Don't Say Um: How to Communicate Effectively to Live a Better Life

by Michael Chad Hoeppner

Overview

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Communicate with confidence and improve your presentation skills with this essential guide–because delivery matters.

Michael Chad Hoeppner has coached presidential candidates, prominent CEOs, and Ivy League deans on their communication skills. Now, he shares his wide‑ranging knowledge in Don't Say Um.   

Hoeppner has created an entirely new approach to communication training, providing physical exercises to quickly improve speaking.  With simple-to-master exercises, Don’t Say Um is an essential tool for improving your speech.   

Don't Say Um challenges our preconceived notions of good speaking techniques and offers powerful tools to become master communicators.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306834509
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	01/07/2025
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Michael Chad Hoeppner helps people speak well when it matters most.  With nearly 20 years in the field, Hoeppner coaches thousands of professionals around the world.  His corporate clients include three of the top eight global financial firms, one third of the AmLaw100, two of the four US professional sports leagues, and multinational tech, pharma, and food and beverage companies.

Editorial Reviews

Incorporating Michael Chad Hoeppner's techniques into my personal and professional life is the single best investment I've made in myself since grad school. Don't Say Um will make you a better speaker, improve your relationships, and give you confidence to take on the world.”—Cassandra Freeman, actor

“Michael Chad Hoeppner has helped me and my team master the art of presentation. His easy-to-understand framework and creative exercises make public speaking feel like second nature. This remarkable and addictively readable book makes his methodologies available not just to companies like mine but to readers anywhere at any time!”—CEO, Movable Ink, Vivek Sharma

“Michael Chad Hoeppner is an expert on effective speaking who has helped countless people improve, myself included. Don’t Say Um is, by far, one of the most useful things you will ever read. Whether you’re speaking to crowds on a national stage or individuals at work or at home, the tools in his book are nothing short of life-changing.”
 —presidential candidate, Andrew Yang

From the Publisher

01/01/2025

Hoeppner, a public-speaking coach, developed the exercises and other activities in this book while assisting people who wanted to improve their communication skills. He aptly notes that amateur public speakers usually emphasize content over delivery. With a witty, accessible style, Hoeppner's book offers approaches to avoid delivery pitfalls such as talking too fast, rambling, adding filler words, poor enunciation, and avoiding eye contact. These issues, like bad habits, often accrue over time. Hoeppner stresses that communicating is like a sport that uses muscle memory and encourages the use of kinesthetic techniques to improve speaking. The exercises use a variety of practices to incorporate different learning styles, including Lego drills, finger walking, ball throwing, speaking with mouth impediments, breathing methods, stretching, warming up with tongue twisters, and much more. These practices will work for both in-person and virtual presentations. Hoeppner believes that readers should establish a communication regime by employing the exercises found in this book at least three times a week, if not daily. This book also includes QR codes with supplemental videos and a mobile app. VERDICT Hoeppner offers effective practices for improving communication skills, plus excellent advice on acknowledging nerves and managing anxiety about speaking.—Erica Swenson Danowitz

Library Journal