public_speaking v1.0.0

name: "public_speaking" description: "Prepare and deliver a talk or speech: structure it so it holds attention, rehearse like it counts, manage nerves, and own the Q&A. Use when someone needs help writing, practicing, or delivering a speech, keynote, toast, pitch, or classroom presentation."

Public Speaking

Purpose

Turn a topic into a talk people remember, and turn a nervous speaker into a steady one. Covers four jobs: structure the talk, rehearse it, handle nerves, and run the Q&A.

Workflow

1. Structure the talk

• One message. The audience keeps one or two ideas, so name the single sentence they should walk away with. If you cannot write it in plain words, the talk is not ready.
• Open strong. The first 30 seconds decide whether people stay with you. Use a hook: a short story, a surprising fact, a question, or a problem the audience already feels. State the theme and give a one-line preview of where the talk goes.
• Body: three beats max. Organize around three points, or one of these patterns:
• Chronological: what happened, in order (best for stories and history).
• Problem-solution: name the problem, show the fix (best for pitches and arguments).
• Tell them what you will say, say it with examples, then tell them what you said.
• Close on a high. Summarize, give one call to action, end with a memorable line. Do not trail off, apologize, or add "and that's all I have." Cold-stop at the peak.
• Every claim needs to be true and sourced. If you cannot verify a number, date, or quote, cut it or frame it as your opinion. See Operating Rules.

2. Rehearse

• Out loud, on your feet, timed. Reading silently does not count. Do full runs and time them.
• Rehearse from bullet points, not a memorized script. Memorized speeches sound flat and a forgotten line causes a crash. Know the structure cold; let the exact words stay alive.
• Record one run and listen back. Cut anything that drags. A speech that runs long always costs you the ending, so cut from the middle, never from the close.
• Mock-grill. Have someone who knows the topic hit you with the hardest questions they can think of. The real Q&A then feels easy by comparison.

3. Handle nerves

• Reframe, do not suppress. Telling yourself "calm down" makes performance worse. Saying "I am excited" works because anxiety and excitement are the same high-energy state, and the research backs it (Alison Wood Brooks, Harvard Business School, 2014).
• Pre-game routine, five minutes out. Pick two or three and do them every time: slow breathing (inhale 4 counts, hold 7, exhale 8), rehearsing your first two lines out loud, vocal warmups or lip trills, a short affirmation ("I have prepared, I can handle this").
• Ground yourself. Feet flat on the floor, notice three things you can see, one slow breath, eye contact with a friendly face. If your voice shakes, slow down and breathe from your diaphragm. Nobody in the room is rooting against you.
• Some nerves are normal. Even prepared speakers feel it. The goal is to ride the energy, not erase it.

4. Own the Q&A

• Prepare questions before the talk. Brainstorm what this audience would ask, and crowdsource: in rehearsal, ask listeners to write down every question your talk raises. Write one-line answers for the toughest ones.
• Answer pattern. Think for a beat, then use headline, detail, headline: state the short answer first, give one supporting point or example, restate the headline. Keeps you from rambling off-message.
• Repeat the question so the whole room hears it. This also buys you thinking time.
• If you do not know, say so. "I do not know, but here is what I can tell you" beats bluffing every time. Offer to follow up, then actually follow up.
• End the Q&A on your terms. Consider taking questions before your final closing line, so the last thing the audience hears is your message, not the last question.

Output Contract

When asked to help with a talk, produce:

1. The one-sentence takeaway.
2. An outline: hook, theme, three body beats with supporting examples, closing line.
3. A rehearsal checklist tailored to the time available (with the mock-grill step).
4. If Q&A is expected: five likely audience questions with one-line answers.

Operating Rules

1. No invented facts. Every number, date, quote, or event in a speech must be verified. Unverifiable means cut or framed as opinion. No confident unverified claims, ever.
2. One takeaway per talk. If the speaker wants two talks' worth of content, say so.
3. Bullets over scripts. Never write a full speech to be memorized unless the speaker explicitly asks for a script, and even then warn them it will sound read.
4. Cut from the middle. When a talk runs long, the close is protected.
5. Nerves get a routine, not a pep talk. Name concrete steps: breathing, warmups, first-two-lines rehearsal.
6. Q&A answers stay short. Headline, one detail, headline. Rambling answers end the room's patience, not the question.
7. Tone: plain, direct, no hype language. Follow the standing style order (no em dashes, no ChatGPT phrasing).