Before the Mic

About the Author

Glenn Gibson, the author of "Before the Mic: How to Compose Meaningful, Memorable, and Motivational Presentations," was born and raised in South Queensferry, Scotland. He frequently visited the Hawes Inn, a pub where the legendary Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson reportedly wrote literary classics like "Kidnapped" and "Treasure Island." These visits inspired Glenn's dream of becoming an author. Over his 20-year career, Glenn has combined his love of speaking and technology in various roles, achieving technology certifications from Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware. He has delivered technical support, taught OnBase software installations, and managed product marketing and technology evangelism teams.

Main Idea

"Before the Mic" is a comprehensive guide that provides methods for creating meaningful, memorable, and motivational presentations. Glenn Gibson has honed a repeatable methodology used to write presentations for various contexts, including keynotes, sales pitches, board presentations, and even eulogies. The book aims to help readers build impactful presentations using a structured approach and various tools, tricks, and templates.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The aMMMazing Presentation Theory
3. The First M: Meaningful
4. The Second M: Memorable
5. The Third M: Motivational
6. Secrets of Structure
7. A Meaningful Introduction
8. A Memorable Body
9. A Motivational Conclusion
10. The JAM Session Writing Process
11. Jot Everything Down
12. Articulate Your Words
13. Make Your Presentation Tools
14. aMMMazing JAM Session Writing Process Checklist

The aMMMazing Presentation Theory

Exceptional presentations are defined by three key qualities: meaningful, memorable, and motivational. These attributes ensure that a presentation connects with the audience on multiple levels. A meaningful presentation resonates with the audience's heart, a memorable one engages their brain, and a motivational presentation influences their actions.

"The three Ms mean that we are proactively involving the audience in multiple ways. We are trying to reach their heart by creating something meaningful for them. We are trying to involve their brain by structuring and presenting our information in a way that will make it memorable. We are also trying to influence our listeners’ actions as we strive to motivate them." – Glenn Gibson

The First M: Meaningful

To ensure a presentation is meaningful, the content must be tailored to the audience's needs and interests. Start by asking three essential questions: Who is my audience? What do they care about? What do I want them to do?

"Ask questions first, create content later. It should be ‘ready, aim fire!’ instead of ‘ready, fire, aim.’" – Glenn Gibson

Examples to ensure meaningful content: