2025.29 Anonymize People in Your Stories
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
Release Date: 08/15/2025
2025.29 Anonymize People in Your Stories
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for August 15, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Anonymize People in Your Stories If you're talking about real people, anonymize them. I always tell my audience that every story is true, and that includes all the stories in this book. I always changed their names and often their genders. That creates realistic stories while protecting the innocent and the people who did not realize the effects of their actions. I don't call the...
info_outline
2025.28 Offer Value to the Audience
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for August 8, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Offer Value to the Audience The more value you know you offer, the less likely you are to feel that fear of public speaking. The first piece of value is often the stories you can use to help the audience empathize with your expertise and experience. I asked you to consider three writers and consultants whose work you find valuable. I hope you have at least two books and one...
info_outline
2025.27 Speaking Clarifies the Value and Quality of Your Ideas
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for August 1, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Speaking Clarifies the Value and Quality of Your Ideas What if you don't yet have anything to market? You might be in the same position I was in 1979. I didn't speak then to market myself. Instead, I was showing my company's expertise. That's a great way to start becoming an effective speaker and to practice your speaking skills. And if you "only" speak inside the organization, you can...
info_outline
2025.26 If In Doubt, Mic Up
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for July 25, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Do You Always Need a Microphone? I have a guideline that might work for you. If the room has a microphone, I use it. And, if I'm speaking to more than ten or so people around a conference table, I use a microphone. Without a microphone, speakers need to spend energy projecting their voices, not just staying present and making eye contact with the other people. In the past, I have...
info_outline
2025.25 Identify Your Subject Matter Expertise
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for July 18, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Identify Your Subject Matter Expertise While you might want to speak about your general expertise, many speakers prefer to narrow their topics to their specific expertise. That's called "subject matter expertise." Fiction writers have a wide variety of subject matter expertise. Because they wrote their books, they know how they created their characters, settings, and worlds. For...
info_outline
2025.24 Clarify the Introduction Timing
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for July 11, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Clarify the Introduction Timing At many technical conferences, no one introduces the speaker. Instead, the speaker introduces themselves. For in-person conferences, I put my title slide up as people enter the room. Then, when it's time to start, I say, "I'm Johanna Rothman, and my topic today is ..." For a virtual presentation, I often send the organizer my bio or an introduction....
info_outline
2025.23 Network with Other Speakers
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for July 4, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Network with Other Speakers The more other speakers know you, the more likely you are to receive offers to write, speak, and otherwise offer your content in different ways. This is how content marketing works. It's a reinforcement mechanism for your expertise. Here are the lessons I learned from all this networking: * If I had not submitted a proposal, no one would have...
info_outline
2025.22 Become a Thought Leader
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for June 27, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Become a Thought Leader The more you speak--and this goes for writing, too--the more people see you as a "thought leader." I would rather be a thought-provoker, but that's me. When you're a thought leader, people think of you first. That's ideal if you're trying to use content marketing to sell books or your services. Two weeks after I started my consulting business, I received a...
info_outline
2025.21 Think of Stories in Three Ways
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for June 20, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Think about stories in three ways: standalone, linked, and nested stories. * Standalone* stories describe a single situation to illustrate a specific point. They can also be anecdotes or examples. Many of the sidebars in this book are standalone stories that support the text on either side of the sidebar. In a presentation, a standalone story helps the audience understand the...
info_outline
2025.20 Shy or Introverted People Can Become Effective Public Speakers
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for June 13, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. However, if you are shy or you do gain energy from your thoughts, you can explain that to your audience. The people who feel the same way will feel a kinship with you. Once you start speaking effectively, your shyness or introversion won't matter to anyone—including you. Even better, the more effective your presentation is, the more likely your audience members will connect...
info_outlineThe Transcript:
This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for August 15, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This is from the Effective Public Speaking book.
Anonymize People in Your Stories
If you're talking about real people, anonymize them. I always tell my audience that every story is true, and that includes all the stories in this book. I always changed their names and often their genders. That creates realistic stories while protecting the innocent and the people who did not realize the effects of their actions.
I don't call the people who created the problems "guilty." That blames people for their ignorance. Besides, I hope some of those people will be in the audience, so I can offer them alternatives. That allows my audience to start trusting that I won't blame *them* for their problems.
Consider anonymizing people by using common names. That helps prevent people from feeling any blame.