Public Speaking Rules! - All you need for a GREAT speech! You Rules - New book by Richard L Weaver II, PhD




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Public Speaking Rules!
All you need for a GREAT speech
This website has tips, techniques, and strategies that are the fundamentals necessary for giving GREAT public speeches. The information is easy to use and understand because of it's practical, straightforward, hands-on approach. Learn how to be effective and persuasive while discovering the "art of public speaking".


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Fears and Phobias of Public Speaking
by Richard L. Weaver II, PhD

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Public Speaking Rules - All you need for a GREAT speech!
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Public Speaking Rules! - All you need for a GREAT speech!

Preface  -  Table of Contents  -  Excerpts

You don't want to speak just "good," and you don't want to be just "better."  What you want is to be GREAT!  This guide isn't just an introduction to public speaking, it's your handbook to improve your public speaking, whatever skills you possess.  It doesn't matter if you're an advanced public speaker, just beginning, or in need one great speech.  Public Speaking Rules! is your nut-and-bolts handbook whether you're starting from scratch or simply brushing up.

In this book are tips, techniques, and strategies that are the fundamentals necessary for giving GREAT public speeches. The information is easy to use and understand because of it's practical, straightforward, hands-on approach. Learn how to be effective and persuasive while discovering the "art of public speaking".  If it's the only speech you ever give, be effective, and master the speech occasion.  Knowing what you're doing will build strength, confidence, and effectiveness. It will turn public speaking into Public Speaking Rules!

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And Then Some Speech by Richard L. Weaver II, PhD

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Public Speaking Essays from our And Then Some Works blog

Every week author Richard L. Weaver II writes essays covering a wide variety of subjects based on the And Then Some philosophy: Give more, get more, want more from life!  These essays are listed in the left column... simply scroll down, click the link in the left column under the graphic And Some essays... and get some... And Then Some!

Essays dealing specifically with public speaking... click the links below:

> Impromptu Speaking Without the Fear and Panic
      > below

> How do you give “the speech of your life”?
      > below 

> A Testament to the Power of Speech
      > below

> Leadership is not a bag of tricks - It depends on values, vision, and communication
      > below


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Impromptu Speaking Without the Fear and Panic

Some people have defined impromptu speaking as public speaking on the spur-of-the-moment without preparation. It is precisely this definition and especially the last two words that instill fear and panic in many people. And yet seldom is an impromptu speech given without preparation! If the “preparation problem” is resolved, much of the fear and panic associated with impromptu speaking can be substantially reduced or, at the very least, controlled.

Let’s begin, then, by defining and explaining what “preparation” means. If the definition of preparation is thorough research and investigation then “Yes,” impromptu speaking can involve no thorough research or investigation at that time. But seldom does any speech include only thorough research and investigation. Those, indeed, are often formal speeches planned well in advance of the occasion. Too, they could be those intended to fulfill classroom assignments.

“Preparation,” however, especially for impromptu speeches, encompasses far, far more. Far more than thorough research and investigation! To examine all that “preparation” encompasses should assist in reducing some of the fear and panic — especially because speakers are much better “prepared” than they, at first, may realize.

To begin, it’s important to understand that seldom are you asked to give an impromptu speech for which you have no background knowledge and experience. In many cases, the invitation to give such a speech occurs because of a person’s special expertise in a given area. In this way, a person can use that “special” expertise to enlarge, enumerate, and expand on a topic. For the most part, and for most people, this is an opportunity just ripe for the picking. When in a strange or new town, just ask a local resident to tell you what to see, where to eat, or how to get to a special location, and you will quickly be an audience of one for a unique impromptu experience!

Seldom, if ever, is anyone asked to give (or would volunteer to give) a speech that reveals his or her total ignorance or naivete. The best advice if such a circumstance occurred would be to admit your lack of knowledge: “I’m sorry, I have little knowledge or experience on this topic. Please forgive me if I decline your offer to speak on this issue at this time.” Having a couple of sentences in reserve if you are ever asked to give a speech on a topic on which you are unprepared can help relieve a great deal of stress and unwanted (or unneeded) anxiety.

How prepared are you in impromptu-speaking situations? First, if you are aware of the circumstances in which you find yourself (or can even anticipate them), you will have some facts, observations, or insights that merit comment. A previous speaker may have made a remark that deserves your attention. A current or evolving situation may have captured your attention or that of your listeners. Even an interruption or strange occurrence might need, at the least, a slight reference or acknowledgment. Sometimes it is just these opening comments that will calm your mind and give your brain enough time to assemble some additional ideas.

