Comments about O'Reilly Media Confessions of a Public Speaker:

Recently read this book (and all the appendices on my Kindle. Knocked out most of it on a flight from SFO to BOS. It provides real, down to earth examples and advice on how you can improve your own speaking ability. Summary: Practice. Do obvious things like rehearse and put yourself in the seat of the people who will be tortured (or not) by listening to you.

Comments about O'Reilly Media Confessions of a Public Speaker:

With anything, practice makes perfect. Scott provides us with a witting and refreshing take on presenting to others. While I'm not a public speaker of Scott's caliber, I do routinely have to speak in front of small to large crowds. I have my own pet peeves, which I attempt to alleviate while presenting information, but this book gives a whole list of others we should strive to avoid. Scott's humor and narrative style of writing allowed me to read through this book quickly, while learning some tips and techniques along the way.

I strongly urge you to read this one all the way to the end. And I mean all the way to the end. When you think you're done, you probably aren't. Believe me, it's worth it for the stories alone. It's also refreshing to know that even paid public speakers have their moments of embarrassment...it makes us all the more human (and memorable).

If you have to present to 5 or 5,000 people, I suggest you pick this book up. At the very least, scan through for some great tips!

Comments about O'Reilly Media Confessions of a Public Speaker:

You are probably like me. You sit in a room of people you know, talking about what interests you. You have something you feel you have got to say about the topic. So, you say it. No big deal.

However, if you are asked to stand up in front of the room, and give a presentation—TOTAL FEAR.

Scott Berkun says "The stage is the safest place in the room," but you are without a weapon in front of a crowd of creatures staring at you.

Fear not. In "Confessions of a Public Speaker" Scott provides the weapons you need to slay your fears and entertain and inform your audience. "Confessions of a Public Speaker" is fun reading. It has great photographic illustrations. It has humor and interesting experiences. It is by a person is making a good living by thinking about what interests him and audiences, and then writing and speaking about it.

Enjoy reading "Confessions of a Public Speaker" which starts with the author on an airline flight in a chapter titled "I can't see you naked." Practice what the author has learned through thinking about his experiences as a public speaker. You probably will find yourself looking forward to your next opportunity to stand up and make a presentation before a group.

Comments about O'Reilly Media Confessions of a Public Speaker:

In Scott's own words:

"No matter how much you hate of love this book, you're unlikely to be a good public speaker. The marketing for this book likely promised you'd be a better speaker for reading it. I think that's true on one condition: you practice (which I know most of you won't do). Most people are lazy. I'm lazy. I expect you're lazy, too. There always be a shortage of good public speakers n the world, not matter how many great books there are on the subject. It's a performance skill, and performance means practice - and that's one of the reasons I wasn't afraid to write this book."

This book is highly practical, and the overall subject coverage is very detailed. There are a lot of excellent tips and advice that stem from personal experience and what likely a very inquisitive mind. Scott seems to be a person highly interested in improving his own skills, achieving even more as a result, while not keeping his findings to himself. He
s eager to share his knowledge with the rest of the world. Some of the ideas however take too long to be explained, while some of the analogies may probably need to be re-thought or re-written, if the second editions is ever considered.
Overall, it does not take away from the main purpose of the book: If you are interested to improve your skills as a public speaker, and need some hardcore, practical advice on how to handle your audiences, from small groups to big crowds, you will find a lot of valuable information here.

This book could not be possibly associated with O'Reilly if it didn't have some technical information. Scott covers some of the technology associated with the profession. And as with any gadget or technology, it can make or break your "gig".

I must thank the author for such detailed coverage of his "encounter" with the TV industry and what one would expect if offered to do a show or an interview on TV.

As for my 4 star rating. I didn't appreciate the occasional use of profanity, or somewhat cocky attitude. In the end, it does not diminish the value of this book, but I would appreciate a more professional approach to the subject.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. Don't expect to learn all about public speaking from it, but this book definitely deserves to be on your bookshelf.

Comments about O'Reilly Media Confessions of a Public Speaker:

Whether you are a seasoned expert or newbie there is something for you to learn from this book.

This book covers fundamentals such as:
know your material, know your audience and prepare.

