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feature
CHAPPLE LANGEMACK is the author of The Booktalkers
Bible: How to Talk About the Books You Love to Any Audience.
She is a Library Cluster Manager for the King County
(Wash.) Library System; chaplang@kcls.org. She is reading
The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian.
BOOKTALK
Boot Camp
HOW YOU CAN LEARN TO STOP WORRYING
AND LOVE BEING THE BOMB
S
o heres how I got hooked on booktalking. Back in my dim and distant days of being a young adult
librarian, I went out to booktalk at a middle school. I had a little instruction from my boss but
basically it was me, a pile of books, and a classroom of eighth graders. I felt like I was finding my
stride when, in the middle of a booktalk, a student shouted out, Can I have that book right now?!!
Bingo. I was hooked on booktalking forever. To paraphrase a president or two, there are probably
others who can booktalk better than me, but nobody enjoys it more.
Its no wonder then that booktalking is my favorite readers advisory secret weapon. What could be better
than developing and presenting a quick, enticing snapshot of a book you love? Its personal; its effective with
any age group; and the only cost is your time, energy, and enthusiasm.
Some librarians think that booktalking is strictly a strategy of youth librarians. Not true! Even though I
learned to booktalk as a teen services librarian, Ive used it with many different audiences. Savvy adult ser-
vices librarians are well served by having booktalks in their arsenal, whether its to reach out to the folks at the
senior center or help the local book groups decide what to read next. Ive also had rousing receptions from
Rotary groups and other community service organizations. They are often desperate for speakers and book-
talking is a great change of pace and a different way to present the library and its mission.
Booktalking isnt hard but it does take a little practice. Some of us get the basics of booktalking in library
school. Others learn from a mentor or on the fly through trial and error. However we learn, Im willing to bet
that few of us feel that we are the best booktalker we can be. Whether its constructing an effective booktalk,
delivering it with verve, or dealing with the unexpected situation mid-presentation, most of us feel theres
room for improvement. Whats a working professional to do for a little booktalk spit and polish? Public Library
Association (PLA) to the rescue! Im thrilled to be able to offer a hands-on Booktalking Boot Camp precon-
ference at PLA in Portland. My copresenter, actress Melanie Workhoven, and I give both booktalking and
presentation tipsthe mental and the physical parts of booktalking. Then its your turn. You get to booktalk
and receive some gentle coaching to boost your performance. It may sound terrifying but its really great fun.
You get to test your own mettle, hear lots of other great booktalkers, and see what a big difference some small
changes can make. Until we see you in Portland, however, heres a little basic training to boost your booktalk
performance.
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What Is Booktalking?
Booktalking is sharing the books you love with oth-
ers. Its so simple, right? You are giving an audience an
evocative snapshot of a booksomething that con-
veys the tone and the feeling of the book. You are not
reprising or rehashing the book. You are not telling the
whole story. You are especially not telling the ending.
You are giving just enough information to entice and
intrigue your audience. Its a come on. Its a tease. But
its a legitimate tease. Youve seen movie trailers that
are exciting, but end up not having much to do with
the movie, right? Not good. In booktalking you want to
be careful to accurately portray the bookjust not all
of the book. Unlike book reviewing you almost never
use evaluative language in a booktalk. You dont say,
This is a great book! If you didnt think it was a great
book, why are you talking about it? I always hearken
back to something I heard Orson Scott Card say, Give
them a banquet and let them choose. You are giv-
ing your audience a lot of great choices. So no matter
what motivates you to booktalk or in what circum-
stances you booktalk, what a booktalk is remains the
same: you sharing a book you love with others.
The Most Important Things to
Remember About Booktalking
1. Booktalking is about making a connection with
an audience. Its not so much a performance
thing but a relationship thing. Its your offering,
your take on the book. How your audience
connects to the messenger colors how they
are going to react to the title. Adults want to
hear about books you like. They want your
suggestions. Otherwise theyd stay home and
read The New York Times Book Review.
2. Read the book! You cant effectively booktalk a
book you havent read. In one recent workshop a
participant said her reason for attending was to
learn to sell books she hadnt read. I suppose
that may be possible, but its not booktalking.
Read the book, not the blurb, not a review, the
book!
