Feisty's in Vancouver!

Ready to share some highlights at the Editors Canada conference

I'm writing this from beautiful Vancouver. You know how when you read a book and you're fuzzy on the plot details but all you remember is that you really liked it? Then you reread it later and those details come back and you realize why? That's how I feel sitting here in Coal Harbour, looking out at the mountains over the water.

But back to business, I'm here to speak at the Editors Canada conference here on the weekend. About Feisty Freelancing! So I thought I'd share a few notes about my thought process when putting together a conference talk. I've given a few talks now, but even more so the practice of teaching for the past 10 years has helped me think about how to make information interesting for an audience. Maybe it will help you when you have to give a talk too.

Think about the oral format
Early on when I was starting to work on my speaking skills, I was on a panel with another writer. Unfortunately, I went first. I tried to cram as much advice as possible into my five minute allotment. I may even have been breathless by the time I finished. Then my fellow speaker stood up and said, here are three things you should know. Then explained them. Then repeated them. It was so simple. Easy to remember. Especially for people who only have their ears to listen. So, ever since, I've kept in mind that when people trying to absorb, keep it simple.

Find out who you are speaking to
You'll probably have a sense of who you are speaking to from where your talk is held. If I'm speaking to editors, I don't need to define editing terms, but for a more general audience I might. I can't be sure that everyone will know the latest technologies, so I'll define those as I never want anyone to feel out of the loop. Moreover, I'll ask if they have any suggestions themselves. I'll also do a quick survey at the start of my talk, for example, this week I'll ask who in the audience are freelancers already, and who is freelancing full-time versus part-time.

Mix big picture with the concrete
When I'm thinking about a topic, I like to consider some big picture elements as well as specific tips. For a crowd of practicing and potential editorial freelancers, I would ask a question like, “what do you want from their freelance life and your freelance business?”  That's the kind of high-level question that can be relevant regardless of experience level. On the other hand, I might raise a concrete topic like finances, and share my knowledge, but again ask others to share as well. That way, I learn something too. And everyone gets involved. And with these practical discussions, we all have something to take action on at the end.

Okay, now back to staring at the mountains and thinking about how fun it must be to exist somewhere that they are part of the everyday landscape...