Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
I write a lot. And I often change what I write before I publish it. That's normal for a work in progress, that WIP. This podcast is for people who want insight into what I write before I publish it.
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2025.22 Become a Thought Leader
06/27/2025
2025.22 Become a Thought Leader
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 package in the mail from my father-in-law, Sam. It was a self-published three-ring binder with a sticker on the front that said, "Howard Shenson's Guide to Consulting Success." I called my in-laws to thank them. That's when Sam said, "I saw this guy speak at an event. I was so impressed with him that I bought his book for you." Now, think about that. That's the value of thought leadership and content marketing.
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2025.21 Think of Stories in Three Ways
06/20/2025
2025.21 Think of Stories in Three Ways
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 specifics of the problem. *Linked* stories show how a situation evolves over time. Linked stories are common in experience reports or case studies. (See the section about experience reports for more details.) The first story explains the initial state. As the state changes, add another story, and then another. This mirrors Budrys' seven-point plot outline. *Nested* stories are stories within a story.
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2025.20 Shy or Introverted People Can Become Effective Public Speakers
06/13/2025
2025.20 Shy or Introverted People Can Become Effective Public Speakers
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 with you. The shy people might wait to contact you until they think they can get a private moment with you. Some of those outgoing people might try to convince you--right after your presentation--that you are not shy or introverted. In that case, smile and thank them. And recognize that you have made a connection with a person who might refer others to your value.
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2025.19 Take Time to Breathe
06/06/2025
2025.19 Take Time to Breathe
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for June 6, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Take Time to Breathe One of the best things you can do to prepare physically is to take a little time to breathe. While I don't do deep breathing exercises, you might consider doing so. However, especially if my allergies are acting up, I'll breathe, blow my nose, and otherwise make sure everything is working. We can't easily stay present if we can't breathe. Breathing allows me to stay physically and intellectually present. I bet it does for you, too. You're physically ready. Now it's time for the last-minute preparations. I recommend you arrive early enough to prepare.
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2025.18 Trap: We Can’t Afford You
05/30/2025
2025.18 Trap: We Can’t Afford You
Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for May 30, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Trap: We Can't Afford You People who are not able to buy will ask you to speak. Those nice people are not the economic buyer. I rarely say, "yes," when someone asks me to speak. Instead, I use a discovery call to understand what a prospective client actually wants. That helps me understand all the boundaries of the potential speaking engagement. Halfway through one call, I asked if there were any monetary boundaries on what they could spend for this speaking engagement. "Yes," the client said. "We can only spend $100." (I made up that number, but it represents the order of magnitude difference between what I expected and what they offered.) "I can't do anything for just $100," I said. "My time is more valuable than that." "But we can't afford more money." Too often, people think they can't afford you because they're only thinking about the cost--the expense--of your speaking. They're not thinking about the value you can offer. You now have choices, especially about offering more value, instead of decreasing your fee.
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2025.17 Trap: We Never Pay Speakers
05/23/2025
2025.17 Trap: We Never Pay Speakers
The transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for May 23, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Trap: We Never Pay Speakers Early in my consulting career, before I'd even published a book, I drew the attention of a famous Fortune 100 organization. (The kind of organization that had plenty of money to pay for consultants and speakers.) An administrative assistant called and said, "Our VP is very impressed with you." I said, "Thank you." She continued, "We'd love you to speak for us. But we have no money to pay you. We need you to come out to California and spend the day with us." I'm based in Boston, so I wasn't sure I had heard her correctly. I clarified what she said. But I had heard her correctly the first time. I said, "I have a policy of only speaking for free for local meetups. This is not an issue of money--your organization makes oodles of money. This is an issue of what you value. I should not value my time and expertise more than you do."
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2025.17 Trap: You Pay for the Infomercial
05/16/2025
2025.17 Trap: You Pay for the Infomercial
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for May 16, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Trap: You Pay for the Infomercial Every so often, I receive emails from some World Famous Person or their admin. The email says something like this: "Because you're a leader in your field, World Famous Person wants to interview you for this serious-sounding radio or television program. You have your choice of several radio or television packages, starting at a mere $2500 for an hour with World Famous Person. After we publish your interview, you can then use this valuable resource on your website." Remember this: Money always flows to the person who provides the value. If you have to pay for this kind of interview, it's not an interview. It's an infomercial for the *other* person. Worse, it's promotion--not content marketing. World Famous Person's audience is not your ideal audience. Read the email, smile to yourself, and then toss that email in the trash.
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2025.16: Are You a "Best-Kept" Secret?
05/09/2025
2025.16: Are You a "Best-Kept" Secret?
The transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for May 9, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. Yes, it’s been a couple of weeks. I am finally over my cold, my website is fixed, and my car is healthy again. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Yes, I changed the start of the book again. Are You a "Best-Kept" Secret? Too many writers and consultants are best-kept secrets. It doesn't matter if they publish fiction, nonfiction, or show their consulting expertise through their writing. These people cannot seem to find a large enough audience to make the difference they want to make in the world. Too often, these people write more--aside from their books or articles--to attract buyers. That's good, but not sufficient. Or, they spend money on advertising or other promotion, all to drive people to their books, website, or mailing list. The result? Not enough return for the money.
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2025.15: Skip the Jokes
04/18/2025
2025.15: Skip the Jokes
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for April 18, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. (Yes, I have a head cold.) This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Unless You Are a Comic, Skip the Jokes Sometimes, I hear speaking advice that says, "Start with a joke." Unless you are using content marketing to market your book about humor, there's a problem with that. What you consider funny might not be funny to your audience. Too often, those jokes destroy any empathy you might build with the audience. And few of us public speakers are comedians. Worse, the joke is probably not relevant. While I often use humor--especially self-deprecating humor--I never tell jokes. Instead, start your presentation with a story that the audience will find relevant and interesting.
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2025.14: Make Every Presentation Valuable
04/11/2025
2025.14: Make Every Presentation Valuable
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for April 11, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. The speaker's job is to make every presentation valuable. Speakers do that when the audience has all the information they need to solve their problems. What about people who "steal" your ideas? Do not worry. People will steal from you. They will copy your slides and remove anything that identifies you as the author. Worse, they will copy your images and pass them off as their own. (Yes, this has all happened to me.) Now, we have Large Language Models (LLMs) ingesting all the books they can. Do any of these people or LLMs give you credit? No. Instead of worrying about theft, consider this alternative: make your presentation as good as it can be so your audience seeks *you* out after your presentation. Give your audience everything they need to succeed.
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2025.13: Introduction (Again!)
04/04/2025
2025.13: Introduction (Again!)
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for April 4, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. What if you're shy or an introvert? You can explain that to your audience. Many of those people are also shy or introverted. And if you design and practice your presentation, the extroverts won't believe you, so don't worry about them. All writers and consultants are ideal public speakers because they have expertise they can share. That expertise is exactly what audiences want to hear. And when you convey that expertise through stories and logic, your audience will nod along with you. They are likely to buy your products—your books or your consulting. Even better, while much of this book focuses on presentations, all writers and consultants can use podcasts to help build relationships with their ideal buyers. Those buyers will then discover and buy those products. Anyone can be an effective public speaker. If you have products that solve problems for your ideal readers or clients, you, too, can be an effective public speaker.
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2025.12: Recognize All Your Expertise
03/28/2025
2025.12: Recognize All Your Expertise
The transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for March 28, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Writers--both fiction and nonfiction--have expertise in what and how you write. Consultants have expertise that solves their potential clients' problems. In addition, because books and consulting services are products, these people also have expertise in the way they frame their ideas for their ideal audiences. Don't believe me? Try this little experiment. Think of three specific people: * A fiction writer whose books you read as soon as you can get the book. * A nonfiction writer whose books you read as soon as you realize they have a book precisely about your current problem. * A consultant whom you've seen speak (live or on video). Or, you've read one or more of their books. What do those people have in common? Their unique author or expertise voice. I'm not talking about the timbre or pitch of their literal voice. Instead, I mean how they frame their ideas, both in writing and in speaking. Often, that includes telling stories to explain those ideas.
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2025.11: Effective Public Speaking: Introduction
03/21/2025
2025.11: Effective Public Speaking: Introduction
The transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for March 21, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Are you a consultant or writer--an entrepreneur--who wants to let people know about your services or books? If so, you've probably heard that you should speak to market your expertise. That's true. Content marketing via public speaking helps writers (nonfiction and fiction alike) and consultants grow their "platforms." A platform is the way you reach your ideal buyers--those readers and clients--learn about your expertise. Effective public speaking helps entrepreneurs build their platforms. Those platforms then allow the writer or consultant to attract their ideal buyers. Yes, writing also helps entrepreneurs build their platforms, but public speaking helps potential buyers make a personal connection with you, the speaker. Speaking works for entrepreneurs.
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2025.10: Fiction: An Unhappy Hike
03/14/2025
2025.10: Fiction: An Unhappy Hike
The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for March 14, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from a fiction story, tentatively titled An Unhappy Hike. The War Memorial Tower on Mount Greylock was still shrouded in the late April mist. Molly Black was excited to finish this, her highest-altitude, most challenging Massachusetts hike. The late April morning sun had long since vanished. Now, the weather was cold, unfeeling, and downright wet. Less than a quarter-mile from the Tower, the light mist turned to rain. Molly had not realized how stinky everything could be once the ground unfroze. The earlier mist had made everything wet. All she could smell was the mold, mildew, and musk of last year’s growth. She wrinkled her nose. Not appealing was an understatement. The wind gusted, and Molly shivered in response. She stopped momentarily to zip up her bright orange hiking jacket. She glanced down at her small round thermometer on the zipper pull. No wonder she was cold—the temperature had dropped over ten degrees since she had started.
