Do you seek opportunities to go out and read passages from your book to audiences at writers\u2019 group meetings, conferences, book festivals, in classrooms, etc? Do you sell many books this way? If not, the problem may not be with your book, but with your way of presenting.<\/p>\n
The fact is that few people can actually entertain others by reading to them. Unless you have been trained in reading out loud, you probably come across sounding like a 6th grader reading his book report. I\u2019ve had the displeasure of hearing quite a few authors read passages from their books and most of them are plain awful. They look down at their books, mumble and stumble over words and speak in boring monotone. Even if you can understand the words being read, there is no life to them. They come across simply as words without meaning. <\/p>\n
Folks, if you want to give readings to draw attention to your book, make sure you do it well. Reading in public is more than simply verbalizing the words on the page so they can be heard. In order for them to mean anything to the audience, they must be presented with the same emotion with which you wrote them. <\/p>\n
Do you remember the emotional tugs and bursts you felt while writing various passages in your book? Even in a self-help or instructional book, you might feel a little hot under the collar while writing about the loose laws that don\u2019t quite protect children in some child abuse cases or the number of animals who are abandoned every year by irresponsible people. Try to recapture those emotion when doing a reading.<\/p>\n
Emphasize points with your voice. Here\u2019s where vocal variety comes in handy. Sure, you\u2019re going to use a more exaggerated vocal variety when reading to children or when sharing a passage that is rather exciting, for example. But you can also use variety in your tone and way of presenting important points in a nonfiction book and in suspenseful or mysterious portions in your book of fiction.<\/p>\n
Enunciate! Oh my gosh, where do we get off thinking that if we mumble through a reading as if we have a mouthful of glue that anyone will get anything out of it? They won\u2019t. Think about why you are in front of that audience. What is your ultimate goal? Selling books? Who\u2019s going to buy a book that they still know nothing about even after the reading? No one. <\/p>\n
How can you create the awareness and the habit of effective public reading? Here are my suggestions:<\/p>\n
\u2022\tJoin a storytellers group. You will learn all sorts of techniques designed to discover your best and strongest voice and using it to your advantage.
\n\u2022\tJoin a local Toastmasters Club and work through the first manual of 10 speeches. You will learn much about vocal variety, storytelling, reading out loud, using gestures, speaking clearly and more.
\n\u2022\tPractice reading to a child. And make it a point to exaggerate, exaggerate, exaggerate your voice and expressions. You probably won\u2019t read to an adult audience with quite the exuberance that you will to a child, but at least this experience will help to loosen you up a bit.
\n\u2022\tConsider talking about your book rather than reading it. Even if you make this choice, I would still advise that you follow the steps above. If you are not accustomed to speaking in public, you will probably need help with your way of presenting\u2014making eye contact, speaking out, using vocal variety, speaking clearly and so forth. I\u2019ve noticed many times over that the author who talks about his book\u2014tells the story rather than reading the story\u2014generally does a much better job with his or her presentation than the one who tries to read from his or her book.<\/p>\n
For additional articles on public speaking as well as writing, publishing and book promotion, be sure to visit my website: http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/articles.htm<\/a> <\/p>\n My book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book <\/em><\/strong>also includes public speaking help. Check it out at my online bookstore. And be sure to take a look at my latest book, Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats<\/em><\/strong>. Do you seek opportunities to go out and read passages from your book to audiences at writers\u2019 group meetings, conferences, book festivals, in classrooms, etc? Do you sell many books this way? If not, the problem may not be with your book, but with your way of presenting. The fact is that few people can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"