I have to confess I’ve never been a huge fan of public speaking. And yet, since Everyone Knows You Go Home came out in March, I’ve been on a whirlwind of a book tour that’s consisted of day after day of public speaking.
And I’ve loved every minute of it.
Despite being an introvert and a person who grew up very shy and soft spoken, reading my work in front of audiences has been a transformative experience. Whereas for my first book, I would get nearly unbearably nervous before an event, for my second I’ve learned to embrace the nerves as productive energy. It reminds me a lot of my teens and early twenties, a time when I was a dancer and performed onstage regularly. Always, before curtain, I’d become overwhelmed by a rush of nerves that immediately went away when the music started. There was no going back at that point, so I’d have no choice but to surrender to the moment. Those three to five minutes of dancing were always pure bliss, liberating in ways that are hard to describe.
Reading my work has begun to feel like that as well, but only because I don’t think of it as reading or public speaking. I think of it as a performance. Framed in this way, it’s something I realize I’m lucky to be able to do. Here is an audience—real, live people!—wanting to experience my work.
As a show of gratitude, I try to make that experience as enjoyable as possible. Below are some ways performing affects how I prepare for an event—and how it might help you, too.
- Select the passage you’ll read like you’d select your music. When I was a dancer, I chose to perform different songs and choreographies based on the venue, audience, and occasion. I try to think of the same for a reading. Is the venue small and intimate or a large, multi-level theatre? Are those in attendance part of any specific community or organization? Is the event in celebration of a holiday or specific cause? All of these things present ways you can connect the passage you’re reading to this specific performance. For example, I was once invited to read from my work at a gathering in memory of a creative writing professor who’d recently passed away. I chose to read an excerpt from my book that was all about memory and the ways we never forget one another.
- Rehearse it. Time yourself. Embrace the musicality of your words. I particularly enjoy selecting passages that have a variety of characters, beats, rhythms and tones throughout, because I feel like that’s what I (as an audience member) connect to most when I’m listening to an author read their work. The passage that has the most beautiful language won’t always necessarily be the best one to read to a live audience. Think not of what you want to read to them, but of what they would most enjoy listening to.
- Act it out. Okay, this is where the hard part comes in. We’re writers, not actors, so while while it’s not necessary for you to go full-out thespian in your neighborhood indie book shop, a bit of liveliness and animation can go a long way in engaging your audience. They should feel like they’re being told a story, not like they’re being read to. Give them something they can’t replicate in the privacy of their own homes—the unique experience of hearing you bring the words to life. One trick I’ve learned is to listen to audiobooks. Many are narrated by classically trained actors, and hearing how they use inflections, pauses, and variations in their voices to capture the richness on the page is an inspiring lesson in performance. Use your whole body, not just your voice. Gestures, movement, and eye contact go a long way in connecting to those in front of you.
- Keep it short. I rarely read more than five minutes of my work at once. Depending on the length of the event, I’ll share one passage and simply talk about my work for a short, 20-minute reading, or I’ll read two short passages at the beginning and the end of my talk. The point is, it’s better leave people wanting to more—and thus, inspire them to buy a book—instead of making them wonder when you’re going to wrap things up. Most of us come to a reading to learn the things about the book that we wouldn’t get from the page anyways. Tell the story behind your story, and think beyond what inspired it and what your process is like. What are some of the things that writing this story taught you about yourself? Why did you make the specific choices you made? Your performance, just like the story itself, should have a structure: a beginning, middle, and end.
Do you enjoy reading your work in public? Share your best performance tips in the comments.
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About Natalia Sylvester
Born in Lima, Peru, Natalia Sylvester came to the U.S. at age four. A former magazine editor, Natalia now works as a freelance writer in Austin, Texas and is a faculty member of the low-res MFA program at Regis University. Her articles have appeared in Latina Magazine, Writer’s Digest, The Writer, and NBCLatino.com. She is the author of Chasing the Sun, named the Best Debut Book of 2014 by Latinidad and chosen as a Book of the Month by the National Latino Book Club. Her second novel, Everyone Knows You Go Home, is forthcoming from Little A in 2018.
Wonderful advice, Natalia. When my WIP gets between covers and I read from it, I’ll remember to talk about my own backstory in generating this work while limiting the actual readings.
During the hours spent reading to my children when they were young, I developed the ability to read with exaggerations and variations in volume and tone. I would not treat an audience of adults quite that way, but in poetry readings I’ve found it useful to call on those skills and take them down a notch.
Does anyone in this WU community have experience or advice on reading sections from a WIP (not to a critique group) as a means of cultivating potential readers?
I’ve read to my book club. As readers they were incredibly diverse in their observations and immensely helpful.
Great advice. I get so nervous before reading in public, but in the moment, I actually enjoy it. I’ll be sure to review your suggestions before any future readings. Thanks!
Thanks so much for the advice! I’ve been thinking of doing a video reading series. These tips will definitely help me.
If your reading is in a large book store or library and the general public is milling around elsewhere, what can you do to draw them your way?
I invited a local medieval club to give a short talk at a reading of my historical novel set in the fourteenth century. They came garbed in costumes and armour and with an impressive weaponry display. People who might otherwise carry on browsing the stacks wanted to see what was going on.