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2025.09: Practice Your Delivery Twice
03/07/2025
2025.09: Practice Your Delivery Twice
The Transcript: This is Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for March 7, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. I recommend you plan to practice twice. Feel free to practice more often, but for new presentations, I plan to practice twice--once for the logic and once for the stories. Sometimes, I practice the stories first, to make sure I get the point of those stories across to my audience. Other times, I practice my logic first, especially if that logic requires I bring the audience along with data. Data does not necessarily confuse people. But I always preface data with, "I try not to do public math, which is where there is data on this slide." In the moment, you might confuse yourself--with stories, logic, or data. That's why I practice and recommend you do, too. Practice first at your computer, emulating how you speak in front of a virtual audience. That will allow you to practice every piece of the content before you deliver that content to any audience.
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2025.08 Fiction: Historical Mystery
02/28/2025
2025.08 Fiction: Historical Mystery
The transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for February 28, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from a historical mystery short story. The sirens from the single ambulance and two police cars destroyed the mid-morning tranquility of Tannersville, in the Catskill Mountains in Upstate New York. Ina Glatzer sniffed in the clean country air to see if she could identify the emergency. While she hoped no one had died, she wouldn’t mind a little excitement. Maybe a theft? Or a missing dog? Even a bank robbery would do. Just a short bucolic drive from New York City, Tannersville felt like a new planet to Ina. In contrast to her life in the City, Tannersville had no hustle, no bustle, and definitely no sounds like The City.
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2025.07 Fiction: A Fine Hand
02/21/2025
2025.07 Fiction: A Fine Hand
Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for February 21, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from a short story titled “A Fine Hand.” Lillian Gray lifted the delicate white bone china teacup to her mouth and inhaled the calming odor of red raspberry leaf tea. She never understood how something that smelled like summer and raspberries and home could taste quite so awful. She thought it tasted like musty spiders, old, dead, and slightly off. Instead of the tea, she focused on the drawing room. She was a guest in the Brantwood home on Hawthorne Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. This home was at the “top” of Hawthorne Street, about a half-mile from the New Bedford harbor. (Although, she always thought of it as the Acushnet harbor because Acushnet surrounded the harbor on three sides. Unfortunately, no one asked her.)
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2025.06 Fiction, tentatively titled Action! A Saint Patrick’s Day Story
02/14/2025
2025.06 Fiction, tentatively titled Action! A Saint Patrick’s Day Story
The transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for February 14, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. First, a note about this podcast: I have changed the name to “Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman, because that is much more descriptive. This is from a short story, tentatively titled “Action! A Saint Patrick’s Day Story.” The brisk wind flew off Boston Harbor, down Columbia Road in South Boston, bringing with it the salty hint of the harbor, enhanced with the delightful buttery and salty odors of fresh popcorn and hotdogs. Patrice Finkelbaum inhaled deeply. Her two favorite food groups: salt and fat. Well, she had a third favorite—the sweet rich taste of dark chocolate. Plain dark chocolate. Adding anything to dark chocolate was practically a sin. The man with the white bullhorn yelled, “We need another take. Everyone in position.” While the temperature was in the mid-forties, with the wind, it felt more like mid-February—the kind of cold that chilled a body from the inside out. It wasn’t the temperature in Boston, it was the humidity at any season—summer, fall, and winter. Not to mention spring. Because it sure didn’t feel like spring to Patrice. Patrice rolled her eyes, wondering who had the not-so-brilliant idea to make a movie of the St. Patrick’s Day parade. She suspected it was the same person who had originally uninvited all the female leprechauns to the parade. That was also practically a sin.
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2025.05 Fiction: More Than a Little Misdirection
01/31/2025
2025.05 Fiction: More Than a Little Misdirection
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 brick building in a nondescript office park in bucolic Waltham, Massachusetts, the Security team had a small room protected from outsiders in the very middle of the fourth floor, sandwiched between the elevators and the stairs. With no windows, the room was large enough for four sixty-inch monitors across the top of the room, one monitor for each time zone. Below the monitors were floor-to-ceiling whiteboards. Right now, the left-most whiteboard had the word “URGENT!” in big red letters and several yellow stickies underneath. The right-most whiteboard had several black sketches under the title of “Possibilities”. The two middle whiteboards had the faint outlines of previous sketches and notes.
