Speak Up with Confidence: A Step-by-Step Guide for Speakers and Leaders [Kindle Edition]

Carol J Kent (Author)

Book Description

This step-by-step guide to public speaking will walk you through preparing and delivering any kind of message—from sharing your testimony or a devotional to leading a meeting or workshop.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Based on her years of experience, Carol Kent has given us a book of rich insight and practical advice about public speaking. If you plan to teach a group of five or 50,000, read this book. These principles really work. -- Luci Swindoll, author and speaker

Carol's teaching is clearly focused on assisting fellow believers to be better communicators of the work of God in their lives. Speak up with Confidence will give you great encouragement and many practical helps in developing and sharpening your speaking ability. -- Dennis and Barbara Rainey, national directors of Campus Crusade for Christ's family ministry

Speak up with Confidence is a must read for people who are committed to Christ and want to communicate their faith with greater impact. -- Kathe Wunnenberg, executive director, Christian Business Women's Association

What a joy to read a how-to book that really addresses the how-to. Carol Kent has systematically covered the details that have made her an outstanding speaker. I am delighted to recommend this book to the throngs of people who yearn to speak up with confidence. -- Jeannette Clift George, actress, author, and national speaker

You will not find a more excellent communicator than Carol Kent. In Speak up with Confidence, she unselfishly shares her effective secrets with us. This is must reading whether you are a beginner or have been speaking for years. -- Ney Bailey, speaker, author, Campus Crusade for Christ

From the Back Cover

YOU CAN SPEAK TO GROUPS OF PEOPLE. Whether you speak to a crowd of thousands or a classroom of ten, you want your audience to take notice and pay attention to your message. Speak up with Confidence is a step-by-step guide that will walk you through preparing and delivering any kind of message-from sharing your testimony or a devotional to leading a meeting or workshop. If you want to be a leader in your church or simply want to be more comfortable talking in front of others, Speak up with Confidence will give you the organizational skills and tips you need to make your talk a success.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 2076 KB
• Print Length: 272 pages
• Publisher: NavPress; New Edition edition (August 15, 2007)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001AQRTBQ
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,663 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Carol Kent brings public speaking to an accessible skill. February 6, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I read Carol's book before I met her at a retreat where she spoke. I can affirm that she is an exemplary speaker. She practices what she preaches. The book provided practical wisdom plus numorous asides on the art of communicating while still upholding the integrity of both the message and the message-giver. I've adapted many of her suggestions to my own speaking outreach.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Speaking Up! October 9, 2008

By Harold's Wife

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Speak up with Confidence is just what my instructor ordered for our Christian Rhetoric class. After reading this book you will be glad to speak in front of any audience because you will know how and what to speak on. Speaking is more than just getting up to the podium and talking. You have to know your audience, know how to capture them, keep them and give them something to chew on later. I enjoyed reading this book and strongly suggest it to speakers from all walks of life. A person doesn't have to be from Harvard or Yale to speak in front of others. This book is for the intelligent as well as the silly. Somewhere in this book you will be able to relate to Carol Kent. This is also a good book for Pastors and their ministers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great tool for Christian Speakers April 13, 2010

By Coleen H. Johnson

Format:Paperback

I attended a Christian Writers Conference and was asked if I had a speaking ministry---to which I laughed. I didn't have a clue how to start a Speaking Ministry, nor was I sure that I really wanted that calling. As God confirmed that again and again, I bought Carole's book and studied it cover to cover. Carol's book is a wonderful example to anyone desiring to "Speak Up with Confidence". I especially loved the pages which can be copied, to help outline developing a speach!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Material for Public Speaking October 12, 2009

By Michael McKinley

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a wonderful book that will help anyone who has to publicly speak. Kent is very well organized and the material is well thought out.

