Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 29, 2024
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
Release Date: 11/29/2024
2025.05 Fiction: More Than a Little Misdirection
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for January 31, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from a short story, tentatively titled More Than a Little Misdirection. (My fiction titles often change before I finish the story.) Closing the door behind her with a quiet snick, the dual odors of stale coffee and pizza gave Jayne Stone that roller coaster feeling in her stomach. Clearly, at least one of the team had been here, in GenResearch Security Central, for hours. Based in a nondescript four-story...
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2025.04 Volunteer to Teach Something
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for January 24, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book (which now has a cover!) Volunteer to Teach Something I've mostly focused on what the audience will learn from you and how to design and deliver your presentation so the audience does learn. But speaking helps you realize what you do and do not know. I like to use speaking as the idea behind "See one, Do one, Teach one." If you've experienced something novel at...
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2025.03 Organize Internal Presentations with What, So What, Now What
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
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...
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2025.02 Start Your Public Speaking with Internal Presentations
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for January 10, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Start Your Public Speaking with Internal Presentations Which presentations "should" you start with? Consider these alternatives: Start with the presentations that offer *you* the least value as an attendee or participant. Volunteer to change them. Offer a brief presentation about what you know that you think other people should know. (This might be at a team meeting...
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2025.01 Pick Several People to Make Eye Contact With
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for January 3, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Pick Several People to Make Eye Contact With No speaker can look at "everyone" in the audience. Instead of trying to do so, consider finding several key people to make eye contact with. I choose a couple of people in the front, a couple of people to my right, one or two in the center, and one or two on my left. Since I'm short, I can't see the back of the room. While I...
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 27, 2024
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 27, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Larger Audiences Need More Examples I have a rule of thumb: The larger the audience, the more I need to tell fractal stories. (See the stories section for more specifics.) That's because a larger audience does not offer you the same feedback a smaller audience does. While you can never quite tell if your audience is on the same journey as you are, it's almost...
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 20, 2024
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 20, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Review the Risks You Fear When I work with speakers who say they fear speaking, I ask them to write down the answers to these questions: * What's the worst thing that could happen? Then, write down at least three things to manage those risks. in some way. * What’s the best thing that could happen? What three things can I consider to make that best thing...
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 13, 2024
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 13, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Do you fear public speaking? If so, you're not alone. When I researched the number of people who fear public speaking, I saw estimates that range from 20% to an astounding 77%. Some people say they fear public speaking more than they fear death. Yet, we all speak in public every day, assuming we have the physical ability to do so. Sometimes, that's as informal...
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 6, 2024
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 6, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Adapt to the Moment Things Happen when you're the speaker, regardless of location. Here are some virtual meeting "problems" I've encountered: * The meeting tool is different from what I'm used to, so once, I did not realize the meeting participants could not see my slides. * The meeting host could not record the meeting. * People didn't mute their audio, and we...
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 29, 2024
An Experiment: 60 Seconds of Johanna's Writing WIP
Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 29, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. When You Do Not Want to Answer While most audience members are terrific people, some are not. Those people too often ask questions that insult you or your content. Or the questions are way too personal--even if you're speaking about personal topics. You do not have to answer those questions. I used to have a "fan" who went to all my sessions at specific...
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I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 29, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This is from the Effective Public Speaking book.
When You Do Not Want to Answer
While most audience members are terrific people, some are not. Those people too often ask questions that insult you or your content. Or the questions are way too personal--even if you're speaking about personal topics.
You do not have to answer those questions.
I used to have a "fan" who went to all my sessions at specific conferences. He always had questions that were off-topic and generally insulting. I smiled and said, "That's off-topic. You and I have emailed before. Please email me. We can discuss this in more detail." Then I looked around and asked, "Who has the next question?"
He was not happy about that answer. He yelled his question out, ignoring my facilitation.
That's when I turned to him and said, "If you want to give your own presentation, that's great. But this one is mine.”