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2025.04 Volunteer to Teach Something
01/24/2025
2025.04 Volunteer to Teach Something
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 work, consider teaching that to your colleagues. (Alternatively, pick a small, focused topic, research it, and then deliver a short presentation about it.) Here's an example from my experience. I hate spending a lot of time on a project charter—I would much rather get right to work. However, there are an essential few ideas that allow us to start the work and finish it well. One of those ideas is release criteria, what done means. After I facilitated a project charter with a team (see one), I then facilitated the team so they could choose their release criteria (do one). After that, I taught what I had done (teach one).
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2025.03 Organize Internal Presentations with What, So What, Now What
01/17/2025
2025.03 Organize Internal Presentations with What, So What, Now What
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 what brought these people here, to this presentation. This is essential if you're delivering a status report of some sort, because no one wants to be here. * So What: What is the impact of your presentation on these people? I like to consider the decisions they will make after your presentation. * Now What: How can you support their decision-making after your presentation? What, So What, Now What can help you decide which stories to tell. For example, you might want to tell a story about an unhappy customer who did not get what they wanted. That's relevant (the So What) because that information will help the various decision-makers decide what's next.
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2025.02 Start Your Public Speaking with Internal Presentations
01/10/2025
2025.02 Start Your Public Speaking with Internal Presentations
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 or other team learning experience. Say, "Yes," when someone asks you to deliver a presentation to more senior people in the organization. Regardless of whether your colleagues know about your expertise, consider the What, So What, Now What organization to clarify how you might organize your presentation. Especially if the way people currently present offers little to no value to the attendees or participants.
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2025.01 Pick Several People to Make Eye Contact With
01/03/2025
2025.01 Pick Several People to Make Eye Contact With
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 glance to the back, I don't try to make eye contact with the back of the room. Then, slowly make eye contact with each of your selected people. Linger and smile at them--just enough to connect, not enough to make them nervous. As a result, everyone in the audience will think you are making eye contact with each person. (Yes, I changed how I'm titling episodes in 2025.)
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 27, 2024
12/27/2024
Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 27, 2024
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 impossible to know with a larger audience. Besides, the larger the audience, the less likely they are to pay attention to you. (Sad, but too true.) Stories and examples help them realize what you are saying. If you can deliver those stories with humor, that's even better. People don't always expect a lot of material in a keynote presentation. But they do expect to understand it. So focus on how to get your few and specific ideas across to the audience. Sometimes, that's with an interaction of some sort.
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 20, 2024
12/20/2024
Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 20, 2024
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 occur? * Does it really matter what other people think, as long as I have adequately prepared to deliver value? These risks are all about logic. And as I've suggested, logic is not enough. We need stories to help us change. Now, use these three questions a little differently:
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 13, 2024
12/13/2024
Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 13, 2024
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 as what occurs when we get coffee or the informal conversations before and after meetings. And then there are the more formal conversations that help us market ourselves and our expertise. What's different about those informal conversations and the expertise-based presentations? We rarely have any specific expectations for that informal kind of public speaking. And the formal public speaking? Everyone--the speaker and the audience--expects that the speaker will offer something useful. Maybe even insightful or delightful. And that requires the speaker design, practice, and deliver a useful and effective presentation.
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 6, 2024
12/06/2024
Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 6, 2024
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 could hear *everything*, including children, a barking dog, and a flushing toilet. I try to handle those problems with a sense of humor and maybe some problem-solving. But I don't let those circumstances prevent me from delivering the best presentation I can. Most of us can adapt to most problems with a deep breath and some understanding of what other people are going through. Some in-person presentations have presented other difficulties.
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 29, 2024
11/29/2024
Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 29, 2024
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 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.”
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 22, 2024
11/22/2024
Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 22, 2024
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 22, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. New Question for You Every so often, your audience will see something in your stories or data that offers them a eureka moment. Then, they ask a question that might surprise you. Sometimes, you can answer right away. In that case, do. However, sometimes you need to think for a bit before you answer. Instead of saying, "Um," while you think, consider these alternatives: * "That's a great question. I need to think for a couple of minutes about this. Let me continue with the other questions and return to this at the end." That allows your subconscious to noodle over the question. * "That's a great question. I need some more information before I can answer it. Can you give me a little context?" If a question surprises you, you probably do need more context. Get that context and then answer the question.
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 15, 2024
11/15/2024
Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 15, 2024
Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 15, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Create Your Own Activities I showed you two of my simulations so you can see that simulations can be relatively short and still create substantial learning opportunities. However, I encourage you to create your own simulations. Consider these principles for your activities and simulations: 1. Choose one problem your expertise solves. If you're marketing a book, choose a chapter. If you're marketing a workshop, choose one problem your workshop solves. 2. Given that problem, how do you want to highlight the implications of that problem? (See the section write-description) for more detail.) 3. Think of three ways you can create an interaction. What would you need for solo, pair, or triad work? Do you want to offer practice or a simulation of the work? Regardless of the activities you create, make sure you debrief so everyone can learn from the activity or simulation.
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