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05A free course
One deep talk. Cut for every room.
Write the deep version of your talk once, then cut the pitch, the keynote or the speech you need from it, ready to rehearse.
Welcome back.
- Source talk
- Pitch
- Keynote
- TED-style
- Speech
What you will use it for
One source talk, every room you face.
You write the deep version once. Each room then gets the cut it needs, timed and scripted at the open and close.
The pitch
A cut that ends on a clear ask, with the proof the decision needs moved to the front.
The demo day
Three minutes, traction early, and one line the room remembers when the day is over.
The keynote
A cut that frames the moment for that audience and hands them a way to see it.
The speech you were asked to give
An award or a farewell, built with the same method and ending on what you hand the room.
The real problem
It is almost never the delivery.
When a talk lands badly, the usual advice is about delivery.
- Smile more
- Use your hands
- Slow down
- Polish the slides
So people spend weeks polishing the surface of a talk that is broken underneath, and cannot work out why it still fails.
What usually went wrong is the order. The public version got written first, the bio, the thirty-second intro, the deck narration, before there was a deep story to cut it from.
Deep first, then cut.
The method
One Source Talk. Four Room Cuts.
You write one deep private version, longer than any talk you will give, for nobody. That is the Source Talk. Then you cut. The room’s job decides what moves, so the proof, the frame, the ask and the ending change together.
- 01Win a decision
Pitch
Proof forward and quantified, ending on a specific ask while belief is still high.
- 02Frame a moment
Keynote
Authority and framing, no ask, ending on a lens the room keeps.
- 03Spread an idea
TED-style
The sell comes out entirely. It ends on the idea, built to travel without you.
- 04Mark an occasion
Speech
Named people and the room itself, ending on a charge or a toast.
What is inside
Seven modules, in order.
- Module 1Why Talks LandWhat a story does inside the brain, the three forces weighted for a stage, and the Source Talk Method end to end.
- Module 2Find Your ThroughlineWrite a first pass and then the deep version, cut one idea out of it in fifteen words, and find the shift in the world that makes your work necessary.
- Module 3Build the SpineThe five beats. Find the turn first, then locate hook, stakes, idea and vision around it. Engineer the peak and the ending on purpose.
- Module 4Make Them Feel ItSpecific over sentimental. Swap the summary for the scene, and use vulnerability as permission.
- Module 5Earn Belief, and Own the EdgesCredibility through action. Script the open and the close word for word, and let the middle breathe.
- Module 6Adapt to the RoomThe four cuts, built one at a time, then set side by side. What the job moves, and what never changes.
- Module 7Deliver and RefineRehearse to natural. Cut to time. Treat questions as the last beat of the talk.
Read what every lesson covers, or look up a term in the glossary.
How the course works
Your talk, written as you learn.
When a lesson needs your material, the fields sit right under it. Everything you write builds your Talk Blueprint, ten sections that end up holding the whole talk and a version of it for every room.
Read the lesson
A few minutes of reading each, in the order the method needs.
Write where it asks
When a lesson needs your material, you write it right there.
Take it with you
Download the Blueprint, or copy it into ChatGPT or Claude with a note that explains the method, so the AI works from your material.
The working kit
Tools for the writing.
Each lesson tells you when to reach for one.
Your Talk Blueprint
Ten sections that hold your finished talk. It fills as you write in the lessons.
The AI Story Interview
Nine prompts that take you from raw material to a built spine, including an investor sceptic audit.
The worksheets
Seven optional drills, one per stage, plus a teardown template. The lessons link each one where it fits.
The Talk Triage Framework
Seven decisions that pick the right cut for a specific room. Run it fresh for every stage.
The Room Index
Every room a founder walks into, with the job, the ending and the time budget for each.
The Swipe File
Openings and closings that work, with the reason each one works.
Worked examples
Fourteen talks, taken apart line by line.
The method is easy to agree with and hard to execute. So you get whole talks written out word for word, with the reasoning in the margin and the running time marked down the side.
