Customer Reviews

Talk Your Way to the Top: How to Address Any Audience Like Your Career Depends On It

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

 

 

My career DOES depend on how I talk to an audience! This book was extremely beneficial to me. I present in front of groups all the time and started using some of these techniques, and they paid off beautifully. I also tend to be a hot-head when things don't go my way with my boss. After reading this book, I thought things through first, developed my game plan following the advice in the book and WON my argument, without my boss getting upset or even thinking it was an argument. Excellent.

This book was great. Some business books provide rote information, can be difficult to get through and hard to pull something out of it. But Talk Your Way To The Top is loaded with interesting stories that helped me relate to similar situations in my business. Since they are stories that everyone can relate to, that makes it easy to put the writer's suggestions to use. I find that I use something from the book everyday. You should definitely read this!

I was quite amazed by this book. Let me tell you about myself - I'm a semester away from graduating and entering the workforce (as an engineer). I'm unsure of what to do, I have those gitters about *everything*. How do I talk to the boss, not be embarassed giving a presentation, among everything else racking my brain (e.g. where will I work?). So to me, this book built my self-confidence and told me how to handle special situations, such as business lunches.

I disagree with a previous reviewer that it is an advertisement. Yes, he uses experience to convey the ideas, often in which he made a mistake and learned from it. Of course some would happen at his company, but many others are drawn from his previous jobs. His chapters are short and to the point, with great advice that don't leave you wanting more or ready to stop reading in the middle of a chapter. The book exemplifies his own advice: the quality of the paper, the nice layout, the personal experiences. He's addressing an audience and obviously put a great deal of thought into it.

I loved this book, and its well worth your money.

Kevin Daley and Laura Daley-Caravella's "Talk Your Way To The Top" is in some respects a period piece that still has relevance for speakers today. On any given day, luncheon speakers addressing crowds would do well to better heed their sage, often basic advice about how to stand, where to look, and how to tell a story. They've clearly seen and advised many presenters, and the tips are anchored in good experience. Their prescriptions, however, often offered as didactic "Do's and Don'ts", seem to miss the feeling side of persuasive presentations, and the increasing demand of audiences for an authentic, less manufactured listening experience. I found myself looking for heartfelt advice (for heartfelt presentations), and finding instead the vacuum that the era of the "Mad Men" of Madison Avenue had where the heart should be. Indeed, it all felt a bit manipulative. So on the one hand, I'm grateful to the authors for a clear summary of tips and techniques... but on the other hand, still searching for better ways to find common ground with presentation audiences.

This is an important book, but step 2 in what should be a carefully designed strategy for success. Public speaking - knowing what to wear, how to stand, even where to have those critical business luncheons - all are important tools for success. ALSO IMPORTANT is knowing what to say and who to say it to!So before you step up to the podium, take a seat at the roundtable, or make a luncheon reservation - keep in mind that you never, ever get a second chance to make a first impression. The image you present is the one you will have to live with, or live up to! Step ONE in the art of self-promotion is to do an honest self-assessment of who you are, what you have to say - and why anyone would want to listen to your story! Following a careful step-by-step process will help even the most timid become comfortable with the concept of self-promotion-and public speaking. Women, especially, show far too much humility about their talents and skills. If we want people to hire us, promote us, buy from us or invest in our companies, they have to know who we are, what we have accomplished and why they should do business with us! How we tell our story is critical. Self-promotion isn't bragging. It is a valuable business tool that career women and men must add to their strategies for success - but do it right from the start! (from Marion E. Gold, award-winning author of "The Personal Publicity Planner: A Guide to Marketing YOU")

Albeit there are a handful of useful "tricks" to presenting before an audience in here, this book reads more like a commercial for his consulting business than anything else. The stories used to illustrate his points are trite and hardly enlightening. In one instance, he even brags about his own presentation about a military feat he accomplished, used for an inspirational talk. It reads very dry and certainly was not convincing. Perhaps Daley should stick to a live audience instead of attempting to put it down in writing. There is better material available on presentation skills--this one isn't worth the money.