Talk Maker: a template for making your own talk

Structuring narratives

There are many images of slides in this post - most of the content is simply repeating the text

This image shows the talk maker process as a a two hump graph

A lot of conferences say they’re open to new speakers but having the confidence to speak depends on many factors. Trying to transfer your knowledge and experience into a structured talk is one barrier.

This post is just about one way I write 15–30 minute talks for professional audiences, mostly in user experience (UX) and design.

I plan for two factors:

  • Content
  • Emotion

This framework starts with content design but uses emotion as check that people will listen, will understand, will remember and will care.

You can download all of this for free as a PDF workbook.

Introduction - designing a 15 minute talk

Have a Narrative Structure

Have a narraitve structure

Narrative structure is important. Audiences need a sense of direction in talk: a beginning, a middle and an end

This is not the same as storytelling. Storytelling is deeper. It involves emotional sharing and listening that can be very hard. For a beginner and for a professional audience, storytelling may be too great a leap.

The two hump graph pattern

Narrative structure is not deep. It is understanding how what you say works.

Sequencing the content to the humps

This is the narrative framework I use. It is about starting with yourself and the knowledge you have about problems you encounter. However, it is also about transferring knowledge to the audience so they care, they know and they want to do something afterwards.

My Problem to Our Solution

The pivot from My to Our Problem

This is the point of the talk. Taking what is inside yourself and making it into something shared amongst us.

Highlighting the pivot on graph

The talk pivots from problem to solution.

From me to us pivot of content

The talk pivots from Me to Us.

This a narrative and rhetorical trick to shift your argument.

However, there is a big risk in this. People need to care.

Emotional Design

emotional design slide introduction

The emotional structure of your talk needs understanding. If you don’t think about what your audience will feel like during your talk then you are not respecting them.

Showing the 5 emotional design crunch points

These are the main stress points I know about from my talks.

Showing how emotions pivot as focus shifts from me to us

This is also another narrative pivot. From apathy, confusion and fear to hope and determination.

Writing a talk

Writing a talk intro slide

The workbook you can download has blank pages for thinking about what to say. Planning for content, stories, pictures and facts.

9 sections to talk and what to think about

9 sections that take you from talking about yourself and your problem to ourselves and our future actions.

Trust me - why?
Descrie problem
Explain it - show eemotion and evidence
Why is it more than just my problem? How is it ours?
Pivot to We have a problem - slow down here
Offer solutions (if you have them) that you know of
explain the solutions
Evidence success
Show audience can help solve proble. Invite involvement

The emotional tests

emotional tests intro slide

Emotions and how your audience feels are still the critical points to check back over. Content is good but knowing how it affects people is important.

The real test here is to talk thru your talk with other people.

Test your talk - see how people feel

What you mean to say and what people think you’re said are very different things.

Meaning is held by the audience not you.

Emotions are a core part of meaning making so you need to look for them.

Do people care - apathy test
Do people understand - confusion test
Does problem seem too awful or irrelevant to be involved: fear test
Do  solutions offer positive sense of change: hope test
Does invitation to help make change connect: determination test

Wrapping Up

Wrapping up slide

That’s all I have to say in this post. What you’re arguing for, what you want to share is yours. What you want people to do after your talk is yours.

The End slide - use this structure if you like but break it too

All this is a simple way of thinking about content structure and emotional meaning. You need both to write a talk.

Over time, this structure is irrelevant. How you want to talk will supercede it. It is simply a start point

Have fun.

Tell your own stories in your own ways.

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