2025.34 Black Boxes on a Virtual Presentation
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
Release Date: 09/19/2025
2025.34 Black Boxes on a Virtual Presentation
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for September 19, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. What About Black Boxes On a Virtual Presentation? Many audience members leave their cameras off during your virtual presentation. There are all kinds of reasons for people to leave their cameras off, including eating a meal, dealing with small children, or being just plain tired of being on a screen all day. Instead of being perturbed, consider inviting people to turn on...
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2025.33 A Caper Opening
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for September 12, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is the opening of a caper mystery. Lexi Flint was in her element. Smack in the middle of Boston’s Financial District, in the IT department—aka the basement—of the People’s Liberty Bank, in the ridiculously small conference room, she’d created her own little spy conclave. Posing as auditors, Lexi and her boss, Zara Glick, now commandeered this teeny, twelve-by-six auditor’s conference room in the middle of the...
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2025.32 Offer More Examples
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for September 4, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Offer More Examples I have a rule of thumb: The less ideal this audience is for my expertise, the more I need to tell nested or linked stories. (See the link to the stories for more specifics.) With more stories, I can bring my less-than-ideal audience along with me on this presentation's journey. That way, they tend to stay with me and continue to pay attention to the content....
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2025.31 Impostor Syndrome Can Create Your Fear
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for August 29, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Recognize if Impostor Syndrome Creates Your Fear Some people have trouble recognizing their expertise. Instead, they worry that "everyone" will discover they are a fraud. Most of those people have deep expertise. They might not have a lot of speaking experience, but they have the expertise. Instead of allowing Impostor Syndrome to create fear or discourage you from speaking,...
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2025.30 Experience Reports Use Nested Stories
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for August 22, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Experience Reports Use Nested Stories Experience reports tell two stories: the first story explains the problems a specific organization encountered and the choices its people made to solve those problems. The second story is how the reporter--you, the speaker--changed as you worked with the organization. These two stories are an example of nested stories. However, you, as the...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for September 19, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This is from the Effective Public Speaking book.
What About Black Boxes On a Virtual Presentation?
Many audience members leave their cameras off during your virtual presentation. There are all kinds of reasons for people to leave their cameras off, including eating a meal, dealing with small children, or being just plain tired of being on a screen all day.
Instead of being perturbed, consider inviting people to turn on their cameras. I often say something such as, "I'd love to see your smiling faces." Or, "I realize you might not want your camera on now, but as soon as you have a question, please put that question in the chat. And if you are willing, please turn on your camera when I answer the question.
Turned-off webcams with the resulting black boxes are a fact of life. Once you invite people to turn on their cameras, leave the topic alone.