Confessions of a Public Speaker [Hardcover]

This book is great. It goes from the big rookie mistakes to little tiny details that can make a noticeable difference on your delivery. The book leave the strange feeling that you have attended or even performed a whole bunch of presentations and after each one, Scott is there, telling you what was good, wrong or what he would have done in that particular situation. Seriously, this book is a "must read" if you want to make sure that your next presentation will be a memorable experience for you and, most important, for your crowd.

I loved this humorous, practical, and honest book about the world of public speaking and teaching. It is obvious that Mr. Berkun is an experienced speaker, reflects deeply, and cares about having a positive impact on his audiences. This book is filled with helpful advice that will inevitably transform you into a better teacher provided you PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.

[Originally posted on 7/31/2012 at: [...]]

I first became acquainted with this book when reading reviews for another one of Scott's books, Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds. Though I still plan on reading Mindfire, my interest was temporarily diverted once I realized what Confessions of a Public Speaker was all about.

An excerpt of the book description on Amazon.com reads:

'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.'

When I finished this book, two words came to mind: hilarious and practical. Scott's openess to share his many mistakes (and there have been many) in public speaking contexts is refreshing. He drew me into each scenario with language that put me right into the seat of his audience, allowing me to see each one unfold as if I were right there laughing with the crowd. But then, out of each one he drew a practical application, whether it was what or what not to do.

Scott's engaging and humourous tone left me always wanting the next page. As a public speaker myself, I appreciated that Scott gave practical techniques over and over again on how to overcome fear, anxiety, awkwardness, and other situations that arise. He has been in just about every speaking scenario possible (though no mention of the local church, my primary setting for speaking) and was candid in sharing both the good and bad from his experiences.

It was gratifying to see the recurring topic of practice. This is an area that I admittedly could do much better at and his encouragement to practice each presentation at length before actually speaking was needed in this author's life.

Lastly, it bears noting that, while not prolific, Scott's use of profanity wasn't overlooked. Some of you will be aware that I'm not at all a fan of the use of profanity as I've written about it previously. While it is my personal conviction that there's no logical or even gratuitous need for profanity in mainstream writing, this will not prevent me from heartily recommending Confessions of a Public Speaker as an excellent resource for speakers, novice and veterans both.

Charlie Lyons
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