How to Give an Author Talk

5-min. read

What if you have the opportunity to do a big speaking engagement as a new author but don’t feel confident or even comfortable behind a microphone? If you read my post “How to Self-Publish Your First Book,” you already know that how and to what extent you market your book will play a major role in your sales and success. That said, I encourage you to say yes to new opportunities that break your comfort zone. The key is staying true to yourself in the process by remaining mindful of your risk tolerance and what constitutes a healthy versus an unhealthy risk for you.

Shortly after I published my first book, I received an invitation to deliver a 30-minute speech about Summer Sensations. This was too big of a jump—I had never read my writing aloud to anyone before, much less publicly—so I spent the next few months taking baby steps. I spoke with readers for a few minutes each at book-signings, joined a writing group to practice reading my work aloud, and contributed to the speech of another author. By the time my original speaking gig rolled around, I had developed the necessary threshold of skills and confidence to deliver a successful presentation.

Takeaway: If you are intentional about the number and intensity of risks you expose yourself to beforehand, you will be well-positioned to manage the golden opportunity as a next step rather than your first step. This article will show you how to navigate both the practical and mindset aspects of delivering an author talk and give you some ideas for making the best of your experience as a novice speaker. Read on for my favorite tips.

Tips for Giving a Good Author Talk

Attend Other Authors’ Presentations

Attend other presentations to get inspired, learn how to speak effectively, and establish a network with your fellow authors. You will begin to feel like part of the writing community. You will also realize sooner or later that you as a listener don’t dwell on the speaker’s minor mistakes for the rest of your life (or even the rest of your day) and develop a healthy desensitization to your own. If you become a regular at a close-knit venue, there may be other benefits as well. I got my first speaking gig because the event host remembered me from other events in her local author series and reached out the following year (when I became a published author) with an invitation to speak. This was icing on the cake.

Set Up the Event

An event host may reach out to you, or you may reach out to venues in your community, especially if you are a new author. You might consider libraries, community centers, and businesses that sell your books as the most obvious possibilities. That said, you are the best judge of who your readers are and where and how they want to connect with you.

Tailor Your Speech to Your Audience

I have given talks to adults and children, writers and non-writers, book clubs that have already read my book and people who are meeting me (and my book) for the first time. These factors and others will influence whether you choose language suitable for experts or beginners, how much you can assume listeners already know about writing and publishing, and how much you can assume listeners already know about you. The two golden rules in public speaking are not to talk down to people and not to talk over their heads. When in doubt, assume people know more than you think about life in general and less than you think about your profession.

Advertise Prior to the Event

You may or may not have a budget for paid advertising on events, but either way, you can generate some interest yourself. Even a little advertising goes a long way. At a minimum, create a flyer for your talk and share it at any book-signings beforehand and on your social media accounts. Your event host will probably do some advertising for the event, but it will help both of you if you contribute to these efforts.

Know the Difference Between Being Prepared and Being Ready

Hint: I have been prepared for every author talk I’ve given, but I’ve never felt ready. You should wait until you are prepared, as in you have practiced well. You should never wait until you are ready, as in you are able to stay within your emotional safety net. The best opportunities move you outside your comfort zone. You get confidence from doing, not before doing.

Think Quality over Quantity

When I first started speaking, my biggest fear was that not enough people would come and it would be awkward for those who did. This really isn’t awkward at all if you reconfigure your speech from a presentation to a conversation. Some of my lowest-attended events have actually led to the highest engagement because you have the opportunity to spend more time per audience member. People who get to know you better are more inclined to buy your book(s), tell their friends about you, and feel a deeper connection to your writing. I have absolutely loved and benefited from my well-attended events, too, but you can make the best of anything.

Talk to People, Not at Them

Make your readers active participants in, not recipients of, your presentation. This is great for small crowds (similar to what I mentioned above) and not a bad practice regardless. Let listeners make comments, and encourage questions at the end. Show them you see and hear them.

Tell a Story

Tell the story of how you became an author or how you became the author of this book in particular. Moreover, tell this story to your audience the same way you would tell it to a friend. Focus on connecting with listeners, not promoting your agenda, and it will be a more comfortable (and likely more productive) conversation for everyone. I felt very uncomfortable promoting myself until I realized I didn’t even have to come off as promotional in order to sell books. I would rather tell a story than give a sales pitch, and most readers prefer listening to stories. Win-win.

Be Genuine

If you have a sense of humor in “real life,” a few tasteful sarcastic remarks in your author talk will show people that you are human. If you struggled at a point in your writing journey, tell them you struggled. Show up as the person you are, not the person you think your listeners want to hear from. They attended your talk because they want to hear from you.

Final Thoughts

Best of luck on introducing your book to the world! I want you to give an amazing author talk as soon as possible, but more importantly, I want you to give an author talk. If this is something new, it’s okay to focus on whether you do it, not how you do it. We all want to do hard things well, but sometimes we need to do hard things period first. I tell myself the first time doing anything is about the “whether” and the second time is about the “how.” This gives me permission to celebrate the little achievements and build on early attempts instead of feeling discouraged by them. It also frees me from the unnecessary burden to know things before I learn them. Cut yourself some slack on the “how” for your first presentation. Don’t get hung up on doing a perfect job to the extent that you never do a good job.

Did I miss anything? Have you ever given an author talk before? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

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