Susan Oleksiw

I recently attended a talk given by a woman who had just published her first book, a well-researched story several centuries old. She visited the area, investigated the history of the period, and interviewed families whose ancestors would have been alive at the time the story took hold in the historical imagination.
 
It was a wonderful event. She was among friends, people who knew she'd been working on the story for years, many of whom had assisted in some way, and all of whom had encouraged her with cheers and advice. It was something of a love fest, and I enjoyed being part of it though I knew only one other guest that evening. My friend was clearly reveling in the company, something she deserved after years of hard work. She didn't begin as a writer, but discovered talent and passion along the way. But at the end of the evening I knew she couldn't do this twice.
 
My friend was the opposite of a dozen or more writers I've listened to over the decades—writers with one or more books behind them, perhaps even a tour but certainly a number of talks and presentations. Perhaps because they intended to be writers their talks were more focused. They gave lengthy introductions, read a number of pages, and answered questions at the end. This is a standard format. The more they had published, the more polished were their talks. And they gave the talk more than once, up to a dozen times.
 
Not until last night did I realize how important it can be for a speaker to tailor the presentation to the audience. What I might say to a group of women who were former college classmates would be different from a talk to a class on writing or a book group. What might work as a brief sketch on a conference panel wouldn't work for a college literature course.
 
These distinctions may seem obvious, but for some writers they never seem to be considerations. A good interviewer can sometimes change the content and trajectory of a writer's presentation, but not always. This is one of the reasons I rarely attend an author's second or tenth talk—I'm confident I've already heard it once.
 
For well-established writers who sit comfortably on the almost-best-seller list, repetition may not matter. People are coming to see the "known writer," and already have their opinions of her or him. But for the rest of us, tailoring an offering to the specific audience is a good idea, and will result in more interesting questions and a much stronger and more enthusiastic response. Our success as writers is built with one book sale at a time, and taking the time to consider the interests of the people sitting in front of us will ensure greater interest in our work and our career.