Accept that some audience members will not be impressed. Then secretly poison their coffee.
Whether you're cringing your way through public speaking how-to options for a class, your job, or just to keep from choking on your own spit during the Easter blessing, this *may* be the book for you. What's it offer?
Clear, proven technique. From developing and logically arranging your ideas, to rehearsing exactly as you intend to deliver, to squashing those butterflies before they get a chance to breed. If you don't have time to read it, just remember my Three Commandments of Public Speaking:
I. Know Thy Material
II. Be Thyself
III. Practice
Do those three things and you'll be fine. But if you insist on reading rather than speaking (procrasti-studying? -- I see you), my Best Public Speaking Book includes:
- "The Urban Honey Badger" -- an assertiveness drill designed to vanquish stage fright and thicken chest hair
- How to clarify your presentation goals, download and organize your ideas so they're easy for you to deliver and easy for your audience to absorb (when your points logically flow, delivery is cake)
- How to tailor your authentic silent message so your audience will respect and want to hear what you have to say (and possibly introduce you to their sisters)
- A healthy dose of coaching, encouragement and inspiration (I definitely needed this when I started -- still do)
- Homework that will take you from the easiest of the easy (Checkout Speech -- literally practicing your technique in the Walmart checkout line) through stretch assignments, and all the way to whatever motivated you to study public speaking in the first place
- How to effectively use PowerPoint, present remotely (assume your audience is watching Netflix... on the toilet), and use technology (test it beforehand to ensure it's not going to catch fire)
- Plus the basics: enunciation ("rubber baby buggy bumpers, rubber baby buggy bumpers..."), projection, movement, how to use a lectern -- boring but essential
You might also (accidentally, since you're here for the speaking stuff) learn how to overcome procrastination ("it ain't a grand"), transcend perfectionism (the perfect is the enemy of the DONE), supplant negativity with optimism, and other corny self-help stuff that works.
Public speaking is an art and skill anyone can master with the right attitude and practice. If we have a little fun and impress a few people in the process, all the better. But know up front that not every audience member is going to be impressed. And that's ok. Especially since we've poisoned their coffee.
Read the reviews (actually, write one -- I need some more). Look inside. See for yourself why The Best Public Speaking Book lives up to its ambitious title. But know up front I expect application. If you're not up for reminders to stop reading and start doing, Berkun's Confessions of a Public Speaker has more of a storyline. This book's for aspiring doers, not wishers or wanters or excuse makers. So suck it up, and let's go.
Matt Deaton is an online philosophy professor, former comedy club host and martial arts enthusiast. He has taught oral-concentration courses on the university level, tutored aspiring speakers both in-person and via Skype, and led public speaking workshops for audiences as diverse as executives, physicians and high school debate teams. He has been an entrepreneur, a martial arts instructor, a newspaper columnist, a Presidential Management Fellow, and is an Air Force Veteran. To learn more visit his official website, www.MattDeaton.com, or his YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/MattDeatonPhD.
