The Lost Art Of The Great Speech: How To Write One - How To Deliver It: How to Write One - How to Deliver It

As a professional speaker and communicator, one sometimes stumble accros books that one is delighted to have read. Maybe one in five...? Well, this is definetly one of them! It offers very good and pragmatic insights and shares valuable tips that can only be accumulated by experience. And, it does so without falling into the trap of silly 'pep-talk' as so many other "how to..." books.
Read the book, then go back and look again at yours, and others, speeches - and I can almost guarantee that you will see them in a different light.
With so much to read on the subject, make this one a priority!

This is a good, well structured book which takes you right through the process of preparing to write a speech, writing it and delivering it.

It offers good advise on techniques to use, like linguistic styles (such as triplets) and various openings to speeches, and their relevance to the type of speech being made. It discusses vocal delivery and body language, preparation techniques before you go on stage, an overview on common grammatical mistakes (eg affect vs effect), and the importance and effectiveness of simple language.

All this is backed up by a wide and comprehensive range of famous speeches at the end of each chapter, alongside short snippets of speeches the author has written or by other important speakers.

All through the book has a friendly style and you really feel the author is concerned about helping you become a "better speaker".

This book has not taught me a lot of new ideas, though there have been a few - moreover it has reasserted and reminded me about how to make a good speech.

And for the price, its certainly a worthwhile investment. Go buy! Go buy!