3. Everyone does it differently . . . and thats okay.
You can hear ten booktalkers and hear ten
different styles and enjoy every single one of
them. I have sometimes booktalked with rock
star librarian Nancy Pearl. Our booktalking styles
are very different. Does Nancy go home and say,
Gosh, I wish I booktalked like Chapple. I dont
think so. Do I go home and say, If only I could
booktalk like Nancy Pearl. Nope. The more you
can be yourself, the better off youll be.
4. Its okay to be you. As a matter of fact, its great
to be you. Just be the best you you can be.
Presentation skills are about getting you out of
your own way, so audiences can focus on you
and your message.
5. Talk about books you absolutely love. There
are some circumstances, especially in the life
of a J or YA librarian where you need to talk
about books youre not crazy about. Lets hope
those circumstances are few and far between.
Talk about books you love because thats what
will shine through. Bob Circosta, pitchman
extraordinaire, says, Energy sells, but passion
persuades.
Choosing Books to Booktalk
Okay, here comes one of the fun parts, actually
deciding what books you want to talk to about to any
given group. Some folks have a standard repertoire
that they booktalk, no matter who the audience. Im
not a huge fan of that approach. I prefer to tailor my
title choices to what I know about the group to whom
Ill be speaking. Youth services librarians use this
approach as a matter of survival. Age range, interests,
reading levels, trends, whats in the news, all impact
the titles you choose. If your baseball team is headed
to the playoffs you might want to include a baseball
book like Taking Lottie Home by Terry Kay. The movie
Amelia recently came out; how about booktalking a
title that chronicles the role of women in aviation like
Amelia Earharts Daughters by Leslie Haynsworth and
David Toomey?
Heres a booktalk that I did with a tie-in to current
events several years ago:
Once in the not too distant past, there was a
terrible tragedy. It was an unprecedented attack
on nearly two thousand civilians, peaceable
noncombatants who were going about their daily
lives and it resulted in enormous loss of life. The
attack was, of course, decried internationally. It
was called contrary to international law and the
conventions of all civilized nations and afterward,
recriminations flew thick and fast. Some thought
that the government had had foreknowledge of
the attack and had done nothing to prevent it.
Every agency involved worked hard to frame the
information available to show they werent at fault.
Other scapegoats were sought. Law abiding folk
were reviled and even attacked because of their
ethnic background. And in the end, this tragic
event stirred up public opinion and pushed the
United States into war. The year was 1915 and
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it was the British ocean liner Lusitania that was
torpedoed by a German U-Boat. It sank with over
1,200 people on board and the 128 Americans that
died became a rallying point for the United States
entry into World War I. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy
by Diana Preston.
For each forty-five to sixty minute presentation, I
pull twelve to fifteen titles. I always pull a few more
than I actually need just in case. On one memorable
occasion I went to a school to booktalk on a Japanese
theme at the teachers request. Id brought a little
fiction, a little nonfiction, some graphic novels, and
a book that really tied it all together and for which
Id developed the longest booktalk. When I held that
book up to booktalk it, I discovered everyone in the
class had already read it. Last week.
When youre booktalking to adults, stay away
from the hot titles. If you already have three hundred
requests on the newest bestseller, whats the point?
Youre just setting your audience up for disappoint-
ment. Being on an endless holds list is not all that
much fun. Besides, they can read the bestseller list as
well as you can. Instead try to highlight lesser know
books and emerging authors. But mostly talk about
books youve enjoyed and about which you can be
genuinely enthusiastic.
I had a discussion with some childrens librar-
ians lately that made me rethink the hot title issue
a little. Booktalking a title like Captain Underpants,
they felt, gave them street cred. Sure, the kids already
know about it, but if you show you know about it
too, then maybe theyll give some credence to the
other titles you present. In the end youll decide what
you want to achieve with your booktalk and choose
appropriately. I remain a fan of booktalking to help
people find those hidden gems that you, clever
librarian, know about.
Identifying Appeal
Booktalking a mix of genres is great. I also think its
helpful to think about standard literary appeal fac-
tors when youre wading into the booktalk universe.
Joyce Saricks, Duncan Smith, and Nancy Pearl can
all give you a grounding on what attracts people to
certain genres or writing styles. In essence though,
people tend to like a book because of the plot, the
characters, the writing, or the effect the book has on
them. We all lean toward one or two appeal factors
and as a booktalker its useful to know your own ten-
dencies. While its nice to bring a mixed bag with lots
of different genres and appeal factors represented,
dont make yourself crazy. A librarian once asked me
with a fair amount of anguish, I hate science fiction.
