Customer Reviews

I Can See You Naked

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

College bookstores do a brisk "buy back" business at the end of each term. Since I started using "Naked" in my basic public speaking classes, the bookstore has to regularly order new editions because so many students want to keep this book! Hoff captures vividly the sense of public speaking as a MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP, not a one-way autocracy. His coverage of communication apprehension/speech fright is excellent as is his coverage of first impressions, delivery, and audience analysis (which includes language use and setting analysis). His coverage of organization is less developed, but it is a treat to see his use of classical Roman rhetoric in establishing a basic organizational pattern (although he is incorrect in claiming that Cicero wrote the first manual of oratory---that credit goes to the earlier Greeks, Corax and Tisias). This book moves basic public speaking out of an artificial classroom setting to the larger world in which students will spend their professional and personal lives. Hoff's enthusiasm and experience go a long way to convincing readers that they too can achieve "the perfect moment" in connecting with an audience. Bravo!

This book was one of my sources for my masters thesis: "A Systematic Approach to Making Presentations in a Corporate and Sales Environment." You can probably find some useful information in all of these books, but this one was the least effective for me.

The author suggests that one way to overcome nervousness is to imagine that your audience is naked. Hence, the provocative title. For the nervous presenter, it would be completely distracting to imagine your audience in the nude.

I eagerly turned to the part about "presence" or "charisma," not having been able to find an empirical definition for one. To my disappointment, the author gave an example of what it wasn't. Any definition he wrote, wasn't memorable.

So, here are my three suggestions for presenters and trainers:

* Never show up twenty minutes late to teach Time Management. No matter what you say, your credibility is shot to hell.

* Never pop in the video or DVD and turn the lights out, especially after lunch. (You'll never get them back.)

* ENSURE that you turn off the battery pack to your lapel microphone before using the restroom. (The speakers are still in the room.)

Recommendation for the book? It can't hurt, but read some of the more glowing reviews before you decide.

I've been training trainers for five years and I consider this book my bible. It's the best investment I've ever made. I had fun reading it and was able to apply what I learned immediately in my training. Ron Hoff addresses just about everything one should know before speaking in front of a group and he does it with humor and heart. He is my training hero! I try to re-read it every few months for fresh inspiration and motivation.

I am a trainer and thought this book might help me with my presentation skills, but it seems to me it is geared toward sales presentations. I found some useful tidbits here and there, but overall it wasn't worth my time.

I also think the book needs more examples of what to do correctly. It gives plenty of ideas of what not to do, but few ideas of what to do instead. Only one or two chapters really give good ideas on "fixing your weaknesses."

This easy-to-read book helps you to calm your nerves about presenting your work in public. It is written with great good humor and style. The author has clearly "been there" and knows how to give terrific tips on how you can be the best speaker/presenter possible.

If you are going to get one book on how to prepare and present the best speech or presentation, this is the one.

The title of this book is funny. Ron Hoff actually only mentions it in the first three pages of the book, where he says that he actually tried picturing the audiences naked three times, and it was so distracting to him that he had to stop. The rest of the book goes from subject to subject on public speaking.

I can tell that Ron is an excellent public speaker just through reading this book. He speaks from years of experience, and it works well. He's also an excellent book writer. I really like how this book covered all of the topics that you can think of on public speaking. Each chapter usually has a list of things to think about or things to work on.

It was written in the 80's, so some of the references are dated, but it's really interesting how all of it really applies to today. And, this book is salted with just the right amount of illustrations.

I learned so much about public speaking by reading this book. I've read four books on public speaking, and this one is by far the best. I would recommend it to everyone.

I did get some funny looks when I was reading the book in public places, probably becasue "Naked" is emblazoned on the cover, and there are illustrations of a lot of naked people on the cover. But the knowledge I got was well worth any funny looks.

I am terrified of giving presentations. Even when I get together with people I have known for years, I become afraid if I have to stand up in front of them all and discuss a topic. All those eyeballs staring at me - I just know I will say something stupid, or they will lose interest in my discussion. I begin to shake and forget what I am going to say.

With "I Can See You Naked", Ron Hoff tries to ease the fear of public speaking - a fear that studies say is the most common fear in the US. It's more common than the fear of death, or heights! We all worry about what others think. While death might be far off, if you're standing in front of a group, their disapproval is right there, staring you in the face. With the average attention span being 10 seconds or less, if you're not actively engaging your group, you can lose them quickly.

While this book seems aimed at people giving a sales speech to businesspeople, there are certainly enough tips in here to help out casual speakers, trainers, and other people who have to speak in front of groups. There are hints on a warm-up routine. Advice about what to do the night before. Information about catching your audience's attention and keeping it. Warning signs in body language to watch out for. How to deal with bad situations, from faulty equipment to cranky audience members.

Sure, some of this advice is common sense - but other of it is quite helpful. Just having a list of options to try can be extremely helpful. There are suggestions about what to do with your hands, what to wear, how to say things.

One book will never solve all of a public speaker's fears. Only time and practice will do that. However, it really did help to read the book, and to get some concrete ideas of things to try to make things easier.

Well recommended.

I selected this book as the primary text for a train the trainer program I facilitate in my organization because it's got great tips, and because it's easy to read, understand, and apply. I would recommend it to other trainers who want to capture and keep the attention of of people they train.

I have no doubt that Hoff makes wonderful presentations, but he's written the book as though he's making a presentation. The techniques of effective writing are very different from those of effective speaking. Hoff takes pages and pages to make even the simplest point, something that could have been communicated in three sentences perfectly well. He can't simply just come out and state a something and be content with the fact that he's just shared something extremely useful. He comes off as trying to entertain more than inform. If you're making a presentation to high school students, maybe that's a good idea. But after 50 pages in a book, it starts to feel incredibly condescending. If you want a book that assumes you're reasonably intelligent, don't buy this one.

To prepare my presentations, I went through a dozen books on presentation skills. This book turns on the light bulb! The carton illustrations throughout the book are funny and strike. Just give you an example of how practical the techniques are. I actually used something I learned from this book helped my little daughter on her life crisis. When she told me about other kids were teasing her at school. She had tears in her eyes. I told her to laugh with them the next time. She said, "Are you kidding? How could I!!?". "Just imagine they are ..., looking funny, use your imagination.". Later she told me it worked! And most important, it changed her attitude!