How to adapt one talk for four different rooms

You learn the four jobs a talk can do, what moves with each job, and how rooms such as demo days fit the four families.

The Source Talk Method treats one finished talk as four. You cut the same story for four rooms, and the job of each room shapes everything else. Four jobs come up again and again. A pitch wins a decision. A keynote frames a moment. A TED-style talk spreads an idea. A speech marks an occasion.

The job of the room changes what you prove, who is in the frame, how tightly the talk ties to that one room, and what you ask of the audience. It also changes the ending, which is the change people tend to notice first.

Other rooms are variations inside these four families. A demo day and an investor showcase are pitch cuts, and an all-hands often behaves like a speech. Learn the four and you can cut for any room. All four Room Cuts share the same opening, the same throughline and the same proof of who you are. They part company on what each one is for.

Key ideas.

In the Source Talk Method, a pitch wins a decision, a keynote frames a moment, a TED-style talk spreads an idea and a speech marks an occasion.
The job of the room changes what a talk proves, who is in the frame, how tied it is to that room, what it asks and how it ends.
A demo day and an investor showcase are pitch cuts, and an all-hands often behaves like a speech.
All four Room Cuts of a talk share the same opening, the same throughline and the same proof of who the speaker is.

Questions.

What is the difference between a keynote and a pitch?

A pitch exists to win a decision, and a keynote exists to frame a moment. The job of each room changes what you prove, who is in the frame, how tied the talk is to that room and what you ask of the audience. In the Source Talk Method both come from the same story, with the same opening and throughline.

Is a demo day presentation a pitch?

Yes. A demo day presentation is a pitch cut, and so is an investor showcase. The Source Talk Method groups talks into four families, the pitch, the keynote, the TED-style talk and the speech. Other rooms you meet are variations inside these families. An all-hands, for example, often behaves like a speech.

Can the same talk work as a pitch and a keynote?

Yes, once you cut it for each room. The Source Talk Method builds one deep story and cuts it into four Room Cuts. Each keeps the same opening, throughline and proof of who you are. The job of the room then reshapes what you prove, who is in the frame, the tie to that room, the ask and the ending.

Lesson 6.1 of From Story to Stage, a free written course by Aaron C. Leaman, published by Brighter Future. The terms it uses are defined in the glossary.