I hate booktalking science fiction. Arent I being a bad
librarian if I dont expose my readers to all different
genres? In a word: nope. Go with what you love. Just
as nobody exists solely on broccoli or Twinkies, my
bet is youll mix it up naturally. If not, someone else
will come along who loves science fiction. The uni-
verse will provide.
When Love Goes Wrong
What happens if you are forced to talk about a title
that just doesnt float your boat? Youth services
librarians sometimes encounter this situation when
they are booktalking nominees for a readers choice
award. Before you launch into this situation, give it
some thought. Do you really, really have to booktalk
each and every title? Perhaps you can booktalk a
selection (your favorites) and leave the others for the
kids to discover. There might be kids in the class who
can speak enthusiastically about the book. After all,
if its a readers choice title, somebody read it and
liked it. Maybe you can find a booktalking partner in
the school librarian or the youth services librarian in
another library who delights in those titles you dont
care for. If none of those strategies work and your
back is against the wall, look for something in the
book you can get excited about. Sometimes you can
like the fact that kids are enthused about it. I remem-
ber one book in which a car was a major player. The
book never did anything for me and I was annoyed
at the poor writing, but I loved how it grabbed the
attention of ten and twelve-year-old boys.
How to Build a Booktalk
Start building your booktalk while you are reading.
Create an awareness that sits in the back of your
mind and helps you find great booktalk material.
Watch for scenes that are particularly interesting
or characters with great lines. Look for passages
that exemplify the mood of the book. Pay atten-
tion to what makes you laugh and what makes you
cry. When its a book that you cant help telling your
friends about, what parts do you mention?
A good technique is to take a few minutes when
youve finished a book and jot down your thoughts.
What did you like? Was it the crazy characters? Was
it the suspenseful plot? Maybe it was the setting or
maybe it was the humor or tone of the book that
appealed to you. Write a stream of consciousness
about the book, noting the basics of the plot and
your favorite characters or scenes. Note the genre
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and think about the general appeal factors of the
book: plot, setting, characters, language, affect. If
there are passages in the book that you particularly
like, copy them and note the page numbers. All this
really doesnt take much time and it will give you a
solid background for your booktalk. You can look
back on your reactions to a book and begin to formu-
late your booktalk. Often, the booktalk will start to
form in your mind while youre writing your notes on
a book. If it does, just keep writing and jot the book-
talk down to be polished later. The more you can
record while the book is fresh, the better off you are.
Somewhere in all of the parts of the book that
appealed to you will be a scene or a circumstance or
a plot device that will illustrate what you like most
about the book and will beg to be communicated to
others. It will give the flavor of the book, give a tease
to read the book, but not give away the ending. This
is the hook, and it is the foundation on which the rest
of the booktalk rests. Once youve decided on your
hook, the rest of the booktalk falls into place. You
build to your hook giving just enough background for
it to make sense. Heres a brief example:
Anne Waverly is a respected university professor.
Her academic specialty is alternative religious
movements. Few people know that Annes interest
is rooted in her own involvement with a religious
community as a young woman; an involvement
that had a tragic end. But the FBI knows, and
they occasionally ask her to infiltrate suspicious
cults to determine their stability. Four times Anne
has done this for the FBI and each time has left
physical and emotional scars. She is loath to
accept another assignment, reluctant to drag her
achy forty-eight-year-old body into the fray again,
doubtful of her ability to transform herself, again,
into a middle-aged seeker of Truth and Light.
But seduced by the photos of the children in The
Change compound, she reluctantly agrees, vowing
that this assignment will be her lastand it very
nearly is. A Darker Place by Laurie King.
This brief booktalk is less than a minute long, but
it gives an inkling of who Waverly is, offers a glimpse
of an intriguing situation, and leaves you wondering
what will happen. Thats the hook. To find out what
happens to Waverly, in whom you now have an inter-
est, you must read the book.
Clearly, plot related hooks are the easiest to build.
Theres nothing quite as satisfying as that cliffhanging
ending. But if you do that for every one of the books
you booktalk in a single presentation you may be
cheerfully murdered by your audience, so make sure
you vary your approaches and hooks in your book-
talking session. You can also base booktalks on the
premise of the book or an interesting character. Some
booktalkers have the great gift of being able to book-
talk from the point of view of one of the characters.
If that appeals to you, give it a try and see if youre
comfortable with it.
