Ten Books on Public Speaking Everyone Should Read
Public speaking is a great way to establish your credibility, create a buzz about your business, and attract your perfect client. It is a process of communicating information to an audience.
But what if you have the expertise and a million ideas are swirling in your head but you don’t know how to present them in a way that they resonate? Do you fear that people won’t like you or want to do business with you because of something you said or didn’t say?
Here are 10 books that could answer all your doubts and be a road map for you to polish your speaking skills:
1. How To Be Brilliant At Public Speaking by Sarah Lloyd-Hughes
Call her funny, classy, entertaining, knowledgeable; Sarah is passionate about public speaking and her book is no exception.
Her book is “brilliantly” in-depth, funny, and offers excellent examples of how you can improve your public speaking skills. She understands the importance of communication skills and her book shows you the way. Whether you’re looking for help in overcoming your fears and building your confidence, or whether you’re already quite good and want to polish your performance, this book will help you.
2. 101 Lessons to be a Damn Good Speaker! by Deepshikha Kumar
The book focuses on new as well as veteran speakers and provides a handy book of never to be forgotten nuances of speech. While there are already libraries full of books on delivering a speech in public, this one has all the learnings, insights, and takeaways from the largest speaker network in India – SpeakIn.
The book is segmented into three sections – 1. Your Brand 2. Content, 3. Delivery. and is about 120 pages long. While the book assumes the hygiene of professional speaking like confidence, being on time, what to wear, and more – it also goes on to unfurl the much deeper art that is to speak in public and is relevant for professional and aspiring speakers alike.
3. Understanding What Makes a Great Talk Great by Jeremy Donovan
The best part of the book is that it teaches you how to understand a great talk and the different types of format and structure that go into one. The author analyzed thousands of hours of TED talks to figure out his hypotheses for a great talk. Part of that being the use of ascending and descending story arcs that lead your audience on an emotionally charged journey. It’s brilliant and much more engaging to watch than someone who just runs through point after point in the traditional manner.
4. The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking by Dale Carnegie
‘The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking’ is a volume that aspires at making its readers pro speakers. Focusing on the ‘convincing power’, this book puts forward some very handy and useful tips for its readers, which with regular practice can make their communication skills pretty effective as well as impressive. From tips to becoming more confident to develop your speech, use of props, all the way to call to action, it’s all in this bonded flap of pages.
5. Confessions Of A Public Speaker by Scott Berkun
In this hilarious book, which is packed with serious information, professional speaker Scott Berkun reveals the techniques behind what great communicators do and shows how anyone can learn to use them well. For managers and teachers and anyone else who talks and expects someone to listen-Confessions of a Public Speaker provides an insider’s perspective on how to effectively present ideas to anyone. It’s a unique, entertaining, and instructional romp through the embarrassments and triumphs Scott has experienced over 15 years of speaking to crowds of all sizes. With lively lessons and surprising confessions, you will get new insights into the art of persuasion as well as teaching, learning, and performance-directly from a master of the trade.
6. Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
The irony behind this book is that it’s not about public speaking but rather is about making your ideas stick with others. Chip and Dan Heath, the brothers who co-authored this New York Times bestseller, set out to answer two questions: Why do some ideas thrive while others die? What can we do to improve the chances of worthy ideas? The book is entertaining, interesting, and highly readable. Full of stories and interesting anecdotes, it provides speakers with concrete advice that they can implement to make their presentations memorable.
7. Speak to win: How to present with power in any situation by Brian Tracy
In his book, Brian teaches you how to analyze an audience and pick up on the subtleties of audience dynamics. He also gives great insights on how to be a more persuasive public speaker and uses specific examples to drive his points home. To top it off, he shares the qualities of top speakers, and how these qualities can separate you from the crowd.
8. Speak like Churchill, stand like Lincoln by James C. Humes
James Humes in his book shares dozens of insights from speaking luminaries such as Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln and many others. The book is full of practical advice and techniques for novice and experienced speakers. It examines a particular public speaking skill and how to get better at it. Humes brings these techniques to life by both drawing on historical examples and also by showing how the different techniques can be applied in today’s business world.
9. Speak Up For Your Business by Michelle Mazur
Professional public speaking expert Michelle Mazur knows exactly the skills you need to engage your audience, persuade people to believe in your message, and ultimately, get the sale or business relationship you desire. His book ‘In Speak Up for Your Business’ Mazur emphasizes how to develop your presentation skills so that you persuade and motivate your audience and create a strategy to cope with your fear of public speaking. Moreover, the book revolves around how to give your audience real value and create an experience through a story with four essential ingredients.
10. Speaking Up without Freaking Out by Matt Abrahams
This easy-to-read book containing over 50 anxiety management techniques that are based on scientifically supported theory and evidence that will help you become a more confident and compelling communicator regardless of where you present – on stage, in a meeting, or virtually.
Confident and compelling presenting involves a complicated mix of physiological and psychological factors. This book provides specific guidance and opportunities to practice developing the skills you will need to feel more comfortable speaking in front of others in an engaging way.
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