Recently, I had the privilege of speaking to a class of grade 7/8 students. Let me tell you I was blown away by how receptive those kids were! I came in with a prepared presentation, and surprisingly found the class wanting to know more and more about what it’s like to be a published author. So, I booked another session with the same class the following week with the teacher, and had the time of my life! The best part wasn’t the readings—though the students wanted to know what happens next when I finished the chapter—it was the question and answer period. And believe me, sometimes kids do ask the darnedest questions!
Whether you’re presenting to a small class like I did or to an auditorium full of people, here are three guidelines for your next presentation that are sure to grab the attention of your audience:
Make it Emotional. You must touch a person’s heart before you reach their head. The easiest and most effective way to make an emotional connection with people is to tell stories. What I did was tell the class about my experiences on the road to publication, and the process behind writing a book. I shared the tough, rejection-filled times, and the high-five signed a contract times. I even sprinkled a smattering of gossip that my agented teen psychic mystery series is presently sitting in the hands of three traditional publishing companies. They ate that up!
Make it Novel. The human brain doesn’t pay attention to boring things. Ideas that spread are unexpected, surprising, and delivered in a fresh or novel way. Kids get this. I came in with a hook. I didn’t talk about my book right off the bat. I asked them about their March Break holiday, and if any of the students went on a trip. Read: I connected with them, engaged them first. After that, we talked about their favorite video games, which rolled into favorite books, which then gathered enough momentum to start my author presentation. Don’t be boring. Be novel.
Make it Memorable. Make’em laugh. Make’em think. Make’em ask questions. Most of all, make’em remember you! The best ideas stand zero chance of being successful if they can’t be recalled. One great technique is the rule of three. It simply means that people can only recall about three pieces of information. Don’t overwhelm your listener. Give them three reasons to invest in you. I started out talking about my past life before engaging the class. They want to know about you the author, and how you ended up standing in front of them. Tease them with what’s in the works for the future, then bring it home with choosing the best possible chapter to read from your book that will leave them hanging, and wanting more.
BTW – This is what the teacher had to say:
“Sharon definitely was prepared and made her presentation interesting for the class. She made a great link between the thinking of video games to the thinking of an author ie) setting, character, plot. Kids totally got that. Saw a little nerves, (had to look at her sheet) but not a routine thing for her. Glad to have her! Sharon also had time to come a second time to answer questions. Thanks!”
~Monica Park, Grade 7/8 teacher for St. Mary’s School, Huntsville ON Canada
Hmm…don’t think the nerve thing will ever go away. LOL! Do you have any author presentation experiences you’d like to share? Love to hear’em!
There have been lots of great developments and goings-on lately.
I've taken over as the director/leader/coordinator (what is the title, anyway?) of the Young Willamette Writers. I'm very excited about this position. The Willamette Writers is the largest writers' organizaton in Oregon, and one of the largest in the United States. Its purpose is to provide support and encouragement for current and aspiring writers. Young writers are not overlooked!
The Young Willamette Writers meets at the same time as the adults (7pm on the first Tuesday of every month) to hear from professional writers about topics related to craft and the industry. Upcoming guests are Tom Hallman, Jr. of the Oregonian, Lisa Nowak (Running Wide Open) on outlining, Amber Keyser (Angel Punk) on transmedia, Anne Osterlund (Exile) with a topic yet to be decided. What a great year we're going to have!
I'm in the middle of teaching a workshop at the Lake Oswego Library for 4th-6th graders. We've had lots of fun with my And then... stories as well as Chris Van Allsburg's book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. I'll be doing a one-time workshop at the Albina Library in December.
SCBWI is hosting the 4th annual authors and illustrators gala, "Flap Flap!" on November 3. At this event, 15 authors and illustrators (including yours truly) will have four minutes to tell about their books. Come hear backstories and good tidbits from the authors themselves. This is a great time to get some Christmas shopping done as well.
Finally, I was honored to have my book discussed on Dan Patterson's blog after he used it subbing in a 5th grade class. Thanks, Dan! Glad you had fun with it!
I haven't posted in a bit. Lots of stuff going on around here. I'm just about ready to spray paint those leaves around my house that are threatening to turn yellow! I'm certainly not ready for fall!
I was thrilled to get to see the cover of my book. My editor emailed me what the illustrator has come up with - I'm not sure if it's the final version or if there still might be changes, but it was very cool to see that red Scholastic banner across the top and my name at the bottom. They've titled it "Cliffhanger Writing Prompts," which I first thought sounded kind of dull, but after talking to my editor, she convinced me that a teacher picking up my book in the store needs to instantly know what the book is about. "And Then..." wouldn't convey the information quickly enough. Yeah, yeah, Scholastic has done this a bazillion times and they know what they're doing.
Saturday I got to try out my stories on a public audience, as opposed to a captive group of kids in a classroom. I was at the Relay for Life at Sherwood High School and I managed to attract a dozen or so kids to come listen to some stories and venture up on stage to tell the audience how the stories turned out. I loved the aliens from the moon who were afraid of pickles! President Obama had all the farmers in America grow pickles and scared them away. (How do they come up with these ideas?)
Sunday my 14-year-old and I went to the Willamette Writers Conference. We got to go to several workshops, get our manuscripts critiqued, and my daughter got to meet with a publisher and pitch her book (mostly for practice, but still awesome!). She's on the third draft of an 83,000 word novel (approx. 275 pages). I'm proud of her!
Now I just have to wait patiently for a YEAR for my book to be in the stores!
Last spring I took my And Then... manuscript to several third to fifth grade classrooms in the Sherwood schools, plus a Newberg elementary school. We had tons of fun creating stories together. A few teachers gave me copies of the stories the kids wrote, and without fail, the imagination they demonstrated amazed me.
The book I'm submitting to publishers is to be used as a teacher's resource book. It is a collection of short "cliffhanger" stories that build to a climax and are left unfinished so the children (and adults if they want) can complete them and make them turn out however they want. In the classroom, I read a story and a few kids come to the front and take turns adding on to it while the rest of the class watches. Then I read a story and small groups of children take turns adding on one sentence at a time. Finally, I read a story and they write the ending or draw a picture. They share them with each other, and we all share a laugh. It's so much fun!
I'm scheduling classroom visits for the fall now. If you would like to have me out to your child's school or to a homeschool group, email me to set something up. My email address (also in my profile) is [email protected]. I hope to hear from you!
