Customer Reviews

Start With a Laugh: An Insider's Guide to Roasts, Toasts, Eulogies, and Other Speeches

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When I met Liz Carpenter at the 2004 Story Circle Writers Conference, I was completely blown away by her dynamic personality. True to her formula for giving a speech, she "started with a laugh, put the meat in the middle, and waved the flag at the end." After listening to her, I knew I had to get this book, and am I glad I did.

You would think that a book about speechwriting, speechmaking, and speeches would put you to sleep. On the contrary, it is laugh-out-loud funny with a few tears thrown in, in addition to being very instructional. It also covers fifty-odd years of Liz's association with American political figures, background on some important historical events, and a wealth of personal anecdotes about her life. But what I love most is that she is not ashamed to say that she is an active crusader for women's rights.

If you like reading about a strong, competent woman, get this book.

by Doris Anne Roop-Benner
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

The only valuable information in this book is the title. The rest is a "pat myself on the back" biography that is endlessly repetitive. Not a "how to" book for writing or presenting speeches at all, just a memoir of the "good old days".