Last week I was a guest speaker for a friend’s critique group. My talk was entitled “Step into a Writing Career with Nonfiction.” Even though I was a bit nervous, it went really well. I even had several people come up afterward to tell me about certain points I had presented that they had never considered.

Public speaking is not my strong point. I don’t feel 100% comfortable before a group of people I don’t know very well. But I know the more I practice now, the more comfortable I will be in the future when I take on speaking engagements and school visits.

But coming up with a topic to discuss can be hard. I was given the topic of nonfiction, but I had to be able to come up with my own talking points. After some prayer, I decided I needed to let my work speak for me. I would show how my choice to go after nonfiction work opened up some amazing opportunities I would never had if I only stuck to fiction.

Believe it or not, there was so much to tell that I had to consolidate my speech. I hadn’t realized just how much I had learned over the years. The only true fear I would have was making sure I got everything said within my time limit.

Do you have to give a talk or know you need to have one to offer in the future? Why not let your work speak for you? You’ll be amazed at all the material you’ll have to offer.

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