Public Speaking Skills For Dummies

Typical self help book. Would recommend

Dont like. Book jumps around too much.

Let me start this review by saying I’ve been a public speaker for over 30 years. I speak at conferences and have done training all over the world. I also have undergraduate and graduate degrees in training, and even designed and teach a 16-hour certified trainer course. On top of that, I teach speech to homeschooled teens in my area. So why did I want this book? A) I’m always looking to improve my craft, and B) I wanted to see how well Alyson Connolly did at putting together a “Dummies” book on public speaking.I’ll cut to the chase: Connolly did a great job.The book opens with an overview of what’s needed to give a speech. Anyone beginner who needs some quick tips will benefit greatly from the nutshell overview in the first 23 pages. From there, Connolly digs deeper and starts devoting whole chapters to specific topics. Starting with the ever-prevalent problem of dealing with performance anxiety (aka stage fright) and offering advice for how to use your voice properly, she then goes thought the mechanics of crafting, polishing, practicing, and delivering a presentation. My only question mark on this book is chapter 17, which has to do with interview skills. As a published author myself who was told by the publisher to write “x” number of words so the spine could be a specific width (they really told me that), half of me wonders if this chapter was thrown in to pad the word count. Don’t get me wrong, the info provided is well-written and useful for being interviewed, but I don’t normally associate interviews with public speaking.That said, if that’s my only gripe, I don’t really have much to gripe about. Like I said, Connolly does a fantastic job. Great content and great tips. If you want to learn about public speaking, this easy-to-read book earns my highest recommendation.

I found this book to be helpful. I felt that it was easy to read. It had a lot of nice points that were very useful. There were some things that were very helpful, and some things that I already knew. Yet even when you already know something, hearing it again can be good to reinforce it.I felt that it was well written. It was easy to read and follow around. I think a lot of people would find it easy to read. It was a decent length and had a lot of content. How much you will get from it will of course be individual but I definitely think it can help some.

I like this book because it is well organized and easy to read. It doesn't have to be read cover to cover. It's really made to inspire confidence, and if you are comfortable with your composition, but nervous about timing or delivery, you can just focus on those things. It gives solid tips on everything needed, including how to pace yourself and handle jitters.It's not just for big speeches but should help people who have to talk to groups in general, like teachers or managers.The book seems personable and is written in everyday language, and that keeps it from being intimidating at all, which is another reason why I liked it.

Frankly, I was a bit blown away by this book. I was expecting a vague overview of the art of speaking. This is a full-blown course on how to improve your presentation skills as well as the physical quality of your speech.I got the book to improve my video presentations. I have a popular blog about painting and I pepper it with Youtube videos. My presentations are anywhere from bad to abysmal. I have many of the speaking problems addressed in this book–breathy, faltering speech, constant clearing of vocal cords, speech pattern affectations (I begin lots of sentences with "so" for some inexplicable reason) and other strange habits irritating to listeners. I realize a lot of these are caused by stress and the author addresses stress extensively. She also includes ideas about how to add humor to your presentations, ideas on how to treat heavy subjects, using correct posture, as well as using exercises to improve the quality of your voice (I have another habit of my voice getting increasing high pitched as I speak, Annoying!). All of these concerns–and then some– were addressed in this book.I've been wishing I could make some professional videos on Gumroad but have lacked the confidence. This book is eactly what I need to take my presentations to a more professional level.

Great price