Speaking

Speaking in schools
I often present talks and workshops, online and in person. To enquire about a visit, please contact me directly, or one of the following speaker agencies:

Speakers Ink (national)
Booked out (national)
The Literature Centre (WA) or
Paper Bird Speakers' Agency (WA).

My most popular talks are listed below.

MEET THE AUTHOR PRESENTATION: This 45-60 minute presentation explores the life of a writer, the nature of creativity, and how I turn small ideas into big stories. I talk about the creative process, and share the development of ONE SONG, ZAC & MIA, HIVE and ROGUE. Suitable for all secondary students.
ONE SONG PRESENTATION: This 45-60 presentation focuses on my new book about a teenage band trying to record a song to enter into Triple J Unearthed High. Along with backstory, research, characterisation, and cover development, I talk about the big themes in the book, particularly creativity, ambition, mental health and the pressure of Year 12.
HIVE PRESENTATION (WITH ‘STEM’ AND/OR DYSTOPIA FOCUS): This 45-60 minute presentation begins by sharing the trigger in 2005 that sparked the idea behind HIVE. I then outline the challenges of world-building in speculative fiction, and how I used problem-solving, research and symbolism to build a plausible city structure and a credible society. Suitable for all secondary students.
ATAR WRITING WORKSHOP FOR YEARS 11-12 STUDENTS: In this workshop (ideally 1.5-3 hours long), I provide practical strategies for Senior English students tackling the composing section in exams. The approach is less about ‘creative writing’ and more ‘problem-solving’ as we explore different ways of interrogating visual and textual stimuli through questions. I break down the elements of narratives, and demonstrate how to manipulate the ‘tools’ of writing to create an original piece. Students will experiment with ways of diving into story, and learn how to develop voice, mood, character motivation, and language.
ZAC & MIA PRESENTATION: This 45-60 minute presentation explores how real life can influence fiction. I explain the backstory and introduce the characters, conflict and themes. International book covers are shared for comparison, with a discussion of symbolism, themes and marketing. Finally, I share how the novel was adapted into a Hollywood television series, noting changes to structure, setting and characterisation. Suitable for all secondary students.
WRITING WORKSHOP: These workshops can range from one hour to a full day. In these practical sessions, I employ fun and accessible activities which emphasise the idea of ‘play’. Using visual stimuli and questions, I lead students through various writing exercises. Students are encouraged to write reflexively, with honesty, courage and empathy. During these workshops, I explain how similar exercises contributed to the development of my novels.

Testimonials
‘A.J. Betts was an engaging, interactive speaker who really inspired us in our writing. She taught us how to get inspiration for stories and encouraged us to pay attention to the little details we might easily overlook. A.J also taught us strategies for how to properly develop characters and setting, how to get a story started quickly, and how to get out of writer’s block if we ever find ourselves in one. We had a great time writing, listening to each other’s drafts, and had the opportunity to share our stories and get feedback from A.J. Betts.‘ (Year 7 student, Churchlands SHS, Perth; 2024)

'A.J.’s willingness to adapt on the fly and adjust her schedule was paramount to the success of the session. It was absolutely brilliant in terms of content and was perfectly tailored to their assessment task. As a teacher, I garnered insider tips and tricks to improve young students’ writing and the early feedback from some of my top students was fantastic. In fact, one teacher in the session already shared a writing task to the teaching team based on her presentation today. Thank you, A.J., for your efforts in preparing and presenting. Can’t wait to do it again next year.' (English Teacher, Brisbane independent school.)

'It was such an inspiration and a pleasure to hear A.J. speak today. As for Hive I chose to teach it to my mainstream year 8 English last year. It was a great novel to use as a vehicle for teaching many of the concepts the English curriculum is based around. However, the thing that struck me the most was the joy my students received in reading it. I can’t recall another text that I have used in my English classroom that has had the same effect on the students. Initially, I tried to control the pace at which we read the novel to support them in processing the strange world. here were students chomping at the bit to keep reading it, complaining that they didn’t want to wait anymore – for them, I relented. They finished reading the novel so quickly and moved on to Rogue. There were only a few copies in the library and they organised the order in which they would each read it – they really chased up the 2nd novel. I was so delighted to see so many of my so enthralled by the world and characters and problems explored in Hive and Rogue. Thank you, A.J. Betts!'
(English Teacher, Perth public school.)