As well as more advanced/"in practice" topics like: "what to do if only a few people show up" or "how to deal with the 'helpful' guy in the audience"

I am sure that my presenting skills will improve as a result of reading this book and applying it to my thought and action processes.

Comments about O'Reilly Media Confessions of a Public Speaker:

This book talks about many aspects of public speaking: why are we affraid of talking in public, and how can we avoid this? How is it to earn a living of public speaking? How do you work a tough room? How can you attract people to your talk? How do you keep people from falling asleep? How should you get and interpret feedback? What to do if your talk sucks? What to do when things go wrong? What are the little things pros do? The list just goes on and on.

Not only is this book packed with handy tips and anecdotes, it's also written in a very light and funny way, making this book both extremely pleasant and interesting to read. I read the book from the first page to the last in merely one day (which is a personal record for me)

This book is a must-read for virtually anyone, especially those who sometimes speak in front of an audience (even small ones)!

Comments about O'Reilly Media Confessions of a Public Speaker:

Most of us are asked at some point to be a public speaker. Maybe it isa formal lecture. Maybe a toast. Maybe a business presentation. Maybewe just need to make a point and win an argument. We cringe. Ourstomach turns. "Confessions of a Public Speaker" is non fiction…. no, Imean really a true compilation of the missteps, embarrassments anddilemmas encountered by noted and successful public speaker author,Scott Berkun. As Mr. Berkun says in his initial disclaimer "if youdon't want to hear the truth (about how you speak), this book is not foryou."This entertaining, practical book reads easily. Each chapter is shortand filled with useful information to make the preparation,presentation, and assessment of any speech better ("I Can See YouNaked." "The Attack of the Butterflies." "Don't Eat the Microphone.")"Confessions" is a book that can be read a part at a time, or start tofinish."Confessions" uses the author's successes and miseries from his lifetime behind the lectern and on the podium (we are told the difference) to illustrate how to be a successful presenter.There is a section of photos taken from actual speaking events but notof the actual speaker, but rather the scene around the venue thatcontributes to success or failure.A portion of "Confessions" includes "Backstage Notes" like "Littlethings pros do," "How to make a point," "What to do if your talksucks," and "What to do when things go wrong." Each of these is filledwith countless examples and suggestions.A "Research and Recommendations" section includes not only a list ofsources, but also commentary on the reasons to consider going to thesesources.The reader will want to read the usually skipped (except family andfriends looking for their name) boring "Acknowledgement" part of "Confessions." Mr. Berkun continues his humorous, engaging writing even to the final page and takes this section and writes it in a humorous and entertaining manner. He includes among other things amounts and kinds of junk food eaten and music listened to. Just another way Mr. Berkun illustrates that communication needs ways to maintain the interest of the reader (and in the case of the thesis of "Confessions") the listener. And if you are really compulsive and go to the second last page of "Confessions" you can find story about the "colophon."As a person asked to give many lectures, I will keep this book on mydesk, next to my computer and look at it when I get the next speakinginvitation and before I write the very first slide.Reviewed December 2009 by Howard Levine MDDirector, Cleveland, Ohio [...]

Comments about O'Reilly Media Confessions of a Public Speaker:

I have been reading Scott Berkun's Confessions of a Public Speaker (O'Reilly, 2009) for literally two months now. It isn't that it is hard to read, or boring, as it is neither of these. In fact, the reason is that I keep finding things I want to follow up, or to try out myself, and in doing so I frequently set the book down and actually went out and did things. That is the highest form of praise I can give for Confessions. Let me explain.

Scott Berkun was a Microsoft flunky for many years, and worked on the Internet Explorer team in its earlier days. However, he eventually found his calling as a business analyst, and has since combined this knowledge with a natural flair for the written word and become a top business author, writing most often on project management and innovation. He is also well-known for being an engaging public speaker, and has given advice to many sectors, from Fortune 500 companies to Ignite! crowds.

Somewhere along the way, it occurred to him to write a book on public speaking, a subject in which everyone I know in my industry (computer software) could use some pointers. Everyone. When I saw on O'Reilly's site that this book was coming out in November, I actually pre-ordered it, knowing that conference season was approaching and that hopefully I could gain some tips that would help my somewhat-feeble presentations. I actually got a lot more than I had planned.

