Library Journal
For many people, speech giving is a nerve-wracking but necessary task, and this book provides proven tips, suggestions, and guidance to make the experience successful and to help readers develop confidence and skill for any public-speaking occasion. Detz focuses on preparation, organization, and delivery skills, also discussing the uses of technology, public speaking in unusual settings, dealing with interruptions, health and physical challenges, and evaluation. An appendix gives a useful bibliography of speakers' resources, mostly sources of quotations, professional public-speaking organizations, and web sites. Detz has authored four books on public speaking, most recently How To Write and Give a Speech, maintains a web site at www.joandetz.com, and works as a professional speech coach and motivational speaker. This book is recommended for public libraries and corporate libraries, but those owning another book by Detz or any solid book on public speaking can pass.--Denise S. Sticha, Seton Hill Coll., Greensburg, PA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\
It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It: Ready-to-Use Advice for Presentations, Speeches, and Other Speaking Occasions, Large and Small
by Joan DetzWhy do some speakers succeed while many bore their audiences and lose their listeners? Speaking coach Joan Detz has worked with top clients for more than 15 years and has the answers. In this useful and lively book she presents strategies and tips for speeches, sales presentations, brief remarks, job interviews, Q&A sessions, panels, and more -- every situation
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Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780312243050
- Publisher:
- St. Martin's Press
- Publication date:
- 10/12/2000
- Pages:
- 240
- Sales rank:
- 383,885
- Product dimensions:
- 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.54(d)
Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
The title of this book reads It's Not What You Say, It'sHow You Say It. But I have a confession: That might be aslight exaggeration. Because "what you say" does matter ...it just doesn't tell the whole story.
Let me explain.
Maybe you have to run a community fund-raiser, ormeet face-to-face with a sales prospect, or handle a toughjob interview. Maybe you have to give a short presentationto a few colleagues at a department meeting, or give a bigspeech at a professional conference.
Whether you're talking to one person or a thousand, youcertainly need a message. And that message must be targetedto your listeners' needs.
Before you decide "what to say," ask yourself theseimportant questions:
(1) What do they want to hear from me?
(2) What do they need to hear from me?
(Pamela Harriman, former U.S. ambassador to
France, once defined leadership as "the ability to
tell people not what they want to hear, but what
they need to know.")
(3) What do they already know about this topic—and where did they get their information?
(4) What misconceptions do they have?
(5) What problems do they face—and how did those problems develop?
(6) What solutions have they already tried?
(7) What message would be mostcomfortable?
(8) What message would be most troubling?
(9) What information could save them money?
(10) What information could save them time?
(11) What changes would I suggest they make?
(12) What recommendations could they put into practice most easily?
(13) What advice would be welcome?
(14) What advice would be resented?
(15) What perspective can I bring to their unique situation?
(16) And, perhaps the most important question: What
can I say to them that no one else could say as
effectively?
Once you ask yourself these basic questions, you shouldhave a pretty good idea of what to say. And that's important,because you certainly need a message.
But good presentations demand more than a message.And that's why this chapter—the "content" chapter—isthe shortest in the whole book. As you will soon see, goodcommunication isn't just "what you say," it's how yousay it.
Excerpted from IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, IT'S HOW YOU SAY IT by Joan Detz. Copyright © 2000 by Joan Detz. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Meet the Author
Joan Detz is the author of How to Write & Give a Speech and Can You Say a Few Words?. A professional speech coach, she advises prominent executives across the country and conducts communications seminars for major corporations. She lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
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