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Public speaking is a common source of fear and anxiety. It’s certainly not my favorite thing to do, but I also know that there will be times in my life when I will need to make a presentation or speak in front of a larger group of people. I picked up As We Speak: How to Make Your Point and Have it Stick looking for some tips and tricks for writing and presenting speeches effectively. I got exactly what I was looking for in this book.

Meyers and Nix combine their years of experience as presenters and consultants and boil down the most important advice they give about being an effective presenter in to this book. They address how to draw an audience in and keep people’s attention, where to take breaks and encourage interaction, and how to physically present oneself to appear more confident. There are numerous examples of the types of speeches/presentations people frequently hear in meetings and at conferences, along with how the information should have been presented to be most effective. Meyer and Nix also site numerous studies and provide a fairly extensive bibliography for those interested in learning more about how we speak and how we listen.

This is one of those books so packed with useful information that it needs to be read in small chunks and digested properly before going on to a new section. There are exercises and worksheets available on an accompanying website http://standanddelivergroup.com/ and suggestions for how to practice speaking techniques throughout the book.