To be fair, as Scott says in the book, the bar for public speaking is rather low, and he explains in great detail why this is. Writing from memory, what I have taken from the book is that speakers often fail to inspire their crowds because:

* they concentrate more on their slides than on knowledge of the subject material
* they read from their slides
* they don't practice
* they don't take steps (like exercising first) to relax onstage

This list is not exhaustive, but they are the ones that stuck in my mind. Not only am I guilty of all of these, but nearly every college professor and conference speaker I have encountered does them all the time. There is positive advice, as well (this list is also not exhaustive):

* study good public speakers, both in your sphere (Dirk Hohndel and Jono Bacon are good ones in the Linux world) and outside it (comedians rank much higher than politicians!)
* know your material by practicing. seriously.
* make 5 points, memorize what they are, and separate them from the arguments that support them, so that even if your laptop explodes you can still make your points and walk away
* the audience is far more forgiving of your talk than you are
* make your points and finish early, don't fill time

Obviously I took away much more of the positive than the negative.

One thing I found fascinating was that very little of the discussion is new. Most of it can be found in Dale Carnegie's books, and the rest can be learned from a handful of visits to your local Toastmasters group. The magic in Scott's book is not that the material is new, but that his naturally approachable tone and his credentials as a geek spoke to me in a way that Carnegie never could.

So what things did I go out and do? The first thing I did was to look at the last talk I gave, and reduced the material by half. I realized that I only had one point to make with it, but I thought that I had to fill up time in order to justify my existence. In doing so, I'm sure I must have bored the crowd to tears. I also took a look at the slide deck from a talk I gave a few years ago, and found that I really liked it—but then I took a look at the video of it and was horrified that I looked like a robot! No wonder so many people went to sleep. Now I have a flip camera and a willingness to use it.

The only thing I found missing from the book was a "how to create fantastic slides" section, though this omission was not an oversight on his part. His point in the book is that being engaging as a speaker is far more important than having eloquent slides, and I take his point readily. However, I do want to create engaging slides as well, as many people will download my slides to read after the conference and will never have the chance to hear me talk about them. For that, I am also reading Nancy Duarte's slide:ology (O'Reilly, 2009), which will be the subject of my next review.

And yes, I do have a vested interest in promoting these books, though it isn't quite what you might think. My motivation for reviewing them is even more selfish than that—with the advent of conference season, I want to see more engaging presentations! So many of them have fascinating material that is given in an unapproachable way, through no fault of the speaker. I am hopeful that getting the word out about these books will help change that.

So what about that highest praise? I think Scott would agree that the most important part of improving onesself as a public speaker is to go out and do something, not to sit around and read. I heard Scott speak at a Creative Techs event last night, and he made the point that actors go onstage prepared—they rehearse, they get into character. If someone gave me a good book on how to play the guitar, I could read it forward and backward and never actually learn how to play. Confessions has actually inspired me to DO, not just to read, and that is a very beneficial thing.

Comments about O'Reilly Media Confessions of a Public Speaker:

I'm so happy to make a review of Confessions of a public speaker because it was an inspire book for me that gave me tons of tricks and confirmed feelings that I've when I make speech.

In Confessions of a public speaker you can find everything that you need to grow your skills like speaker, in fact Scott describes own feelings during particular situation, he talks about how to manage crowd in a room and how to create a connection with people in your room and this is only the beginning...
With his informal writing he shares with us own experiences and a part of him, I think is the best way to teach how to grow like speaker but also like teacher.
He dedicates a chapter to explain different approaches between a teacher and a public speaker, I really appreciate a lots because I found similitudes trough Scott's book and last course for trainers that I took part last year.
For a teacher and speaker like me this book is like a light in the hell that give me new motivations to do my job better and explain me how to prepare myself in a new way that could give me opportunity to make better speech and give to people more.

I suggest to everyone to have a copy of this book that you are a public speaker or an account of a company, it really help you to prepare better an important appointment and to create a connection with you audience.

Comments about O'Reilly Media Confessions of a Public Speaker:

I read the half of it in one shot! Really enjoying, full of story to emphasize ideas behind