A given book may have multiple hooks. Restrain
yourself, however, and use just one. A booktalk
should be clean and focused. Dont confuse the issue
with additional plot threads or tangential characters.
Remember, your job is to give a snapshot of the book
thats enticing and true to the book. Think of it like
a cover letter for a job application. You dont tell a
prospective employer everything, just enough high
points to get them interested.
Some books will stubbornly withhold a hook. Alas,
theres nothing more frustrating than loving a book
that is impossible to describe. If that happens, keep
your notes and let the book simmer.
Once youve got your hook, you begin to build
your booktalk. Sometimes Ill begin with an introduc-
tiona word or two about the author or the current
event that made me choose this particular book or
how the audience might find the characters situation
similar to their own. If youve heard the author speak,
you can say so here. Or if its a book about small town
life and you grew up, as one librarian says, in a town
of five hundred including cats and dogs you can
say that too. Then start leading up to the hook. What
information does the audience need before the hook
is introduced? Give just enough. Keep it clean and
focused.
Then close. Sometimes the hook is enough; you
dont need to add anything else. Please try to avoid
the old standby, And if you want to find out what
happened to . . . Its what we all did back in the
day, but now it makes me cringe. First of all, its
pretty obvious that you can find out what happened
by reading the book so it comes across as trite and
patronizing. Secondly, if you are booktalking ten or
more titles during the course of a booktalking ses-
sion, youll want to vary how you end each segment.
I do think its a good idea to repeat the author and
title of a book at the end, even if youve announced it
at the beginning. This fixes it in minds of your audi-
ence, or just confirms it for those who didnt catch
it at the beginningor didnt know they were inter-
ested until you got into the booktalk. It also serves as
clear punctuation, Im done with this book now.
Remember to be very careful with evaluative
terms. Its fine to characterize a book as thrilling, sus-
penseful, funny, or any number of other adjectives
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that describe the impact of the book. What its not
okay to describe a book as good, wonderful, splen-
did, swell, great, or any other meaningless acclaim.
Youre not adding any information with these adjec-
tives and youre setting up a subtle tension with
your readers. If you said it was wonderful and they
dont agree, well, whos right? Demonstrate with your
booktalk why you like the book so much and let them
decide for themselves.
One teen librarian told me that she had a student
come up after she had talked a slate of young readers
choice nominees to ask which books she really liked.
She confessed that while she liked most of them,
there was one title she didnt care for. Thats the book
he chose to take out. Go figure.
Writing Your Booktalk
Writing out my booktalks fixes the structure and the
key points in my mind like nothing else. And, its
easier to see what needs to be edited and cleaned
up when its in print in front of you. Also, if you have
a written booktalk in your file, you can go back to a
book after a long absence much more easily.
Try writing a rough draft. Craft a beginning, lead
up to your hook, deliver it, and close. Concentrate on
your characters experience or circumstance, or the
setting if thats what youre focusing on. Thats what
makes it immediate. Pay particular attention to your
opening and closing sentences. Spend a fair amount
of effort getting these two pieces just right. You only
have a few seconds to capture an audiences atten-
tion when opening. Conversely, your parting shot will
set the book in the mind of your listeners.
This is where many booktalkers lose the opportu-
nity to shine. I cant tell you how many booktalks Ive
heard that start, This is a book about Tyler. Tyler is
sixteen years old . . . No! Youve wasted two valuable
sentencesand bored your audience to tears. Make
your first sentence snappy and intriguing.
l Zippy was three years old before she spoke
her first word. (A Girl Named Zippy by Haven
Kimmel)
l In 1936 Joey Margolis Dad decamped with his
secretary. (The Last Days of Summer by Steve
Kluger)
l To tell you the truth, Courtney had a bad
attitude before the accident. (Minds Eye by Paul
Fleischman)
If you want some great examples of making the
first sentence shine, take a look at your junk mail.
Charities that want your money make a very compel-
ling case. And, like books, these solicitation letters
are character- or plot-driven. You may learn about
the bright smile of Issa from El Salvador or the plight
of Kristy who was placed in a psychiatric ward when
she was nine years old.
After youve written your booktalk, read your
rough draft aloud. Is it longer or shorter than you
expected? Have you included enough buildup for
your hook? Did you include some extraneous action
that needs to be cut? Are there any awkward phrases
or words you consistently stumble over? Time how
long it takes you to read it.
