Presentation Essentials for Writers: Part 2

If you recall, I had the privilege of kicking off February here at Across the Board with a post about how authors can integrate a few presentation tips into their writing process. As promised, I’m back with the second installment to give you some presentation tips for those moments when you actually have to talk about your writing.

To be successful in any industry you have to have a solid network. Establishing a relationship with your readers and other industry professionals is the most effective way to build that network.

And building a network requires communication.

Today I’m going to point out some of the most common mistakes in presentations, and why you also want to avoid these in conversations about your writing.

Poor Preparation

The need for preparation is obvious for some events, such as book signings, and I’m not going to discuss those here.

What I want to focus on is that chance encounter with a potential business partner or a reader. You should always know exactly what you would say in any given situation. In many corners of the business world this is known as an elevator speech. The idea is that if you are stuck in an elevator with the CEO of your company, what would you say to form a lasting impression?

You should have elevator speeches for your bio and for your writing. You might even have a couple different elevator speeches for each, depending on who you are talking too. Here is an elevator speech for my first book, Kingston’s Project:

• Kingston’s Project is a poignant look at how one woman overcomes grief after a significant loss in her life and the relationships she builds along the way.

  

I mention the primary theme for the novel while (hopefully) giving just enough detail to make the person want to ask more questions. You will want to practice your elevator speech to the point that you can deliver it with ease and confidence.

Poor First Impression

It’s important to give a good first impression because that sets the tone for the conversation. Let’s say an author is doing a reading at a book signing and she cracks a joke as an ice-breaker, but it turned out to be offensive to some. Right away the author made some people uncomfortable. The result is that they may feel they wouldn’t like anything she wrote.

In addition to how you act, first impressions are affected by how you look. Think about what you wear and what it says about you and how it makes you feel. I personally dress as business casual to all book events. That’s what makes me feel most confident, and I know I perform at my best when I feel confident.

At book signings, you also need to think about the kind of first impression your table/display creates. If you don’t know, you can always take a picture and post to your social media sites and ask people to tell you want they think of your display—too busy, too bland, disorganized, awesome...

No Enthusiasm

I wish I didn’t have to point this one out, but I’ve seen this happen. When I participate in a book fair, I always make it a point to go around and talk to the other authors. There are always a few who just don’t seem excited to be there. I’m sorry, even if only one person attends the event you need to show passion for what you do. If you don’t have enthusiasm for your work, why would anyone else want to read it?

Lack of Engagement

Always remember—a conversation is not defined as only one person talking. It’s an exchange of words between people. Get the other person talking. Ask questions. “Do you like to read?” or “What types of books do you typically like to read?” are two simple questions that can easily open the door to communication. Building a solid network requires making a connection with others, and you can’t do that if you do all the talking. Also, pay attention to the other person’s body language. If a person is backing away or showing other signs of not wanting to engage, don’t push it. And don’t jump out in front of them as they walk past you or your table!

Weak Close

Spend some time thinking about what you can use as handouts for your various events. It might be a bookmark with the name of your novel, pen with your name on it, or a printout of a writing sample. The type of event will determine what’s appropriate.

I personally keep two forms of ‘handouts’ with me at all times. The first are business cards that contain my email address and phone number. The second are what I call book cards (see images below).They are the size of a standard business card, but instead of personal information they have my book cover on the front and my social media information on the back.

I can’t tell you how many times someone told me the name of a book or author that I’d forgotten by the time I got home. Professional looking handouts can significantly increase the chances of someone taking action later, either by reaching out to you for future opportunities or by buying your novel.

I could make this list a lot longer, but these are the core mistakes I’ve seen other authors make. I’ve even made a few of them myself! Take the time to plan ahead and practice, practice, practice!

~ Carrie

Presentation Essentials for Writers: Part 1

For some reason, I was thinking the other day about the training sessions I used to lead for my company on effective presentations. These thoughts quickly transitioned into how some of the tips I gave to countless corporate collogues could also benefit my fellow writers.

There’s the obvious—the tips that can help you speak more effectively about your work. This is necessary for not only book events, but also for those moments when you find yourself with a prospective reader, editor, agent, or publisher.

But there’s also the not so obvious—how using tips for effective presentations can enhance your writing.

