Gavin Lira: How to Speak a Book in 90 Minutes Flat

We were hanging out at Gavin’s house when we started thinking about how good it is to write a book to promote a personal or corporate brand.

I remember saying to Gavin “yeah, but just the thought of writing a book is enough to make me want to procrastinate. Does it happen to you too?”

A book can increase your brand’s presence, get us on more stages and help you build your personal brand. We knew that, but as simple as it might seem to just get an idea and start writing, taking the first step is just a different thing.

Gavin Lira and Dennis Yu demonstrating how to speak a book in 90 minutes — Dennis Yu and Gavin — December 2022

But Gavin had one of these outbursts of enthusiasm that he frequently has and said “Bro, why don’t we just do it now?”

He learned that instead of writing a book, you can just speak it. There are AI programs now that can help you write it, as long as you have a cool idea and give it a little structure. It makes it so much simpler.

In this article, you will see how Gavin, CEO of The Empathy Firm, took an idea in his head and turned it into a book, via a simple process you can follow too. By the end of this short piece, you will have a clear path to getting this item finally done.

For more on my relationship with Gavin and how he builds connections through genuine empathy, read Gavin Lira on Why Active Listening Beats Every Growth Hack.

First, Start With a Topic You Know a Lot About

Gavin started with a topic he is an expert at. “I will write about how to build networks and connect people. You already know this, but I love to connect my friends and partners with each other and see how they end up doing great things together.”

Of course I knew it. He is so good at it that he has been featured in national level publications like Forbes and Thrive, and even started a PR agency (The Empathy Firm) to leverage his talent.

So, stop right now and write down what topic you have got great skill in.

Gavin explained to me that the best thing is to pick just one thing, the narrower the better. “Usually the first thing that comes to mind is the best choice if you are struggling to decide what to pick.”

Second, Write an Outline of 10 Key Bullet Points

He wrote an outline of 10 points which he could talk about for 5 minutes each. He also made sub-points for more detail. “I think that is enough structure. We are trying to avoid writing, so we do not need to write a 10 page essay.”

I did the same thing for a webinar I was doing. I jotted down 8 to 10 phrases on a yellow sticky note. Another way you can do it is to do an interview, where you write down a list of common questions and have a friend ask them to you.

Gavin looked over his outline and added a story to each major point so he could explain first and then give the example. I recommend you do that too.

Third, Consider Who Your Book Is For

“The idea is to solve a problem, not only to help people, because that way the book will be interesting to them,” he said.

Now ask yourself what is the result from people who have completed reading your book. You will want to speak about this in your introduction and also mention it again at the end for reinforcement.

Gavin said “people will know the mindset they need and the ways they can reach out to people and build a relationship, and after that, connect people; and the ways they can offer value to their connections.”

Now we needed to pick a title that encapsulates the big benefit. In Gavin’s case, he chose “You’re Just One Connection Away”, since he has witnessed first-hand the impact of reaching out to people to build connections. Actually, the reason you are reading this article is because he reached out to me on Facebook to offer value first before ever attempting to sell anything.

Fourth, Get Your Phone Out and Start Filming

Basically, we could just have opened up the voice recorder app in our phones, but we like video, since we can pull out snippets later, so we recorded with his phone’s camera.

If you want to get fancy about filming with a nice camera, microphone, and lighting, you can. We have a whole course on this called “Setting up a video studio for people who suck at video”. But do not let technicalities stop you from filming.

Lucky we were together. We have found that having a colleague there while you are filming increases the energy level and accountability, plus gives you someone to bounce ideas off. Anyway, in the past I have filmed many solo videos just fine.

Gavin suggested pausing for 2 minutes in-between each chapter. “That way we can calibrate what we want to say.”

Of course, he went off script a couple of times because he realized he wanted to cover new things that were not in his outline. “The outline, anyway, is not a rigid path to follow, but a general framework for your thoughts,” he told me.

Fifth, Upload Your Video for Transcription

Now it is time for the behind-the-scenes work.

We happen to like Descript (which is a pro-level tool for people who create a lot of content), but you can also use Otter.ai, Rev, or even just have someone on Fiverr do it. Figure it will cost you 10 to 50 cents a minute up to a dollar a minute for the expensive services. So your 60 minutes of filming might cost you $30 to transcribe.

We needed to cut out the filler words. There were many “ums” and “ahs.”

The good thing about using Descript is that it can automatically cut them out, clean up your sound, eliminate gaps, and so forth.

