As a public speaker, it is important to define the topics that you speak about by following simple practical steps. You will find as an artist, there will be many times that you will be approached to speak publicly, it may be at first just to say a few words at your own opening. This is pretty much how it happened for me. At first I was asked to say a few words at my exhibition openings. Following this, once people saw that I had a certain talent for it, I was asked to speak at other people’s openings and before you knew it I was being asked to open exhibitions left right and centre.
I became pretty good at giving these talks and soon began to branch out and let people know that I was available for giving public lectures. One of my first major engagements was to be invited to address a maritime and environmental symposium at the Australian embassy in Washington DC. This was a great experience, which ended up being very successful for me and acted as a launch pad for my lectures about my own story as an environmental artist. One thing led to another and a trained myself to speak well and listed my abilities on my website amongst other places and now I can address audiences on many subjects including motivational addresses.
In one sense your topic is already defined. How do you make yourself unique given that the above is true? It is important to remember that whether you’re an artist, a student, a bureaucrat in the arts industry, everyone has their own unique story to tell, this is simply because everyone is different and has had different life experiences that brings them to the point where they are in their lives. That said, everybody is in a unique situation when they have to define their topic. In the following few sentences, I am going to be giving you a quick rundown on simple direct ways to define your topic.
One. Your topic should be about your natural talent and ability.
Two. Your topic should be about your life experiences.
Three. Your topic should be about your knowledge and skills.
Four. What message do you want to take out there in your lecture or your public speaking engagement?
Five. What message do you want to own out there in the market? You are dealing in the marketplace with people’s perception of the fact, regardless of where you are delivering your public speaking engagement.
