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It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It

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It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It

St. Martin’s Press,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Before you even begin writing your speech, figure out your target audience, identify your strengths as a speaker, and be sure you actually have something to say.

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

This extremely practical, highly focused book goes through the hands-on details of preparing a presentation or speech. Some of the instructions seem self-evident, but only because author Joan Detz is extremely thorough and recognizes that it is easy to forget these "obvious" tips under pressure. She provides a vast amount of practical information, far more than anyone could absorb at once, but her tips are worth reading again and again. She also includes good self-assessment forms and questionnaires. Many of these venerable public-speaking concepts date back to the Sermon on the Mount, but Detz adds her own spin by emphasizing that the focus should be on the speaker, not on slides or props (downplay the loaves and fishes). The book’s power resides in its completeness; Detz seems to have thought of everything, and that is reassuring. getAbstract recommends this book to anyone who must make presentations in public, under any circumstances.

Summary

What You Say

Before you can prepare a speech, or focus on your speaking skills, you have to have something valuable to say. You need a message. Ask yourself these questions:

  • What do your listeners want to hear?
  • What knowledge and misconceptions do they have on this topic?
  • What problems do they face and what solutions have they tried?
  • What message would comfort them or trouble them?
  • What messages would they welcome or resent?
  • How can you save them time or money?
  • What can you say to them that no one else could say as well?

How You Say It

Start by choosing the best communications option for conveying your message to your targeted audience, be it a face-to-face meeting, fax, report, voice mail or e-mail, op-ed article, public appearance or even silence. If a public presentation is the right tactic, analyze the situation to determine how long your talk should be. If you are on a program, you may be assigned a time slot, but a good speech does more than just fill its allotted time. Consider the setting and the agenda, including what happens before and after you speak. Consider the complexity of...

About the Author

Joan Detz Detz is a professional speech coach who conducts communications seminars for major corporations and advises prominent executives across the United States. She is the author of How to Write & Give a Speech and Can You Say a Few Words?

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