Former comedy club host, online philosophy professor, and keynote speaker, Dr. Matt Deaton, demystifies public speaking as nothing more than idea transfer. His ambitiously titled The Best Public Speaking Book covers everything from preparation to posture, microphones to mindset, hand gestures to hecklers. And Deaton does it with such endearing levity that you forget you're learning to do something scarier than dying (according to Seinfeld).
The core is captured by his Three Commandments:
I. Know Thy Material
II. Be Thyself
III. Practice
Study your subject, polish your authentic stage self, and rehearse, and you're more than halfway there. To get the rest of the way there's:
Add a humble professor's touch - coaching, encouragement and inspiration (something Deaton admits needing lots of when he began), and you've got one heck of an engaging and effective book. Readers might also accidentally learn to overcome procrastination, transcend perfectionism, supplant negativity with optimism, grow from setbacks, and other corny self-help gems that happen to work.
New in this revised second edition is a chapter on how to handle tough crowds, another on the speaking business (don't rule out getting paid to speak, argues Deaton - if it could happen to him, it can happen to you), chapters on each of his Three Commandments (surprisingly absent in the first edition), and a new YouTuber stretch assignment with an invitation to share a vid for friendly feedback.
Read the reviews. Browse inside. See for yourself why this 2nd edition of Deaton's inviting how-to just might be the best public speaking book. But know that he expects application. If you're not up for reminders to stop reading and start doing, there are less demanding options available. This one isn't for spectators. It's for ambitious rookies with a seed of courage and the commitment to get better--the only two traits, argues Deaton, aspiring speakers need to succeed.