I recently saw this author recommending books on speaking in public, so I thought I ought to read the one that he wrote.
Very clearly this author is an expert on public speaking. While I think that there are plenty of books out there on how to be a good public speaker, I especially was interested in how to speak well in spontaneous situations – off the cuff, suddenly, and with little warning. Suddenly being called to “say a few words” – that is what I wanted to learn about. And what I learned about spontaneous speaking in this book was: be prepared.
It is counter-intuitive (and the author says as much) but by learning a few basic structures and outlines you’ll be ready when the time comes to apply them to whatever situation you find yourself in.
While I agree that it is a good idea (and certainly better than stuttering vaguely at a crowd of expectant onlookers) I felt like the “thinking fast” in the title is sort of overstated.
But the frameworks were helpful and worth reading the book for. I thought many of the situations (and expectations) were culturally American-centric. It’d have been nice to have some expressions that would work internationally. The second half of the book is full of practical situation recommendations and some of the “words” the author gave out felt a little cringey and corporate to me – but maybe that is what his corporate consulting gigs are looking for.
This book had some good and some bad. That is to be expected when you are dealing with cross-cultural situations, so I’ll be on the lookout for something even more useful in the future.
Next I am working through more of the James Bond book as we are into the Timothy Dalton version of Bond. Not far to go until Pierce and Daniel.
