Editor's note: We are pleased to share the following talk with readers of the Journal. It was delivered last fall by at a worldwide conference of Committees on Publication held in Berlin, Germany.
I'd like to share some thoughts with you on three areas important to giving a talk to the public: (1) you, (2) the audience, (3) the message.
First, you the speaker. When God chose Moses to lead the Israelites out of bondage, Moses pleaded with the Lord to be let off the hook, so to speak. But his pleas didn't change anything, for he had to fulfill his divinely appointed mission anyway. And he ended up doing a good job of it. He overcame his inhibitions.