Not exactly a performance tip but certainly helped sell more books.
Great tips, Natalia! A couple more:
• I print out the passage in 16-pt type so I can grab a whole line with a quick glance down. This helps me look out at the audience more often.
* I put each page in a page protector and then put the pages in a slim three-ring binder. This makes page-turning super easy.
• I will put a slash where I plan to stress a word or take a breath. This really helps deliver an effective cadence.
• I shy away from dialogue-heavy passages. Short of using puppets, lol, they can be hard for an audience to follow. It also keeps me from having to attempt different voices, lol.
• I choose a passage that leaves the audience with a strong question in mind. Helps them want to read the book!
Can you tell—I love to read aloud! Great topic!
Hello Natalia. Thanks for your post. As you say, whether they like it or not, writers need to be good at reading their work before others.
All I would add comes from years in the classroom, teaching lit to undergraduates. Central to my approach was interpretive readings of key passages from assigned books. My mission was not just to read clearly, but to use my voice and body to interpret the words on the page. The reader needs to be “in the moment” of what’s happening in the scene, to make it come alive for listeners. This works best when the reader is NOT self-conscious, and that becomes more possible with experience.
Excellent post, Natalia, with some very useful advice. I’ve seen firsthand how effective you are with a live audience, so I bet your readings are powerful and compelling. I also enjoy doing readings, and have found a few techniques useful.
First, I approach each reading with a clear set of goals for what I want the reading to accomplish, based on what the event is and who is in the audience. For example, when I would do an RWA event (where the audience was 99.9% female), I would choose passages to read with three objectives: give people a feel for the tone and overall premise of the book, take the listeners deeper into the problems the main characters face, and demonstrate that the novel was intended primarily for female readers (something that might not be assumed with a male author writing about a male protagonist).
Also, I put a lot of thought into what I say about the passages I am reading, and how I can connect them. That approach can turn a reading of several disparate parts of a book into something with a narrative arc to it, and ideally, leave the audience hungry for more.
Like Kathryn wisely advises, I would avoid dialog-heavy passages unless it’s extremely clear at all times who is speaking. A bunch of fast-paced back-and-forth banter might be very effective for readers already familiar with the characters, but baffling to listeners who are new to your story. But if you have patches of dialog that are interspersed with one character’s mental reactions to what is being said (most likely to occur in a story written in first-person POV), you might find a passage effective for reading aloud, although that still leaves the issue of how to differentiate your characters’ voices (which is difficult to do with a voice like mine, which seems to have the sarcasm knob firmly set at “10” no matter what emotion I’m trying to evoke).
Finally, I would suggest choosing passages that play to your strengths. If you’re good at tugging heartstrings, find a passage full of pathos. If you’re funny, hit ’em with some of the book’s best jokes. And if you’re a gifted wordsmith, show off your literary chops a bit – as long as you’re as comfortable saying those words as you are writing them.
Thanks for a great post on an important topic!
Great post. Like you, I was so nervous during my first book that I pretty much read my presentation. Now, with my second book, I’m doing them more off the cuff. I especially liked your advice about acting it out. It reminded me that if I’m with a group of friends, say, in a restaurant, that’s exactly how I tell a story. I’m going to do more of it now.
Despite having dyslexia and struggling–at times–to read, I enjoy reading my work. And many of the tips you’ve offered I use–such as practicing and keep it short. In the past, I worked with an amateur director to learn how to breathe life into my words. And I’d highly recommend working with an actor or director as it greatly benefitted me.
I’m so glad you wrote this and I read this, Natalia. I am attending a Book Club this month at your request. They have read some of my books. I think doing something like this will help fill some time and generate more discussion. Lucky for me I’m also a voiceover artist so it will probably come easier for me than others. Now I just need to decide what to read.
Wonderful advice, Natalia! As a dancer as well, I especially relate to the mental re-framing of it as a performance–I will definitely keep that in mind the next time I get to do a reading.
Excellent advice, Natalia! I do a lot of signings/book events in the warmer months. Vacationers flock to my area from May to October, so it’s important for me to get “out there” and mingle. No matter how many readings I do, I’m a nervous wreck before the event. Once I start, I wind up having a blast.
A few tips:
Every audience is different. Know who you’re speaking to!
If you’ve never been to a certain venue before, prepare a few different excerpts to tailor the talk to the audience.
Share interesting tidbits that you learned during research. What surprised you, what didn’t. Did you “test” your research in an unusual way? For example, for one of my books I climbed into a steel drum to experience the confinement of space. Do you listen to music while you write? Share the songs behind the book. What inspired the premise? What influences helped shape this particular story? Choose the topic that best matches your audience.
Open up the floor to questions. Readers love to ask questions!
Be genuine, honest, and unique, and readers won’t forget you.
Thank you for your post, Natalie! I am shy but had the wonderful opportunity to read my picture book at Barnes and Noble. It was a great experience. One thing I learned later was to try and have your book memorized so you can leave the pictures out towards the audience. It would be fun to dress up like the character too.
Excellent tips, Natalie! Thanks for sharing…