Princeton Review: Speak Smart (Smart Series)

Rating:
Summary: Speak Smart is more helpful than the rest
Review: Most books about public speaking are tedious to read and the content is too general to apply in my specific situation, but Mira's "Speak Smart" was the exact opposite. Mira writes with a conversational, oftentimes funny voice, and the information he has to provide on public speaking is up-to-date, accessible, and completely relevant. I highly recommend this book if you're going to be giving a speech.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, easy to read book
Review: Speak Smart is a book looking at the techniques of public speaking. Speak Smart goes through all of the subtle things you don't think about when giving a talk, but really should. Things like speech preparation, how to talk (clarity, volume, etc), non-verbal communication, presentation formats are all covered.

Additional topics such as visual aids are looked at. My only problem with this book is that it is a little dated and didn't focus more on Powerpoint presentations, which is the defacto standard at most Universities. However additional sections of how to field questions from the audience, handling enemies, and how to prepare for a presentation make this an excellent read. The author also suggests other books for more information which I found to be invaluable.

The book is well laid out with the main points highlighted and repeat in a appendix for easy review. The author doesn't waste pages with useless information and his humor and wit make read this book very entertaining.

After my previous poor experiences with my last 2 Princeton Review books, I am happy to say that this is by far the best book in this series so far and I happily recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Not just what you say, but how you say it!
Review: This book is about how to speak when giving presentations, with a focus on business presentations.

It describes how to say things, with an eye toward avoiding egregious speaking blunders and getting out of unpleasant situations. There is a chapter on how to write a presentation to be interesting and informative. Included is a section on visual presentations, and things to avoid while giving them.

One appendix has a list of valuable speaking exercises targeting respiratory muscles. The other is a list of 44 speaking pointers that were developed throughout the books. You'd be wise to read it before every presentation.

This book is full of simple ways to greatly improve one's speaking skills. I recommend it along with Winning! by Noelle Nelson.