Now its time to edit. Add to or streamline as nec-
essary. Make sure what youve written is true to your
normal speech patterns. Read your booktalk aloud
again. Does it have a natural flow? Does it feel easy in
your mouth? Edit again if necessary.
Practice Really Does Make Perfect
Practicing your booktalk is the last step. Your own
circumstances will dictate how you can best do this.
Perhaps you have a tolerant partner, child, or pet you
can deliver your booktalk to. Be warned that feed-
back from relatives tends to be too generous or too
critical. I personally prefer an empty room, walking
path, or car. What youre after here is familiarity and
ease of delivery. Dont worry about the how of deliv-
ery yet, just work on the what. Get the content fixed
in your mind and the words easy in your mouth. You
have to practice out loud. Mentally rehearsing is just
not effective and you wont learn where you stumble
unless you hear the words.
How Long Should My Booktalk Be?
How long an individual booktalk is really depends
upon what youve chosen for your hook and how
long a lead-in you need to get there. It can be thirty
seconds or five minutes. Rarely is a booktalk lon-
ger than that. The length of an individual booktalk
is really not as important as the structure. Get the
structure right, and the length will take care of itself.
Biography of a Booktalk
If a booktalk doesnt come right away, dont worry.
Booktalks rarely spring forth fully formed. Let one
simmer in your mind or try out different approaches.
Heres what happened to me with one book.
I knew practically from the first chapter of Lying
Awake by Marc Salzman that it would make a great
booktalk. The premise is unbeatable. Sister John of
the Cross is a Carmelite nun who writes bestselling
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poetry based on visions in which she communicates
with God. It turns out her visions are caused by
epileptic seizures that are caused by a small tumor
above her ear, which can be easily removed with
surgery. But if she chooses surgery, will she lose her
visions and her poetry?
I was moved to tears by the scene in which Sister
John began a nightlong vigil in the chapel, trying to
make this crucial decision about her health and the
will of God. Soon all the sisters in the convent had
joined her in the chapel in silent support. When I
described it to my husband I started sobbing all over
again. Honey, he said, if youre going to booktalk
that book, its going to take some work.
Sister Johns decision seemed the obvious hook, so
I started building the lead-in. I described her back-
ground, the importance of visions to her spiritual life,
and the need of her poetry income to the order. Then
I zoomed in to more detail as she is diagnosed and
must make her decision. What will it be?
So thats really enough to give the flavor of this
book but I really wanted to include the touching
scene in the chapel, so I added it after the hook to
flesh out the mood. Or so I thought.
My description of the scene went like this:
Sister John had asked for some time to make a
decision about the surgery. Still unresolved, she
began an all-night vigil in the convent chapel. On
her knees after many hours, she was discouraged
and about to give up. Then she felt a presence
behind her; it was Mother Mary Joseph. As
suddenly as she appeared, Mother Mary Joseph
vanished, and a short time later, all of the nuns
filed into the chapel to hold vigil with Sister John.
The first time I delivered this booktalk was to a
book group in a private home, always an informal
setting. As soon as I said Sister Mary Joseph disap-
peared, one of the women blurted out, Where did
she go? Did she just vanish into thin air? Mood gone,
game over. I tinkered with the description and tried
it with a couple more groups before I admitted to
myself that this scene is extraneous, touching though
it may be. Not only is it not necessary to the booktalk,
it bogs it down and makes it more difficult to close.
The other thing I discovered while I was prepar-
ing is that I just cant easily say epileptic seizure. So
rather than stumble over it each time, or worry about
doing so, I eliminated it from the final rendition:
Sister John of the Cross had been a Carmelite nun
for nearly thirty years. Her convent was set in a
little piece of Eden surrounded by the freeways
of urban Los Angeles. There had been long years
when she wondered if hers was a true calling.
Was hers a life of contemplative spirituality or
just drudgery? And then her visions began. They
were clear, luminous, thrilling visions in which she
felt she was in direct communication with God.
And after each vision was over, she was moved to
write poetry, best-selling poetry that had become
the major financial support of her order. Lately
she had begun having severe headaches after her
visions, but she didnt complain. She felt if thats
what it took to have a personal relationship with
God then she was willing to pay the price. But one
day, Sister John collapsed during prayers and her
mother superior insisted that she visit a doctor.
I have great news, the doctor said after
examining her test results. Your seizures are
caused by epilepsy brought on by a tumor just
above your ear. I can remove that tumor easily and
youll be good as new. Sister John was stunned.
