Customer Reviews

How to Give a Pretty Good Presentation: A Speaking Survival Guide for the Rest of Us

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Everyone gives speeches, but many people speak badly and hate to speak. I think this book is absolutely fantastic. Instead of trying to teach everyone on the planet how to give a sensational speech and sound like Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton, in this book TJ aims to help the average Joe who just wants to get through a speech without embarrassing himself. The aim is an OK presentation. Understand, this book is not intended for me. Why? Because I absolutely love to speak. I am a professional speaker, and I make my living standing up in front of audiences and talking, usually about how to pass the bar exam. This book is for people who hate it. So then why do I think the book is fantastic? Because I know that TJ hit a lot of key points here, and he did it charmingly. TJ Walker has tremendous insight into the problems most speakers face, and he has a gift for teaching. He knows how to teach people to speak better. He knows what people worry about, like their accents. He knows what they should worry about, instead, like being boring. He knows how to make people laugh while he is teaching them. And he knows a whole drawerful of tricks to make people into better speakers. Audiences all over the world will say, Thank you, TJ Walker!

In my opinion, the title of "How to Give a Pretty Good Presentation" is deceivingly modest. The book contains an extensive cache of great tips, pertaining to both content and style, about which any public speaker could benefit from being reminded.

Why would this book be good for anyone? Some experienced speakers who haven't gotten nervous in front of people for years, might still have a few things to learn about personal appearance. Others who have their presentations down cold, could still learn about handling the unexpected or even hostile audience question that may be right around the corner.

And even if you're quite strong on both substance and style, you might just want to learn some new ways to start a speech, so the presentation feels fresher to you, and by extension, feels fresher to your audience.

The tips in the book are useful, because they are specific. I'd recommend it for anyone who ever needs to give a speech.

This book will help you in many situations. When you think about it, if you can appear comfortable presenting or speaking , either to one or to many, your odds of success are WAY higher. This can be true for getting that new job, the big sale, a wedding speech, or a variety of other situations.

I strongly recommend this book! TJ Walker gives some of the best advice and insight on how to handle yourself when good communication is important (when is it not important?). If you want to keep your audience interested, keep yourself relaxed, and feel more confident...get this book today.

PS...the title is really underselling, this will help everyone improve!

Peter T. -Jersey City NJ

"TJ Walker's book, How to Give a Pretty Good Presentation, has become a valuable resource for me as I find myself in more and more speaking opportunities. It breaks down all the ways that someone can improve their public speaking and presenting skills in a simple and easy to understand way. Not only have I used this book to become a better public speaker but as the co-owner of a public relations firm I make sure that all my clients read TJ's book."

TJ did exactly what he said he would do; gave those that have to speak publicly or give presentations a place to start making those uncomfortable situations much better. Note that I said "have to" meaning these are people who normally wouldn't want to speak in public or present their department finances to their boss, but have to. If you read TJ's book and follow his simple steps those situations will be much less strenuous. If you make it through the book, use what you've learned and feel you have improved enough, follow it up by reading TJ's book "TJ Walkers Secrete to Foolproof Presentations."

This book is very helpful in identifying the most common and prevalent "mistakes" people make when presenting.

Flipping thru it, I found several really good ideas to keep my public speaking fresh.

Debra Burrell

TJ Walker's 'How to Give a Pretty Good Presentation' is a unique book: it's an excellent personal success guide.

It's the most effective and clearest book, I've ever seen, for speaking with confident and ease.

Reed this book, it gives you great knowledge with fast results!

Whether you're speaking to 10, 100 or 1000 people, beginner or professional, you will greatly benefit from this book.

As a vocal-, speech-, and presentation trainer I highly recommend it. It's the best I've seen on this subject. Enjoy!

Tj Walkers "How to Give a Pretty Good Presentation' is een geweldig boek. Praktisch en makkelijk leesbaar geschreven. Alle punten voor het geven van een presentatie komen aanbod. Met duidelijke voorbeelden, humor en heldere tips krijg je alle tools in handen om vol vertrouwen een presentatie te geven.

De schrijver kenmerkt zich als een meer dan ervaren professional die het vak tot in de puntjes beheerst en goed weet weer te geven. Een 'must-have' voor iedere spreker; zowel beginnen als professioneel: van harte aanbevolen!

TJ Walker's new book "How to Give a Pretty Good Presentation" hits the sweet spot for people who want to be better-than-average public speakers. But this amusing and easy-to-read guide also includes many useful reminders and tips for seasoned professional speakers who want to take their presentations to an even higher level. I'm recommending it to all my clients--both beginning speakers and pros alike!

Don Gabor, 2010-2011 President of the New York Chapter of the National Speakers Association, and author of "How to Start a Conversation and Make Friends"

I bought this book because of the glowing reviews, but it is insubstantial. I read the whole thing in about 90 minutes. Partway through, I realized that, with each tiny chapter getting a separate title page and a blank page after that, there was a lot of padding. I counted, and there are really only about 75 pages of content here. I got the impression that the author banged this out on three long plane trips. Not worth $20 to me.

This book does not hold a candle to the great advice found in the author's first book ("TJ Walker's Secrets to Foolproof Presentations"). This one feels like the "deleted scenes" feature in a DVD. Example: He does not even mention the "audience focused presentation" principle which was central to the first book. I bought this because I bought the first one and I thought that was the best book ever on public speaking. This book appears to just capitalize on the success of the first. Don't waste your money.