Thanks to this being a Leap Year, I have the rare opportunity to bookend February here at Across the Board. This gives me the perfect opportunity to break this topic into two parts. Today I’m focusing on the not so obvious—how it can help our writing. I’ll address what you need to know when speaking about your writing in Part 2 on Feb. 29th. My focus will be on novels, but this applies to all types of writing.

4 Presentation Tips for Writing

1. Design the Close First

I tend to agree that the close is the most important part of a presentation. There’s a good chance your audience won’t remember everything you presented, so the close is there to remind them of the important aspects of your message. It’s also where your audience determines if you were successful in making your point.

It’s the same in a novel. As a reader, I’ve read several books where a rushed or incomplete ending killed the rest of the story. Take the time to think about your ending before you even write the first sentence.

I’m not saying that you have to draft out the entire last chapter first. You don’t even have to know the exact outcome before you get started. But you should know the general destination. You should know the primary message of your book. Once you have that, build the rest of the novel to arrive at that point.

2. Grab Attention & Keep the Interest

Studies have shown that in a presentation audience attention is high at the start of the presentation and then again at the end. Attention and interest naturally decrease during the body of the presentation. To deliver an effective presentation, you have to continuously grab the audience’s attention. This can be accomplished by injecting humor, using a personal testimonial, or engaging the audience. The change of pace will naturally regain the audience’s attention and interest.

The same can be said about writing. Readers usually start out a novel with high interest. However, if there isn’t enough ‘spice’ to retain the reader’s attention, they might give up or start skipping sections just to get to the end. I know the reader in me has done this on more than one occasion. I also get frustrated when an author baits me throughout the entire novel, only revealing secrets at the end. Below are some examples of what I’ve done in my own novels to grab the reader’s attention and keep their interest:

• Revealed a big secret early in the book
• Added in a one-page chapter after several longer ones
• Interrupted the narrator at the end of a chapter to start the next one
• Left a cliffhanger at the end of a chapter
• Added in humor

Your options here are virtually limitless. I have to say that my most creative (and favorite) way that I’ve structured a novel to retain interest is in my third novel, Shattered Angel. Angel is given a choice where she only has 24 hours to decide. I start the novel at chapter 24 and count down to chapter 0 where I reveal her decision. Many readers have told me that it has kept them engaged late into the night!

Something important to point out here is that you don’t want to add ‘spice’ in every chapter. Too much and it loses its uniqueness and ability to grab attention.

3. Add in White Space

During my training sessions, I could never stress enough how important it was to have clean presentation materials. There is not much that will drop an audience’s attention faster than charts that are too small to read or slides completely blocked with text. If there’s too much on the slide, then the audience doesn’t know where to focus. In addition, the eye needs a place to rest.

In writing, I don’t classify white space as what you find in the margins or between section breaks. Those are important also, but here I’m defining white space as those story elements where the reader can take a breather. For example, I write emotionally heavy books. That means I have to be thoughtful about adding in lighter moments where my readers can escape from the emotions I’m driving into them. If I don’t, they may give up simply because it’s too much. Think about the primary emotions your novel carries and consider ways you can balance that. Even a thriller needs to take it down once in a while—readers may not have enough stamina to go 100mph for the full length of a novel! You don’t want to take the risk of a reader needing to put your book down for a break because they may not come back. Give them the breaks they need within the story.

4. Minimize Distractions

One of the things I had to cover in my training sessions was how our company logo should be respected. Many people thought it was ridiculous to have to remember where it should be positioned, how far text needed to be away from it, or what colors it could or could not be. Their argument was that the logo had nothing to do with the topic of their presentation. While that’s true in general, misuse of the logo was a big deal for the people in the audience who knew the branding guidelines. The result was that all of those people were suddenly only focused on the logo violation and not what the presenter was saying.

Distractions are dangerous because while they seem insignificant, the reality is that they can cause a major disturbance. Distractions in writing include (but are certainly not limited to):

• Mistakes
• Plot inconsistencies
• Excessive use of adjectives
• Use of complex language
• Rapid changes of PoV

While it’s impossible to predict every distraction for every reader, you can think through some of the most common ones and work to ensure they are not in your writing. A good place to start is to list out the things that have disrupted your reading experience when reading a novel.

Incorporating these four tips into your writing will help you produce your best work, which will go a long way in your quest to build a loyal readership. Keep these tips in front of you as you write. You can also structure some beta reader questions around these points to help ensure you’ve covered them appropriately.

Come back at the end of the month when I’ll give you tips to use when talking to others about your writing!

~ Carrie