Customer Reviews

Khrushchev's Shoe: And Other Ways to Captivate an Audience of 1 to 1,000

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Roy Underhill's "Krushchev's Shoe" is simply an excellent guide to becoming an engaging speaker, presenter, even writer. Through delightful personal anecdotes and voyages ranging from the nature of the creative process to voice spectograms illustrating the difference between a good speaker and a weak one, Underhill provides the reader with a brilliantly written, wise, and funny book about the nature of public presentation. The book is amply illustrated with woodcuts and sketches driving his points home. As a teacher I cannot stress how useful this book is. I have recommended it to a program designed to teach teachers how to teach (better). Many books of this nature are deadly to read--this one is great. His chapter called "The Morning After" alone is worth the price of the book.

Think of selling this show to network, even PBS, executives. One walks into the office and says, "I have a great idea for a TV how-to show where a guy goes out and cuts down a tree, then he teaches you to use traditional hand tools and make it into a replica of the chair in which Jefferson sat while he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Once you watch it, you can go out and do it yourself! Whaddya think?" One would have to expect as ungraceful an exit from the producer's office as the construction worker who found the singing frog in the classic Warner Bros. cartoon.

Well, that is exactly the show, The Woodwright's Shop, that Roy Underhill has been able to keep on television for more than 20 years. Of course, if most hobbyist woodworkers are going to watch a "how-to" show and make something presented by the host, they are more likely to follow Norm Abrams' measured drawings and run to Home Depot for the lastest tool to really make the sawdust fly. But, audiences watch Underhill's show not only for the extreme mastery he shows of his craft, but also his mastery of captivating an audience with a great storytelling approach.

This is the essence of Krushchev's Shoe. Roy Underhill takes what he has learned in demonstrating a craft totally foreign to modern audiences, both on his television show and at Colonial Williamsburg, and shares it with his readers so that we may become better communicators.

This book is helpful to anyone who dreads standing before a crowd and opening one's mouth. It is particularly helpful though to those of us who train others to be effective communicators. Museum professionals, theme park managers, teachers, etc, may all find some use in the suggestions Underhill makes in Krushchev's Shoe.

Very interesting change of pace book for Roy Underhill. No woodworking, but still packed with wit, wisdom and his entertaining style of writing which always captures the reader's attention.

There are so many dumb books on the communication process this one is really great and different. When the author talks about creatvity you realize he really understands the process. I found this book fun, irreverent, witty, useful, and original. Great stuff!