Donna Cutting Introduces the Sexiest Man Alive

"Running makes me think of death." Yeah, let me give you a good therapist's number. "A cockroach crawled across his face, and he looked up to realize he had spent the night in a dumpster, his best sleep in months." And they didn't even leave the light on. The dark side of professional sports; what it's like to be a foster child; mapping Alaska in a wild adventure -- present books and future books, FWA members practiced their pitches under the expert eye of certified professional speaker Donna Cutting tonight, Thursday, December 10th.

Donna warmed up the group with a quick review of the Celebrity Experience, then covered some basics of presentation and why a writer might want to get comfortable in front of an audience. She broke the structure of a presentation into three parts: Opening, Body, and Closing. Sounds very similar to a 3-act play to me.

After each brave writer made their pitch, Donna provided feedback on their strengths and weaknesses, and was impressed with each person's preparation. Donna provided a handout that gave a concise list of the main objectives and points of each part of a presentation.

Oh, and the sexiest man? He spoke of the cockroach, but shall remain nameless. Guess you just had to be there!

Until next year,
John