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW! March 6, 2013

By Donna M. Trull

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I haven't been this excited about a book in a long time. I'm about to teach a ladies group for the very first time at my church next month and having a shy, reserved personality, I was scared to death. I did a google search for a guide to teaching and this book came up. I read the first three chapters in no time. By chapter 3 I was scribbling 3 pages of notes and knew what I wanted to teach at the ladies meeting. I kept a notebook next to me the whole time I was reading this book and I now have about 20 pages of notes and helpful ideas.
In the first chapter Carol says what ever you do don't get up there and say this is the first time you've done this, or how nervous you are or how you haven't had much time to prepare for the lesson so bear with me. Before I got this book this was exactly how I envisioned my first few words being. Now thanks to Carol I have a great introduction, a great middle and a great ending that ties everything together! And I've learned how to dissect a scripture and get all the nuggets out of it. Though I'm still nervous about teaching a large group for the first time, I feel confidant in my content and subject matter. Now I have to work on eye contact!!

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! December 21, 2012

By Jeannine Zwiebel

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

My desire is to share my testimony with ladies groups. This shows how to present your thoughts in an effective way. This has been bathed in prayer. A must read and guide for everyone....we are all called to share our testimony!

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely helpful! December 4, 2012

By MukilteoLover

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

So glad I purchased this book. It helped build my confidence and still my fears. Carol is funny, informative and right on in her directions. A must have for new speakers!

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good thoughts November 8, 2012

By S. Grotzke

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Point: God can use anyone to impact others.

Path: Kent has divided her book into 6 parts with various chapters. She asks the questions: Can I Speak? How do I speak publicly? How should I deliver my talk? What count as topics? How do I organize them? How do I start?

Sources: Popular public speaking books and 20th century Christian writers.

Agreement: There was a good amount of helpful material. Geared at the average lay person in the church, I think they would benefit from this, specifically people who have no background in public speaking.
If you are planning on becoming the next Beth Moore, this book isn't meant to take you there. Kent wants you to be willing to speak out in your own context, where you are right now.

Betterment: I don't think this is a bad book. I think it has positive elements, however, it is not as complete as other public speaking books. It is more of a "this is how I got thrown into it and how I have survived" book. I would probably go to other public speaking books before this one.

Favorite Quote: "It is the same with men as with donkeys: whoever would hold them fast must first get a very good grip on their ears." (Russian Proverb)

It would be worth another read for several of the quotes and I would recommend parts of it it to someone who is terrified of speaking up.

More About the Author

Carol Kent is a popular international public speaker best known for being dynamic, humorous, encouraging, and biblical. Founder of Speak Up With Confidence (a communications training seminar), Speak Up Speaker Services (a speakers bureau), and Speak Up for Hope (a prison ministry), Carol is an expert on public speaking, on writing, and on encouraging people to hold on to hope when life's circumstances turn out differently from their dreams.

Carol has spoken internationally in South Africa, Germany, Bulgaria, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Guatemala, Mexico, and Canada. She regularly appears on a wide variety of nationally syndicated radio and television broadcasts.

She entered the public eye with the story of her only son's imprisonment for murder, a journey she shared in the powerful book, When I Lay My Isaac Down. This painful experience has led Carol and her husband, Gene, down a long road of sacrifice and redemption.

Carol holds a master's degree in communication arts and a bachelor's degree in speech education. Her bestselling books include: A New Kind of Normal (starred review in Publishers Weekly), When I Lay My Isaac Down (winner of Christian Retailers Choice Award), Becoming a Woman of Influence, Mothers Have Angel Wings, Secret Longings of the Heart, Tame Your Fears, Speak Up With Confidence, and Detours, Tow Trucks, and Angels in Disguise (all NavPress). She has also co-written with Karen Lee-Thorp the Designed for Influence Bible Studies (six books in the series, NavPress). Carol was the co-author and general editor of the Kisses of Sunshine Series of five books (Zondervan). Her articles have been published in a wide variety of magazines and in on-line resources.

Her new book, Between a Rock and a Grace Place, will be released by Zondervan in October. This book is the ongoing story of her journey with her son and it includes riveting letters he wrote from behind the razor wire of a maximum security prison. It also addresses the felt needs of people who hurt, and instills a surprisingly new way of thinking, leaving readers irresistibly drawn to see God's astonishing "grace places" in the middle of their roadblocks.

To book Carol for speaking engagements, or for information on her itinerary, or go to www.CarolKent.org. Join Carol on Facebook, follow her on Twitter@carolkentspeaks, or read her blog on the above website.