Second, if you keep up with the news and current events explained and developed in your local newspapers, magazines, television, and the Internet, you have a large reserve of information you can draw upon to shed light on the issue at hand or, perhaps, to put the issue into some current or historical context. Try to see the bigger picture to which this issue relates or, pretend it is a single tree in a large forest of ideas, and it is your job to help define or describe the forest. In this way the issue gains meaning, relevance, and worth.

Third, if you are a reader, think of the books, articles, and essays that you have read that provide fodder for impromptu situations. Think about any quotations that may apply, author anecdotes, or critical insights you can share that have been written about by others. Often, such ideas — especially when cited on the spur-of-the-moment like this, can add substantially to your credibility and expertise.

Fourth, listen closely to the conversations of others. Realize, first, that if you are talking you are not listening. It isn’t that you necessarily want to use their ideas as your own — although that is permissible in such situations (especially if a person will be in your audience and you can acknowledge that person and your indebtedness) — but, often people offer an idea to which you can respond, an alternative you can recommend, or a different approach you can suggest.

Fifth, depend on yourself. You have a wealth of information in your “storehouse of useless knowledge”! Although an event or issue may appear, at first, as just another scrap to add to the storehouse, that morsel can become a treasured nugget in just such situations. Suddenly, that little piece of knowledge can become the finger food that leads to a feast of new ideas, thoughts, plans, and visions. When you are a “sponge for knowledge” you build a foundation for the unexpected.

Sixth, you have viewpoints, positions, beliefs, attitudes, needs and values that you have accumulated as a result of living your everyday life. You are not a blank slate, and to draw from your own, well-developed and securely established fount of ideas will add to any public-speaking effort and make it personal and unique. In some cases, this is all that is being requested when you are asked to deliver an impromptu speech, and in many cases, this is all that can be expected.

What you must understand in every impromptu situation, your listeners clearly understand the situation, and the expectations of you and your performance are not the same as they would be for an address, a formal speech, or a planned presentation. The expectations of audience members will correspond precisely with the nature of the circumstances.

With a few ideas in mind, tell your listeners what you plan to say, say it, then tell them what you said. Another organizational scheme is simply to provide an introduction — perhaps just a brief look at the current situation — a point or two for the body of the speech (a fact and a personal example may be sufficient), and a final thought, quotation, or additional insight as a conclusion.

Impromptu speeches do not need to invoke fear and panic. You are far better prepared than you think, audience expectations correspond with the situation at hand, and with just a simple organizational scheme, you can master the circumstances just like a professional would.

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At http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2007/04/steps_to_better_impromptu_spea.html, at a web site entitled MarketingProfs: Daily Fix, Paul Barsch writes an essay entitled, “Steps to Better Impromptu Speaking,” and nicely extends the comments above by placing an important emphasis on practice. Barsch stresses the importance of organizations like Toastmasters for practicing, and he discusses the need to practice speaking on familiar topics as well.

At this web site — http://www.hawaii.edu/mauispeech/html/impromptuspeaking.html — Ron St. John, speech instructor at the Maui Community College, has constructed one of the outstanding public speaking sites on the Web. On this page are “Impromptu Speaking Tips,” and the five he lists include: 1) Start strong; 2) Choose a specific illustration, example, or experience; 3) Don’t try to cover too much; 4) Never apologize, and 5) Finish conclusively. In addition to this information you will discover almost anything you want to know about public speaking.

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How do you give “the speech of your life”?

Let’s just say that as things have worked out in your life, that what you would like to have more than anything else comes down to giving what must be considered the speech of your life. How you come across, how you present yourself, and how you affect a group of people, is going to determine whether or not you get what you want.

The speech of your life comes from you, and your success depends on your message, you the messenger, and your magic. You can think about your message being the meat, you the messenger being the potatoes, and the magic being the spice. Let’s look at each factor.

The meat of your message depends first on study. Study is what makes greatness. Whether it is based on your own background, the experiences you’ve had, or research and investigation, great speeches reveal a depth of knowledge and understanding.

