Which Type of Speaker Are You When It Comes to Creating Your Talk?

There are three different types of speakers when it comes to creating the actual talk.

On one side of the bell curve is the more type-A, “I script everything!” crowd. Every word, every movement, even every inflection of the voice is carefully planned and scripted for each part of the talk.

On the other end of the bell curve is the crowd of speakers that tend to speak more off the cuff. The most structure they’ll use is bullet points. Even the idea of scripting anything feels like you’re trying to cramp their style.

And then, there’s the middle crowd, a hybrid of scripted and bullet points. I’ve found that probably 70 to 80 percent of speakers fall into this category.

Which of these three categories do you find yourself as a speaker? Are you more scripted, more bullet-pointed, or more of a hybrid?

Whichever type you are, try giving the other types a test drive. If you script all the time, try using only the bullet points and see how it feels. If you’re looser and free-spirited in your speaking, try writing out your entire talk from start to finish.

You may be surprised how much you enjoy the other ways of creating your talk.

Copy and Content for Thought Leaders is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to the Copy and Content for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/CopyContentFlash and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”