Never repeat a public speaking talk - until you get busy

I have only once, repeated a conference talk:

• same slides
• same content

I was at a two day conference and a keynote speaker for the second day pulled out, so I stepped in and did a talk on the second day (as well as the first).

I didn’t have time to create a new talk so I refreshed my memory of the old talk and presented that in the morning.

I didn’t enjoy it and it didn’t feel right to me, but it went down OK.

But I’ve never repeated a talk since.

I realise now that I’ve had the luxury of preparation time when getting ready for conferences, so I was able to create new talks, from scratch, and then never repeat them.

But now, I find that I’m being asked to talk, with much less notice than I’d like, and I simply don’t have time to create completely new content.

So I’m repeating talks… kind of.

I don’t:

• use exactly the same slide deck
• use the same words
• have the same talk title
• etc.

Because all audiences are different, but I’m …

• creating new titles aimed at the audience
• re-using slides
• re-using themes
• extending parts of one talk when I add the theme into another
• contracting themes when the are relevant, but not as important
• learning from previous talks and adding new information into the ‘repeat’

It feels like ‘re-purposing’ rather than re-using, but if you came to all the talks you’d certainly see similarities.

I’m hoping that:

• it doesn’t feel like a repeat
• I’m still creating content for the audience
• the ‘same’ sections improve each time

I realise that I still have a luxury of some time, so I am able to re-purpose rather than ‘repeat’. But I’ve amended my ‘never repeat a talk’ motto to ‘never repeat a talk, unless I get really busy’.

I’m hoping that one day, I’ll be able to create unique talks, with minimal preparation that still:

• entertain
• educate
• motivate
• inspire questions

…and by minimal preparation I mean - a few minutes.

But I’m not there yet.