Public speaking is tough enough.  If you’re not content with your content, it gets a lot tougher.  If you know or even suspect your content lacks something, your confidence will wane, your excitement will dissipate, and your fear of failure will escalate.

There are several ways to screw up content development.

#1 in my book is you don’t care enough.  You haven’t taken the steps necessary to convince yourself that your information matters.  That pretty much guarantees you’ll do a lousy job trying to make it matter to anyone else.  Can you say “business content?”

#2:  Lack of preparation.  Maybe the data isn’t fresh or up-to-date or even accurate.  In a business setting it’s not uncommon that the data was put together by someone else and you’re not as familiar with it as you should be.

#3:  There’s no point.  Information without a purpose leaves the listener crying out (usually within sixty seconds): “Why am I here?”  In a business setting, that’s deadly.

Some of the other more popular ways to screw up content include the data dump, the bare bones or no ornaments on the tree approach (no examples, illustrations, or stories), and one of my favorites (and your mother warned you to never talk to strangers!): The “I don’t know you and I’m about to prove it by telling you something you already know or explaining something you can’t possibly understand or even care about” approach.

In the business world, there’s nothing more exciting than talking to an audience about something they want and need to hear.  If you’d like to learn how to make sure that happens every time you speak, hire me to teach you.  At the very least, listen to your mother.