Could it be that her rewarding spiritual life was
manufactured by a physical cause? And if she
chose to be cured, would she lose her visions, her
link with God?
It was a decision only Sister John could make.
Lying Awake by Marc Salzman.
To Memorize or Not to Memorize?
Thats everybodys question and its really a matter
of personal comfort and choice. Legend has it that
the fabled Margaret Edwards had every young adult
librarian at Enoch Pratt Library memorize, word-
for-word, a set number of booktalks before they
were let loose on young adults. Thats certainly one
way of ensuring consistent content in booktalks.
Memorization is a fine thing, but it doesnt work for
everyone. Just the thought of memorizing dozens of
booktalks verbatim would have postponed my book-
talking career indefinitely. It just sounds like work to
me. However, it might make you feel more prepared
and therefore more comfortable. Heres another con-
sideration: Can you memorize your booktalk and
deliver it without making it sound canned? Can you
inject fresh enthusiasm into your words each time
and not sound like youre singing the alphabet song?
It may be that memorizing allows you to put all your
energy into your delivery without worrying about
what youre going to say next. Some booktalkers
become a cropper when they memorize; they get so
wrapped up in finding the particular word that they
forget the story theyre trying to tell.
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Whether you memorize or not, there may be that
moment when you have a total lapse and forget
whats next in your booktalk. What to do? First of all,
realize the world is not ending even though it may
seem like it. Second, pause and breathe. Get some
air back into your lungs and some blood back into
your brain. Dont fluster, dont apologize. Pause and
breathe. Maintain eye contact and wait for your
thread to come back to you. Your audience wont
know its anything but a dramatic pause.
My husband, Will, loves to tell this story which is
the doozy of all I forgot! anecdotes. As a teenager
he was very active in theater and went with a group
of other young actors to give a readers theater per-
formance at a Job Corps camp. To begin, each actor
stepped forward and introduced him or herself.
When his turn came, Will stepped forward, looked
at the waiting audience and paused. He couldnt
remember his name. He says he doesnt remember
being terrified, or even nervous. He calmly turned
around to his fellow actors and asked what his name
was. As you might guess, it took a moment or two to
convince them that he really needed to know. In the
end, they told him and he turned back around and
introduced himself to the audience. Everyone had a
good laugh and no one died of mortification or any
other cause.
Heres another little trick you can use, especially
if you choose not to memorize. Make your booktalk
into a movie in your head. Without words, visual-
ize the action and see what unfolds. Do this several
times until you have the plot of your movie memo-
rized. Then, if you lose your words, just look at the
movie in your mind and see what happens next. If
you have the structure firmly planted in your head,
they you can build or embellish as the mood and the
audience dictates.
Reading Aloud
You may choose to read aloud as part of your book-
talk. I love to read aloud but it can be a dicey propo-
sition. Be sure to choose your passage carefully. Make
it brief and make sure it really illustrates something
in the book that you just couldnt do any better.
In a worst case reading aloud scenario, a book-
talker will choose a long description in order to
share the beautiful writing. The sky is blue, the grass
is green, the mountains have purple majesty . . .
whatever. The reader (because at this point she has
stopped being a booktalker) becomes so immersed in
the passage that she loses eye contact with the audi-
ence. Her head dips down and her voice gets softer
and softer, projecting into the book rather than out
at the audience. Ladies and gentlemen, the booktalk
has left the building. Please dont be this person.
Keep it short, crisp, and energetic. Practice your pas-
sage. Read it aloud to yourself and pay attention. Do
you run out of breath before the end of a sentence?
Are the dramatic spots getting the attention they
deserve? Do you need to pause to build tension? It
can be helpful to go through the text and mark where
you need to take a breath so you wont be tempted
to run on and lose your breath. When you lose your
breath, you lose your volume, and your audience
wont be able to hear you.
Going Live with Your Booktalk
Now that youve settled on what youre going to
say, lets talk about how to say it. This is where good
booktalkers become great booktalkers by putting
energy and focus into their delivery.
Your booktalk starts well before you meet your
audience. Any actor or singer will tell you the impor-
tance of warming up before a performance. This is a
gift you give yourself, a way of oiling the cogs of your
presentation. It need not be elaborate; you dont need
a special room or equipment. Find some tongue
twisters to say aloud and do some easy stretches.
