You can write your own talk, or you can have someone else write it for you. (Like me!) But the question is, should you? That depends. Your goal is always to deliver a great presentation, but the way you create it will be influenced by a couple of different things. Let’s dig in to see if you should outsource or not.

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RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

First — what’s your goal?

Like I said above, your goal is always to have an amazing presentation. Whether you craft your presentation yourself or have someone else write it for you doesn’t matter as much as delivering a great end result — something with value to your audience. You want your audience to remember your message because they were inspired and educated. You want them to walk away with more than they came into the room with.

But you also want a presentation that will make you feel confident and powerful onstage. That’s important too.

To get this amazing presentation, you can either write it yourself or outsource it. Choosing between these options depends on basically two things:

How much time you have until you get onstage
Your personality

Let me break it down further below.

When to write your own talk

Do-it-yourself, or DIY, doesn’t mean the quality of your talk will be less than the done-for-you (DFY) option. DIYing your talk is a great option because, well, you’re the one delivering the talk! You know your audience, your topic, your billboard statement best. That means you can write a kickass presentation.

If you’re thinking of starting to build a presentation that you’ll give later on down the road, why not write it yourself? You may need some support to write it, which is totally fine. Check out our talk templates for that; I’ve designed them to feel like I’m personally helping you build your talk like I would for my private clients.

Timeline aside, how does the thought of writing your own talk make you feel? If you’re feeling excited or inspired, I’d say you’ve got this. Go forth and start writing, friend.

When to outsource writing your talk

If the thought of writing your own talk freaks you out or if you’re short on time, you may benefit from outsourcing your talk.

I find that my high-achieving, perfectionist clients are the hardest on themselves when building new presentations. Not because they’re super-smart, but because they’re too close to their talent to see how they can best deliver their knowledge to their audience.

Is that you? Outsourcing may be the way to go.

When I write a talk for my clients, I start by interviewing them. Then I take on the bulk of the work. Finding major teaching points, checking the flow of their story, choosing which parts of the presentation to lean into — I take care of all that so they can focus on practicing and delivering their talk with confidence.

Don’t make this presentation mistake

Whether you decide to write your talk or outsource it, promise me you won’t try to transform an existing piece of your content into a Frankenstein monster of a presentation. Just don’t do it.

Repurposing a solid presentation into multiple pieces of content, like blog post or vlog or podcast, is totally doable. It’s good content strategy, in fact. But it doesn’t work the other way around. It’ll feel as awkward and patchy as it is.

Take the time to craft a talk that guides your audience on a clear journey. It should meet your audience where they are and take them to the next natural step. Remember our four-phase framework:

Hook ‘em
Build your case
Serve from the stage
Leave a lasting impact

How I can help you DIY or DFY your talk

Let’s recap whether you should DIY or DFY your talk:

If you’re confident on stage and have the time and space to build out your presentation, DIY it. Grab our talk templates to ensure your presentation has everything you need to convert. You can even set up a 1:1 call with me to prepare for your talk.

If you’re short on time, or feeling the pressure to craft or deliver your presentation, DFY it. I’ve got your back with our private presentation development service. You can kick back and focus on building your confidence to knock it out of the park.

I hope this helped you realize that with either option of writing your talk or outsourcing it, you have support! Now go on and start crafting that killer presentation.