Topic Selection

Speak only about what you have mastered and are passionate about.

Self-confidence on stage does not come out of nowhere; it is born from absolute certainty about the content to be presented.

A fundamental error in public speaking is to try to deal with subjects that are superficially known or that have been acquired through a recent and superficial reading.

Reading a book or watching a documentary on a subject does not provide the necessary authority to speak on it.

The golden rule for topic selection is to choose a topic where the speaker has real and deep experience.

If a technology professional tries to give a talk on botany based on an article he read the week before, his insecurity will seep through his nonverbal language and voice.

Conversely, if that same professional talks about the challenges of implementing complex software, their life experience will back up every word.

You don't need to be the world's foremost expert, but you do need to have empirical and honest knowledge.

When you speak from your own experience ("I lived this", "I solved that"), the fear of difficult questions disappears because there is no theory to memorize, only reality to tell.

Passion for the topic acts as an engine that energizes the presentation and facilitates the connection with the audience.

Defining the central purpose (In one sentence)

Once the field of knowledge has been selected, it is essential to distill the message to its purest essence.

Many speeches fail due to lack of focus: the speaker wanders among multiple ideas without a clear thread. To avoid this, the purpose of the talk must be defined in a single concise sentence.

This sentence should answer the question, "What should this audience be listening to me for?" or "What specific value will they take away?"

For example, if the objective is to deliver a workshop on time management, the purpose should not simply be to "talk about productivity."

A more effective and sharper definition would be, "To teach attendees how to prioritize tasks to reduce their daily work stress."

If the speaker is not able to word this objective in a simple line, it means the idea is still fuzzy and requires further maturation.

This guiding phrase acts as a compass throughout the creation phase; any facts, anecdotes or statistics that do not directly contribute to fulfilling that single promise should be eliminated to maintain the clarity and cogency of the message.

Summary

Confidence comes from deeply mastering the content. Choosing topics based on real life experiences guarantees moral authority, eliminating the insecurity that superficial knowledge projects.

It does not require being the world's foremost expert, but rather empirical experience. Speaking from experience makes it easier to answer difficult questions because there is no theory to memorize.

Passion for the subject acts as a fundamental energetic engine. This honest connection facilitates the bond with the audience, transforming fear into communicative enthusiasm.