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51 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Book on Public Speaking, June 12, 2000
Psychological studies show that the average person fears public speaking more than death. Well, this book can quickly help overcome that very negative and unfortunate reaction.The author is the head of a major speaking bureau, so she knows what works and what doesn't. Otherwise, she wouldn't have any business. To improve on her perspective, she also interviewed 60 of the top paid speakers in the country and liberally quoted them in the text to this book. These quotes and examples are fascinating. She assumes that you are not a famous paid speaker now, so builds her points as simply and clearly as possible -- as a top speaker would. The book has one chapter that is worth 10 times the cost of the book -- how to overcome hostile audiences and problems that occur. I have never seen so many witty lines and fun things to do in an otherwise stressful situation! Mastering the material in this chapter would be enough to turn anyone into a confident speaker. Ms. Walters uses the analogy of planting, nurturing and caring for a tree to explain her concepts of public speaking. That makes everything much more tangible and familiar. At the end, she summarizes the most important points into four areas -- just in case you missed the punch line along the way. I especially liked the way she used counterexamples to make her point. She describes and quotes Stew Leonard, Jr. who often does just the opposite of what the book suggests. But he is successful because he is authentic, cares for his audience, and is sincere. Although I know a lot of public speakers, do paid public speaking myself, and read a lot about public speaking, I found that more than half of the material in this book was new to me. And it all made good common sense. So I'm converted! Learn to enjoy speaking to others and to better serve them in grasping things you care about that will help them. It can be very rewarding personally and financially for them and you!
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