By Debb Hackett @debb_hackett

It’s only words… right?

If you look at surveys on the personal fears of Americans, the top answer is repeatedly, public speaking. Yes, heights and spiders and snakes tag in and out of the top three, but public speaking is a constant.

Attending writers’ conferences, you quickly learn that the same holds true in the subculture of authors. That strikes me as funny because surely, we are masters of words, no? Okay, we all have days where words kick our tails. Where the plot stops working, the flow isn’t there, the interruptions constant. But we are, nonetheless, professional, or striving to be, masters in the use of words to communicate a message.

But no. Writers are firmly the crafters of the written, but the spoken? Many of you say, “no thanks.” In this era of marketing and 24/7 access to communication, can we really afford to be silent? Let’s be honest, friends – you have been given a message (or else why are you writing). One of the best ways to tell people about your message, is to tell them. You can’t guess at the ripple effort of that on lives or book sales. And you can’t predict the networking outcome or the impact on your platform, either.

If we’ve established the value, the next thing is to knock down the giant that’s stopping you. Maybe its shyness, concern about the tech, scared you’ll get tongue tied or doubt your message will interest others. There are more concerns, but these are the main ones I hear.

They can ALL be overcome. Please hear me on that. ALL of them. Here, briefly, are my top tips:

• No problem. Start small and with a topic you’re comfortable with. Present the weekly meal plan to your family, read to your child’s class, join your church welcome team. Anything that gets you in front of a few people, talking.
• Oh friend, yes. Tech is amazing. When it works. The key here is to practice with it. Practice in the venue too. Work through the setup of tech and then run through using it. Several times. If you have a friend along or there’s a tech person at the venue, make sure they know if you have particular worries.
• Tongue Tied. This is mostly fixed by practice. Run through your talk, out loud, as much as possible. Are there words or phrases that trip you up? Rewrite or remove. Write phonetically if there’s a word you stumble on. I pronounced our now Queen’s former last name (Bowles) as “Bowels” during a live news bulletin once. You can bet she was just. “Camilla” after that.
• If you’re not sure about your message, there are several ways to go. Talk to a trusted friend or advisor, review why you write, what are you trying to communicate? And above all, pray. If you want to be God’s mouthpiece, if you are called as such, He won’t leave you speechless.

Debb will be teaching an expanded version of this at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference this year! If you have any questions you can contact her through her website (click here).

Writer, broadcaster and speaker Debb Hackett has been a radio journalist for more than twenty years. Married to a Royal Air Force test pilot, Debb has written a Bible study for military wives.

A regular contributor to the Advanced Writers and Speakers Devotional Arise Daily, she’s also been privileged to writer chapters for Write Well Sell Well. For now, based near London, England she’s having lots of fun working on a contemporary romance series and was an ACFW Genesis award semi-finalist in 2020.

When she’s not writing, Debb can be found leading worship, playing bass or skiing. If you can swing by her house while she’s making scones, that would also be a win.