.

And if folks can leave with more useful info than before they first walked into auditorium, and they enjoyed the time I’m ‘on,’ then that just makes my day.

Can We Please All People All the Time?

The greatest challenge for me when I speak to any group is that there are likely people in the room who may already know what I’m talking about. Or they’re hostile, passive-aggressive types who really don’t want to be there. Or they HAD to be there because their boss told them so.

Each of those is a topic unto itself, so let me start with the idea of speaking to people who may already know what I’m talking about and were expecting ‘more.’ Tomorrow I give a talk at PodCampToronto 2011, and there may likely be people in the room who have already been pro or semi-pro speakers. To be honest only a small percentage of what I have to say to them will be useful. But that small percentage could save them hours of research and even earn them thousands of dollars IF they have the patience to write down or follow-up on some of the resources I’ll be sharing.

For most of the people in the room, they may have wondered about what it takes to become a professional speaker, speech writer or visual content creator, and that’s the audience I hope will get the most from my talk.

And then there will be a few souls who were curious and realize that they may not be comfortable – at this time – speaking. But to them: never say never, and who knows what life will bring you in the way of opportunities. So be patient and see what you can learn.

What I hope is that everyone who comes into the room will get a chance to take something key away with them.

My greatest challenge as a speaker is to not give out so much information that I ‘lose’ the beginner speakers in the room. And to put in enough ‘gold’ so that the people who really want to add a new direction to their careers have enough info or a map they can follow to get to where they want to go.

It’s a fine balancing act. Last year at PodcampToronto 2010, most of the people told me they were happy with what I’d shared with them. But there were a few that thought my talk didn’t give them enough info. Actually it did, but those items were in my speaking notes. If they’d asked, they would have been given the info. C’est la vie!

I will usually err on the side of making sure the majority of the people in the room get the info that they came to get. And if the few hot shots in the room aren’t happy with that, then let them hire a professional speaking coach at a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per session.

If I didn’t address something that you’d hoped to learn, please ask me about it now.

You’re also welcome to give me comments and feedback so I can give you the right amount of info the next time.

How to Become a Speech Writer in Only Eight Minutes

My own road to becoming a speaker was not designed. I fell into it. Actually, I was dragged into it and was too embarrassed and scared to admit that I didn’t know what I was doing. The first time I was ever asked to write a speech was for the President and CEO of J. Walter Thompson (now JWT Canada), John J. (aka Jack) Cronin. I’d already been working for Jack for six months, and wrote most of his reports, letters and memos. A bunch of us were at a major industry dinner.

Ten minutes before he had to go on to give out some awards, my boss asked me if I could put together a few words for him. I hope I hid the terrified look in my eyes well. I had never written, let alone given, a speech in my adult life. I didn’t count what I’d done as required public school speaking.

My adrenaline kicked in, and I wrote – er scribbled – out Jack’s impending remarks. Thank goodness I’d only had one glass of wine at dinner!

Eight minutes later, the back of a menu, and two paper napkins were given to Jack for his assessment and review. He calmly read my scratchings and gave me two thumbs up. Later he hold me that I had all the makings of a speech writer. And according to Jack, a darn effective one. That was a pivotal moment for me in my life, and I didn’t know it.

That was a few decades ago. I’ve learned much and have still many things that I’d like to learn and try. The greatest thing that I learned is that speaking is about sharing my voice, time and energy with others. If I can do that well, everyone in the room will be happy.

If anyone had ever told me that I’d write speeches for even more CEO’s after that first outing, I’d have told you that that was a one off situation. In fact, I ended up writing and coaching many CEO’s and executives on their talks and presentations.

If anyone had ever told me that I’d speak in front of 10,000 people, give workshops to VP’s, or get on a plane because someone wanted me to speak in another country, I’d have though they had ingested too much coffee and chocolate.

And if anyone had ever told me that I’d make people laugh, cry in empathy, not commit suicide, try new things or tell me that they were so glad they came out to hear me speak even though they suffered from clinical exhaustion, I’d never have believed you. But all of this and so much more has happened to me because I decided to stand up and try to write, talk and share.

Here’s to your starting new things that relate to speaking in public: a new chapter in your life, new attitude, new speaking opportunities, or even carving out a new career and income stream.

And here’s to sharing your vision of the world with as many people as possible.

Happy speaking!
Julia