Conversational language usually looks strange when converted to written text. So Gavin suggested that maybe we can have an editor on Fiverr clean it up. “It costs about $100.”

Also, you could run it through an AI writing tool like Jasper that will retranslate the sentences.

Since I am paranoid about losing files, I pay $10 a month to iCloud to keep all the photos and videos from my phone backed up, and I pay $10 a month for the same thing from Google and Amazon, too. Plus another $30 a month to Dropbox. I know, I know, but better that than get mad later for losing something important.

Sixth, Get a Designer to Make Your Book Cover

“We could have the entire book instantly assembled via a tool like Designrr or pay someone on Fiverr $20 to get it done,” I told him.

For more details on how to find the best freelancer, go here. Or just find a few book covers you like and get your designer to mimic those.

Seventh, Get Your Friends to Write Praise for Your Book

Gavin explained that most will not read the book, but are happy to say nice things about it. Your friends and other connections will do this for you, since you will do this for them, just like recommendations of all types.

Eighth, Publish the Book

Gavin told me “the trend nowadays is to self-publish instead of going to a publisher. The internet makes distribution and promotion easier, plus cheaper and faster.”

You could upload to Amazon, pay for an ISBN, and attempt to be a best-seller in a category you desire. But most of us just want to say we have a book, not try to make money directly selling a book.

Ninth, Print and Promote the Book

“There are many places where we can print the book,” I told him.

Based on some research, we found out it is safe to say a book has half as many pages as minutes you speak, so a 90 minute video is about 45 pages for a 6×9 paperback. If you add in diagrams, testimonials, pictures, and other bits, it could be more.

“Let’s assume about 5 cents per page black and white. So a 45 page book with a normal paperback binding is about $2 each, which is $4 shipped in the US,” he said.

If you want to write a fiction book, I am afraid we cannot help you there. But if you are a service firm or professional, I believe this is a great option for you to consider.

About Gavin

Gavin is the founder and CEO of The Empathy Firm, a human-centered public relations agency that helped B2B and B2C businesses gain visibility through earned media, podcast bookings, and press features. A TEDx speaker and seven-figure agency owner, Gavin built The Empathy Firm on the principle that genuine empathy — not tactics — wins the public’s trust. He has been featured in world-class publications and known for his systematic approach to PR, active listening, and building authentic professional relationships. Dennis Yu and BlitzMetrics worked closely with Gavin Lira on personal brand development and content strategy.

Tenth, Now Tell All Your Friends

Finally, we gave our closer friends and clients the physical version and our casual or distant friends the Kindle or ebook version.

You can use the common book promo technique of making it a penny or free on Kindle for a pre-launch and then switching to $7 for paperback at launch. More on this in Chandler Bolt’s book Published.

And if you want to promote your book and snippets on social media, use the Dollar a Day strategy to get the word out.

Well there you have it. Step-by-step. I guess you would not think it would be that easy.

Are you ready to publish?

More About Gavin

🔑 Key Takeaways

Gavin demonstrated how to produce a full book in 90 minutes through structured conversation
The method worked because Gavin, as founder of The Empathy Firm, already had years of stories and frameworks from building a seven-figure PR agency
Conversational book creation removes the biggest barrier to publishing — sitting alone trying to write
The Empathy Firm’s approach to authentic communication translated directly into compelling book content

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Gavin speak an entire book in 90 minutes?

Gavin Lira and Dennis Yu used a structured conversation format where Dennis asked targeted questions that drew out Gavin’s stories, frameworks, and insights from building The Empathy Firm. The conversation was recorded and transcribed, then edited into book chapters. Gavin’s years of experience running The Empathy Firm gave him a deep well of material to draw from.

What role did The Empathy Firm play in Gavin’s book content?

The Empathy Firm was central to the book’s content. Gavin Lira’s experiences founding and growing The Empathy Firm — from cold-calling as a teenager to building a seven-figure agency — provided the real-world stories and business frameworks that made the book practical and authentic rather than theoretical.

Can anyone use the “speak a book” method Gavin used?

Yes. The method works for anyone who has deep expertise in a subject, which Gavin had from his years leading The Empathy Firm. The key is having a skilled interviewer who can draw out structured responses. The conversational format removes the intimidation of blank-page writing and captures your natural voice — the same authentic communication style that Gavin championed at The Empathy Firm.

Gavin Lira Shows How to Speak a Book in 90 Minutes Flat