Speak Up with Confidence: How to Prepare, Learn, and Deliver Effective Speeches

If you are doing well in one-to-one conversations but stumble whenever you have to talk to an audience, you will find some good advice in this book. For "two dollars a piece", you will learn five basic rules that will help you a long way. Nothing more, nothing less. Well worth the money and the time to read it.

This outstanding book is a rare gem that stands out amongst so many books on public speaking. Jack Valenti knows his stuff and demonstrates with finesse the skills and techniques required for successful public speaking. Even the experts, like Barbara Walters, are taking tips from this prolific writer and respected public speaker. His stories and eloquent illustrations are vivid and memorable, drawing both from his personal experience and real life examples of top public figures. Valenti was a speechwriter for US President Johnson and is currently president of the Motion Picture Association of America. What can you say for a book that former US President George H.W. Bush recommends as a must-read for those who take their case to the public. This book is a brilliant achievement indeed. Once you start reading, it is hard to put it down. Valenti assures us with his words:"Let us be clear: If you want to be able to rise before an audience, large or small, and speak to them so that they will listen to you, you can do it."

As a former teacher, I think this book is an excellent resource for teaching a skill that is becoming a lost art. Whether your career routinely includes public speaking or not, people in every walk of life could benefit from the ability to organize thoughts and communicate better. And who better to teach confidence? To see him speak is to admire him.