Public Speaking Exposed

Many people see public speaking as an art form. That is, they don’t see any linear process for getting better at it. At the extreme, they may even believe that some people are endowed with the ability to do it, while others aren’t. And there’s simply nothing they can do to change that.

If you’re one of those people, I have good news for you: you’re half right and half wrong. It’s true that public speaking is an art. In many situations, there will be no one right answer—not “correct way” to say things or to do things. However, you’re also half wrong. As with any art, you can become better at it by learning the fundamentals—by taking art classes and practicing sketching, painting, and free drawing. And this is especially true of public speaking.

In this guide, we are going to focus on this aspect of public speaking: the fact that you can get better—in fact, much better—at it if you’re only willing to learn and practice the fundamentals.

In the rest of the book, we will direct you through the entire process. We will take you from the start, where you select a topic, to the actually scenarios you might encounter when you deliver the speech in a public setting. By the time you’re finished, you should be ready to churn out speeches and deliver them in front of a crowd of any size.