One story, cut four ways
One founder story runs through the course. You see the deep version, then the same story cut four ways, with a note on every change and why the room’s job forced it. A second example does the same with a small, personal story.
The standalone talks
Two complete talks, an acceptance speech and a TED-style talk. A deliberately bad pitch, rebuilt so you can hear the difference. Plus teardowns of four talks you already know.
Three of the talks, at speaking pace
Every runtime comes from the word count at a real speaking rate.
Who this is from
Aaron C. Leaman.
Founder of Brighter Future and The Decision Room. Documentary filmmaker before that.
I founded Brighter Future, where we work with founders and teams on the pitch, the raise and the decisions other people have to make about them. I also founded The Decision Room, a closed-door capital convening in Zürich. I started out making documentary films, which is where I learned that a true story told plainly beats a polished one.
I wrote From Story to Stage from the way I build talks with clients, so you can do it yourself. When a decision rides on a talk and still will not move, The Belief Diagnosis finds what is holding it.
More about AaronQuestions
Before you start.
Is From Story to Stage free?
Yes. The whole course is free, with every tool and every worked example, and it opens with your email. I use the email to see who is taking the course and to write when new material lands, and I delete it if you ask.
Where is my writing saved?
In your browser, on your device. Nothing you write in the course is sent anywhere. Download or back up a copy before you clear your browser or move device, and use the same browser to pick up where you left off.
How long does the course take?
The course has thirty-eight written lessons in seven modules, each a few minutes of reading. Thirty minutes gets you a skeleton, and two to four focused hours gets you a talk you can rehearse. Working through every module properly takes a few weeks alongside a job.
What is a Source Talk, and do I need one before I start?
A Source Talk is the deep talk you build first, written for nobody, and every pitch, keynote, TED-style talk or speech is cut from it. Its foundation is the deep version, your story written long at eight hundred to eighteen hundred words or more. You write it in Module 2, from a rough first pass of about three hundred words.
What are the four Room Cuts, and how do they differ?
The pitch wins a decision, with proof up front and a specific ask. The keynote frames a moment and ends on a lens, the TED-style talk spreads an idea and asks for nothing, and the speech marks an occasion and ends on a charge or a toast. All four keep the same opening, throughline and proof of who you are.
What are the throughline and the five-beat spine?
The throughline is the one idea your talk exists to land, in a sentence of fifteen words or fewer. The five-beat spine is the structure that hangs on it, with a hook, stakes, a turn, the idea and a vision, one line each. You find the turn first, the moment something changed, and place the other beats around it.
How do I cut a talk to fit my time slot?
Ask 'so what' of every line. A line stays if it moves the throughline forward, makes the room feel something or earns belief, and everything else comes out, however much you like it. You cut to the time the room gives you and stop when nothing is left to remove.
What is the Talk Blueprint, and can I use it with ChatGPT or Claude?
The Talk Blueprint is a ten-section document that fills as you write in the lessons and holds your Source Talk and its Room Cuts. Copy for AI puts it on your clipboard with a note that explains the method, so ChatGPT or Claude works from your material. The AI Story Interview adds nine prompts you can paste into either.
Will it help with a demo day, a keynote or an award speech?
Yes. A demo day is a pitch cut, and Module 6 teaches the keynote and the speech for an award or a farewell. The worked examples include a three-minute demo day pitch, a four-minute keynote cut and an award acceptance speech of just over three minutes, each written out and timed.
How does the course handle rehearsal and Q&A?
You rehearse until the words take no effort, with the opening and closing written to the word and drilled. You record a full run, watch it back and rebuild the weakest sixty seconds. Q&A is the last beat of the talk, so you pause before answering, name any bad premise and say plainly when you lack a figure.
Free
Start with the story you have. Cut it for every room.
One deep talk, cut for the pitch, the keynote or the speech.
From Story to Stage is free and stays free.