Booktalking—Just Do It!

Booktalking Methods and Strategies

1. Plot summary: the most basic form of booktalking; summarize the plot or conflict of the novel (but don’t give away the ending!), emphasize the key events leading to the novel’s climax with short, active sentences. Challenge yourself to SIAS (summarize in a sentence)!

2. Author Tie-In: introduce the book by providing some information or “gossip” about the author; this method works best with celebrity authors or local authors and figures.

3. Read-Aloud: the easiest booktalk to execute, but the most challenging to prepare; select a short but dramatic or moving excerpt (think “gross-out” descriptions, mood-setting passages or humorous excerpts) and read it aloud to your audience.

4. Audience Participation: if your book includes reference to an activity your audience would be able to participate in as a group, direct them in the recreation of this action (think hand-clap rhymes, participatory jokes, limited physical challenges).

5. Introduce a Prop: if an item or talisman figures prominently in your novel, bring in a reproduction of this piece to use as a prop to introduce the book.

6. Storytelling: when promoting a book of short stories, urban legends or lists, take time to re-tell one of the stories or legends or recite a few lists. Use storytelling to enliven this presentation instead of reading aloud.

7. Audiovisual Incorporation: if your booktalking venue is “wired,” direct your audience to some of the interactive websites related to the novel you are discussing, especially if the author (or the character) suggests a specific musical play-list or has created multimedia material for the book.

Amy’s Booktalking Tips:

1. Choose a variety of books—from different genres, fiction and nonfiction, in different formats—to present to your audience.

2. Liven up your presentation by using more than one method to “sell” your books to your audience.

3. Bring a few extra titles, just in case you have unexpected time to fill.

4. If technology or procedure allows, bring extra copies of the books you discuss and allow time at the end of the presentation for students to browse or check-out materials.

5. Create a short checklist or annotated bibliography of the books you will discuss and hand these out to the audience at the beginning of your session so they can make notes. Be sure to include your name and your library’s name, hours, address and phone number on this handout.

6. Be sure to practice your booktalks in advance and, if you rely on note-cards when speaking, practice until your dependence on them is minimal.

Amy Pattee, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, Boston, MA. Email: amy.pattee@simmons.edu