By Mike Johnson
As an introverted recluse, it was a stretch to give a 40-minute talk at the Winter Book Fair.
It wasn’t the content – that comes easy to me – it was the live delivery.
I value clarity, so my mind has been trained to speak in concise soundbites.
Ask me a question and you’ll get a short, clear response.
But ask me to talk for 40 minutes straight and there’s no way I can memorize all that and deliver it perfectly.
I might've also spoke using bullet point topics to prompt my words.
But since it was a writer’s event, I wanted to use the most articulate words, in their best construction.
So that left reading the speech, while making occasional eye contact.
Dancing with technology was another challenge.
I couldn’t make photos clone from my laptop to the large viewing screen, so I aborted that idea before the audience arrived.
I WAS able to play the entertaining audio clips that helped make some effective points.
And the microphone worked fine.
The talk was well-received so it seems everyone benefitted.
The Book Fair was highly publicized but public turnout was still lower than hoped.
You can lead people to water but you can't make them drink.
It was energizing to mingle with lots of other writers.
And I met many interesting readers.
My lasting impression is that leaving the mountain now and then won't kill me.
Although it is a big relief to have the event behind me.
I'm glad I created the talk and put myself out there.
Now I have the speech captured and published right here, in the manner I most understand and control.
Here is the written version of the talk, with the photos and audio clips: How to Write Your Best Life
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