Customer Reviews

For Professional Speakers Only

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

 

 

With this book comes a one page note from the author. Even though it was originally published in 1995 (apparently self-published--and the quality shows), he claims it's still very relevant. In the note he says that since the 1995 publication, "there is quite a bit of technology that has become critical. It is not referred to in this book." Uh, why the heck not!!! (He's never heard of second editions?!)

He also says there are "a few typos in the book" and he apologizes for them. Then says, "even with ten proofings, we still missed some items, most of which are minor." MOST OF WHICH? Has this guy never heard of hiring a proofreader? And he's supposed to teach me how to be a "professional" speaker? Granted writing and speaking are different things, but come on, even he should be able to see how unprofessional this is.

So I got past the initial feeling of "oh boy, this is going to be amateur-ish" and started to read. I wanted to give the book a fair shake...(Beware, nearly half of the book is nothing but a collection of war stories from speakers around the country.)

In the first chapter, he says to be narrow with your topics. He ridicules speakers who list 50 topics upon which they can speak. He calls this "impractical." So I went to HIS website to see how a pro does it...LOL, he lists 34 topics ranging from sales skills to time management to change management to leadership to teamwork to customer service to presentation skills to....

At that point, the author's crediblity was shot and I stopped reading. I just skimmed the rest, hoping for tidbits, which I did find. THus 2 stars instead of 1.

Obviously, this guy knows his stuff. He just doesnt know how to write and/or publish a book.

An incredible resource for professional speakers writen by a master speaker with over 32 years in the speaking, speakers bureau and public seminar field. Mike Frank, CSP, CPAE, knows his stuff! A must-read for anyone who speaks!