For speakers, a code of 10 basic tenets

We don’t have a union, and we’re mostly on our own while on the road, on stage and in the search for new ideas.

We need a code.

Here’s my offering: Ten Tenets of Public Speaking. Let me know what I’m missing, what you like, what you don’t like and what you’re drinking.

1. I am always learning. Just as every speech is an opportunity to teach or persuade a new audience, so is it a chance to learn from that audience. Speakers are never done learning. Speakers are always open to—and never defensive about—finding someone who knows more than they do.

2. I will always make time for my fellow practitioners. Good karma works for speakers, as for anyone else. We are kind to the beginners, the stars, and the last-speech speakers, because we recognize ourselves every step of the way. Every speaker’s career follows the same basic arc.

3. I will never become a diva. Life’s too short and changing the world too important for speakers to take themselves too seriously. Every speaker ought to be treated with courtesy—and to treat everyone they meet along the way with the same courtesy.