Take it one step further and do an exercise or two
to activate your core, the muscles in your abdomen
from which nearly all physical blessings flow.
I cant think about core muscles without thinking
about Irene. Irenes in my exercise class. Shes some-
where in her eighties and has a hint of a German
accent. One day we were doing some partner exer-
cises with the instructor entreating us all the while
to use our all important core. My core, my core.
said Irene disgustedly, What am I, an apple? But I
digress.
The author Joni Richards taught me a good les-
son about warming up. We were in my car on the
way to a library where she was to give a talk. She had
already done a couple of television interviews, but
being a conscientious performer and a trained actor,
she warmed up, in the car, on the way to the library.
She did her vocal and breathing exercises much as
you might expect an opera singer to do, drilling syl-
lables from soft to loud and back again and practic-
ing tongue twisters. An actor warming up is loud.
An actor warming up in a small car is really loud. I
was impressedand temporarily a little deaf. When
we arrived, she took a few moments to herself in the
restroom and then came out, started off with a song
and thoroughly delighted her audience.
feature BOOKTALK BOOT CAMP
j anuary/ february 2010
49
So even if you feel a little silly, take a few moments
in your car, on a brief stroll, or in a quiet room to
breathe, loosen up, and center yourself. Your audi-
ence deserves your best. Warm up. Youll feel better
and perform better. I promise.
Your Mother Was Right:
Stand Up Straight!
The single most common mistake I see in booktalk-
ing or any other kind of public speaking is not stand-
ing still. Your message is totally lost if you meander
around aimlessly. Stand still. Straighten your spine.
Lift your chin. Relax your arms and shoulders.
Breathe. Focus your thoughts on what you want
to say. Look at your audience. Now you are calm,
focused, prepared, and powerful. Every time you
waltz around in meaningless motions you distract
your audience from your message and lose that
power. Youre also making it harder to breathe,
harder to focus, harder to pull energy up and out if
you dont have your weight planted on your two feet.
You are communicating with your voice, your
eyes, and your facial expressions; let those shine
through. Watch someone who is in the business
of public speaking like a politician, a preacher, or
a stand-up comic. They plant themselves solidly
and project. Gestures are timed and deliberate.
Animation is great, but it needs to be built on a solid,
powerful anchor. Movement and gestures need to
be deliberate, not random and aimless. Make the
gesture strong, sure, and cleanand then stop. Dont
flail. Dont be tentative. Keep your hands in front of
you in the neutral zone between your hips and your
shoulders. Dont put your hands in your pockets.
And, if you jingle your change, Im coming after you.
If youre booktalking in a large room you may feel
that you need to move around to include everyone. I
submit that our bodies are wondrous machines and
we can move our heads and even upper torsos with-
out moving our feet. If you do move, move deliber-
ately. Like an actor, hit your mark and then stop.
One of the other common pitfalls I see in book-
talkers is sitting. We seem to all have a desire to be
just folks and we prop ourselves on a table while
were talking. Dont do it! My students howl when I
give them this advice. Im just a casual person, they
wail. Im so much more comfortable sitting. Too
bad. Id rather have you mesmerizing than comfort-
able. Id rather have your audience able to see you.
feature BOOKTALK BOOT CAMP
publi c li brari es
50
Sit down and half your power is gone. Youre immedi-
ately saying to your audience that you and what you
have to say are not so important. Youre also making
it harder to command attention, to breathe, and
project. The only circumstance I can think of where
you might want to sit is if youre speaking to a small
group in someones living room and it would be awk-
ward to stand. In that case, find a straight back chair
and sit as erectly as you can.
I have had some booktalking students who
insisted on sitting to booktalk, despite my best advice
to the contrary. As soon as they sat, no matter how
good my intentions were, half my attention was gone.
And then they were so cozy and comfortable theyd
begin to swing their leg while they talked. If they
only had part of my attention before, they had all of
it now. Unfortunately it was all directed at their foot
or kneecap. Movement is a powerful punch. There is
absolutely no way I can focus on what youre saying
while Im watching your leg swing back and forth,
back and forth. Save yourself (and me!) from this
aggravation. Stand up on your own two feet like the
big person you are and speak out.
Can You Hear Me Now?
When you talk to a group you need to amplify not
only your voice but yourself. You need to be you in
a larger, more intense way. Think about filling the
space with your presence. Make a conscious effort.
Leave your woes and distractions behind and step
into an imaginary circle of light. Think only about
your audience and what you have to say.
The best courtesy you can pay your audience is to
speak so that they can hear you. Im never so frus-
trated as when a speaker talks so softly that I cant
hear the whole message. It almost seems like a pas-
sive aggressive act: I have something to say that you
want to hear but I wont quite allow you to hear it.
Invariably these folks refuse a microphone, Oh, no.
I dont need a mike. Ah, but they do. Or maybe they
wouldnt, if theyd just speak up.
Volume is all about breath. If you have breath,
you can have volume. You dont have to yell, just put
more breath behind what youre saying and youll be
louder. Actors and singers learn to propel their breath
in order create volume and you can as well. There are
lots of techniques you can use, but to begin with, just
breathe. Typically the average person on the average
day uses just one third of their lung capacity. See if
you can be above average.
Before you start a presentation, do a sound check.
Speak to your audience and see if you can be heard.
Watch for heads bobbing in the last row. If you need
a microphone, use a microphone. And if you use a
microphone, this is the time to adjust it to a comfort-
able level. And for Petes sake, adjust it, dont just toy
with it ineffectually. Dont put up with it being at the
wrong height, or in the case of a lapel mike, in the
wrong place because you dont know how to adjust it
or dont want to bother. You are important enough to
be heard and this is a tool that can help you. If you can
manage your toaster, you can manage a microphone.
Hey, Look!
In any presentation, its crucial to maintain eye con-
tact but its especially important while youre book-
talking. Remember, youre building a relationship to
an audience primarily through your voice and your
eyes. Youre not really talking to a group but rather
individuals gathered together. That means you dont
stare over the tops of heads at some point at the back
of the room, you look at individuals. Facing a group,
no matter how large or how small, pick out mem-
bers of the audience and hold eye contact for just a
second or two. Do this systematically, starting at the
front of one side of the room and working your way
around the room. When youve made the circuit, go
around again, pick out different people, and make
eye contact. No, this doesnt look funny. Your head
doesnt even necessarily move a lot. Move your eyes,
make contact, and move on. This way every member
of the audience feels like youre speaking to them
and you are. A second or two is all it takes, any more
than that becomes uncomfortable for an individual
and theyll start to squirm.
If you absolutely come unglued at the thought of
looking people in the eye while youre talking then
cheat and look at their eyebrows. It will have much
the same effect. When you get more comfortable,
youll be able to look your audience members in the
eye and make genuine contact.
Coping with Stage Fright
One of the most common questions I get from new
booktalkers is, How can I not be so scared? If you
get nervous it may help to know youre not alone.
Statistics show that more people fear public speaking
than fear death. Yikes!
Theres almost nothing Id rather do than public
speaking but that doesnt mean I dont get nervous.
An actor friend once told me, Nerves are your
friends. They give you that extra boost, that extra
energy that allows you to reach out to your audience.
feature BOOKTALK BOOT CAMP
j anuary/ february 2010
51
You are more aware of everything around you and
your reflexes are sharper. Theres a reason its called
nervous energy. Channel it into your booktalk. Exude
confidence in yourself and the material you present.
Prepare for the Unexpected
Give yourself enough time to scope out the place
youll be speaking. Whether its a library meeting
room or a public auditorium, you need to test out
your voice and how the room feels ahead of time. If
youll be using a microphone, become comfortable
not only with the sound, but also the limitations of
the equipment you will be using.
A fascinating and sometimes frustrating fact of
booktalking is that every single audience you talk to
will be different. Their level of attention will be dif-
ferent, the dynamic will be different, their reaction
to you will be different, your reaction to them will be
different. A booktalk that brought down the house in
the class you talked to last period may elicit nothing
but shrugs this period. Be prepared, be flexible, and
be responsive. As long as you know anything can hap-
pen, you wont be quite so taken aback when it does.
This was a little preview of what Booktalk
Bootcamp is all about. If you make sure you are well
prepared and well warmed up, half the battle will
be won. As for the rest, it might help to think of it
this way: Booktalking isnt necessarily about you.
Its about the books. Booktalking is a gift you give to
friends you have yet to meet . . . and when were you
last nervous about giving a gift to a friend?
Editors note: Portions of this article previously
appeared in the authors book, The Booktalkers
Bible: How to Talk About the Books You Love to Any
Audience (Libraries Unlimited, 2003).
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