Less than 1 in 4 Business people claim to have any confidence in public speaking. That's the reason for this NEW book and The Reluctant Speakers Club where thousands of reluctant speakers have discovered how to transform their speech making abilities; helping them to inspire others with their ideas. In this book, Founder of The Reluctant Speakers Club, Public Speaking Coach and author, Eamonn O'Brien helps you banish your fear of the podium forever. It will show you how to connect with audiences, construct credible arguments and give talks for maximum impact and persuasion. In How to Make Powerful Speeches, you will uncover:
- What it takes to create a truly compelling speech.
- How to discover and develop key messages.
- How to analyze audiences for greater impact.
- How to establish your credibility with any audience.
- Why you should let your personality shine through in your speeches.
- Communicating with eye contact, hand gestures, and other body language.
- Delivering content your audience truly cares about.
- When and how to use humour in speeches.
- Essential rules for creating winning visual aids.
- Secrets to backing up and demonstrating arguments.
Author of 'How to make Powerful Speeches', founder of the Reluctant Speakers Club, keynote speaker, broadcaster and blogger; Eamonn can help you to banish your fears of the podium forever. The Reluctant Speakers Club has been voted one of Ireland's 6 best corporate blogs two years in a row by Blog Awards Ireland and he has written many guest blogs for international online business communities and is an accomplished radio show host.
Over his 25 plus years in senior international sales and marketing roles, Eamonn O'Brien has run countless training courses on developing communication skills in the USA and in Ireland. He is a frequent speaker at international marketing events in North America, the UK, France, and other European countries.
He holds an MBA from Manchester Business School and a BSc (Management) from Trinity College Dublin. He is also a long time member of ESOMAR, the world association of market research professionals.
As a marketing consultant, he has worked with many international companies including AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Capital One, Citibank, Harvard Business Review, and the Smithsonian.
The author brought many excellent points throughout the book. However, I kept doze off for multiple times. This book is too dry. It just don't have enough of juice to keep my eyes focus on this book. I think author can do better. Just like his skills and knowledgeable on the public speaking.
Very few people like giving speeches or public speaking and this book promises to help you overcome this perceived issue. Like a good presentation, this book starts to grow on you, changing from initial polite uncertainty to something that you were glad that you stayed to listen to.
The author offers up what can be a good total solution, showing you how to get up on stage, form a connection with your audience and make your presentations shine. Presentation advice and strategies are also offered up, carefully being something for everyone. Unlike many “how to”-type books, this is something that manages to also be of interest to the more accomplished speaker. Very few public speakers can, if they are honest, really say that they never need to learn anything else. It only takes one new tip or wrinkle to make your presentation shine even brighter!
When this reviewer saw the price of the book he had to double check - was there a digit missing. For what you get, for less than the price of a McDonald’s meal, this could be one of the year’s best bargains. If you let it, the book can also shine light on other areas of business too; the astute reader can easily hoover up knowledge and other good-to-know information in the background as they read.
This reviewer perhaps cannot understand the fear many have with speaking: the bigger problem here can be shutting up and keeping to the timetable (yes, this reviewer picked up a few tips to retrain that particular bad habit). For many, more people fear standing up on a stage and giving a speech than they do death. Because of this fear, many people who could benefit from giving a speech or a presentation are losing out on lost opportunities, advancement and, well enjoying themselves.
It is strange, as even a lot of the information in the book that you may argue is less relevant, such as historical references, curiously finds its point and just feels a natural part of the entire package. The author is quick to pour cold water on some “instant solutions” to overcome the fear of public speaking, such as imagining your audience is naked. Quite why someone thought that this would work one doesn’t know, yet it is repeated so often it almost has a Biblical relevance for many.
To wrap up, the author makes a great presentation, in writing. Engaging, humorous, impactful and focussed, the book has something for everyone with a lot of great takeaway points. A highly recommended read!
How to Make Powerful Speeches (2ed), written by Eamonn O'Brien and published by The Reluctant Speakers Club. ISBN 9780992816469. YYYYY Autamme.com
You put in a position where you have to speak, do you feel comfortable speaking in front of people, if asked to speak in front of people do you try to play sick, find something else so that you have to cancel, or like a trained dog, play dead?
In his book, how to make powerful speeches, O'Brien list some step-by-step guides and some techniques so that the individual who is giving a presentation can do so with power, with effectiveness, and with memorability.
I am somebody that gives public speeches on a consistent basis. I am a member of Toastmasters International where we pride ourselves on developing speaking skills in individuals. Having an opportunity to review this book is something I was great looking forward to doing.
What I found is that the information provided here is potent, succinct, and easy to follow. Public speaking can be a very enjoyable and can also be quite fun if done correctly. What O'Brien has done is take many things that could trip up a new speaker, lay out a nice format to follow, and thereby has set up a new, or a well-seasoned speaker, for success.
Invaluable! I've heard a lot of speeches in my life, employed at a large corporate bank and I have seen so many of the "don'ts" highlighted in this book. Some speeches I remember and some I didn't hear a word, much less remember them. If this book was required reading and study for corporate America, I really believe training and information speeches would be remembered and followed. I am thinking of a pastor or two I have heard that could use this information to hold the congregation and get a point or two across to a drowsy bunch. I loved the asset suggested in the intro and reiterated at the end of the book that free resources such as presentation tips and news letters that are available free from the author and the Reluctant Speakers Club. I certainly will recommend this book to my friends and coworkers still in the business. I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The sections on planning & preparation were really good - I've seen too many talks / presentations where it's not been clear what the purpose is and this kind of stuff would really help. Thelast 5 chapters felt like padding added in a rush at the end and would have been better put in an Appendix "detail for the total novice" with a summary sheet at the front. The formating of the Kindle book however was so bad (font sizes changed a lot!) that it did have me questioning the credibility of the author as broke the strong message about attention to detail.