Write His Answer

Donna  Brennan
Interviews
Colorado Christian Writers Conference
Faculty Member
Roy Hanschke

Just writing a great book isn’t enough. You need to promote it, and at the same time promote yourself. One way to do that is with public appearances, presentations, and radio interviews.

Yet where can we learn to not only put together a great presentation, but to deliver it at the right pace, voice, and volume?

Help is on the way in the form of a Speakers’ Clinic at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference May 14-17 at the Estes Park Center. Roy Hanschke, a Christian radio personality and speaker, has trained and coached beginning and seasoned speakers for over 15 years.

Roy’s style of teaching is simple, practical, and effective. He can help you focus in on your ministry’s main message and teach you how to present it. He’ll show you how to organize one of your talks to maximize time and effectiveness and how to deliver that talk with power and pizazz.

And you’ll have the opportunity to test what you learn right in class, gathering feedback from Roy and from your peers who will be learning right along side you.

I asked Roy for more information about the Speakers’ Clinic. Here’s what he had to say.

Question:  Why would both fiction and nonfiction authors need to be able to give an effective talk or presentation?

Whether you’re a fiction or non-fiction author, you have a message. Take every opportunity you can get to communicate that message to others whether it’s through a radio/TV interview or a talk to a group of people.

Question:  What do you mean when you talk about “voice personality?” Why is that important?

Everyone’s voice has a personality of its own. As we all know, we really can’t change our personality, but we can consciously use it to more effectively impact others. The same is true of our voice. You can train it to bring out the best in your personality.

Question:  Can someone really be taught to improve their speaking voice?

Yes. You don’t actually change your voice as much as the way you use it. It’s like learning a musical instrument. A saxophone is always a saxophone, but the way you use it can engage your listeners or make them leave the concert early. There are principles, effects, and exercises to improve the effectiveness of your vocal delivery.

Question:  If we want our ministry to reach lots of people, why is it important to identify our focus? Can we have more than one focus?

One problem with presentations that falter is that they have more than one main focus. I believe a great presentation has one focus with several supporting points. An audience can leave a well presented talk that contains many great points and say, “That was great, but I don’t remember what she/he was trying to get across.” Furthermore, when you identify your   focus, you have a better chance of deciding whether or not that’s what you want to say and if it’s powerful enough to move your audience.

Question:  Will you be showing us how to give radio interviews? Is that something that’s hard to do?

I have 25 years of experience in conducting interviews, listening to interviews, and being interviewed. From that I’ve developed a set of principles that can help you relax, communicate your message, and make the listener feel glad he/she listened to you. We’ll make it simple and fun.

Question:  What if we tend to get tongue-tied or choke up when we speak to a group? Will your clinic teach us ways to overcome that and give an effective message despite our fear?

Managing your fear as a speaker is a big part of what we work on. It’s really a result of everything we work on in the clinic. There are, however, a few secrets to “saving the moment” when fear attacks.

Question:  I know I’m sometimes told I should slow down when I’m speaking, even when  I think I’m already doing that. Will your clinic help us to tell if we’re talking too rapidly, or too softly, or doing something else wrong?

More than that, it will help every speaker, no matter what their typical pace and style, to follow effective patterns of success without giving up who they are. We’ll work on becoming aware of our personality styles and our habits and learn to control them rather than be controlled by them.

Question:  Will you show us tips or tricks to prevent us from skipping any parts of our talk or important points we want to make? How do we not lose our place without reading from the page?

If your talk isn’t “rememberable” to you, it certainly won’t be to the listeners. Yes, there are tips and tricks and so much more. It has a lot to do with the way you structure your talk.

Question:  What if we still don’t entirely “get it” by the end of the clinic, or we don’t feel secure enough in our “delivery”? Will we be able to contact you afterward for more help?

Sure. I’m happy to answer questions by email or phone anytime, and I am available to coach you personally by phone, SKYPE, email, and in person (in the Front Range of Colorado). My goal is to maximize your improvement while minimizing the expense to you.
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Great questions, Donna, and very helpful answers, Roy.  For more info on Roy’s Speaker’s Clinic and the application go to http://colorado.writehisanswer.com/clinics. Father, thank You for this opportunity to learn how to more effectively present the message You have given us.