When your message comes from deep within you, it reveals your soul. Soul is that animating essence that we associate with your life. A great message is not just words; it is emotion, body language, and passion or spirit. People listen to your soul.

Finally, in a great message speakers share their scars. They reach into their storehouse for the blemishes, faults, and sores that make them human. Sharing their scars makes them human.

The important aspect of you as the messenger is that you be yourself. Know who you are. To know who you are, be a self-monitor. Examine why you do the things you do, why you say what you say, and why you think what you think. Look at your behavior.

Be introspective. Examine your thoughts and feelings. This involves self-searching, self-reflection, and self-contemplation. Know yourself, and show yourself. Tear away the veil, and reveal the true you—who you really are.

As a messenger, you must be sincere. This means being open, candid, frank, honest, and truthful. When the covers of your book are opened, are your contents thin, superficial, and shallow? Then enrich yourself by reading, listening, observing, and experiencing.

Finally, as the messenger, be direct with your audience. Let your audience understand what you know. Develop and polish rich, personal, soul-wrenching stories that will grab, hold, and bind your audience’s attention to your message.

As the messenger, you must project confidence (positive self-assurance), credibility (an authentic, believable, convincing, and trustworthy nature), comfort (that you are pleased and satisfied with your ideas), success (accomplishment, achievement, attainment, and victory), and polish (that you have spent some time perfecting, refining, and improving your ideas).

In public speaking, nobody asks for perfection; they can, however, expect polish!

Your magic represents the spice. It can be revealed in your writing, in your delivery, and in your embellishment. “Magic” does not come from supernatural powers or slight of hand. It comes from careful, thoughtful, planning and preparation.

Write out some of your ideas. Use antithesis (opposites), or the setting of one clause or other member of a sentence against another to which it is opposed. “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” “What counts is not the number of hours you put in, but how much you put in the hours.”

Effective writing, too, utilizes parallel structure. Sometimes referred to as continuums, serializing, or stacking, it occurs when ideas of equal worth are given the same syntactical form. From the famous poem constructed in parallel form, “Children Learn What They Live,” by Dorothy Law Nolte, just two lines as examples: “If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight....” At the end of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream,” speech: “So, let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York....”

Effective writing utilizes triplets, or, a list of three things. A list of three is always better than either two or four. Three is always more than four! “People are born, people live, people die!” “If you want to enrich today, plant flowers. If you want to enrich years, plant trees. If you want to enrich eternity, plant ideas.”

Your delivery, too, contributes to the magic. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Delivery is a tool for expressing clear, interesting ideas without distracting the audience. Effective delivery is conveyed by your voice, language, and body.

Your voice is the sales tool that can sell your feelings and emotions. It is the most powerful, persuasive, professional tool you own. Vary your pitch (the highness or lowness of your voice), select the best rate (it depends on your personality, the mood you’re trying to create, the nature of your audience and the occasion), and avoid vocalized pauses (uhms, and ahhhs). Pauses are for time to breathe, for messages to sink in, to give listeners time to breathe, and for emphasis.

Language is important, and effective word choice can be magic. Study all your life to be a wordsmith—one who knows, works with, and shapes words. Pronounce words correctly, because incorrect pronunciation strips away credibility. Use proper grammar; it is a key indicator of who you are and what your background is.

Your body is an important part of your delivery. Pay attention to your posture, personal appearance, facial expressions, eye contact, and hands (forget your hands, but don’t forget to use them). And, never give your ideas to an audience; give your speech to individuals in your audience. Connect with one individual at a time. Weak eye contact looks insincere, insecure, and uncomfortable.

Finally, embellish your speech by telling key stories, using power phrases (“Attitude, not aptitude, determines altitude”), and using humor and quotations. Don’t use humor to get a laugh; use it to revitalize your audience. The best humor occurs naturally.

The speech of your life comes from you. Now, when you are faced with giving the speech of your life, you know you have control over the message, the messenger, and the magic. The real greatness within you awaits your recognition.
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On June 14, 2005, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, gave the commencement address at Stanford University. Although not labeled as “the speech of his life,” clearly this was an outstanding address, and it includes a number of the elements discussed in this essay. Find the address at: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

Guy Kawasaki wrote a terrific essay, “How to Get a Standing Ovation,” on January 18, 2006, http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/how_to_get_a_st.html at his website, “How to Change the World.” His practical advice includes “Have something interesting to say,” and “Tell stories,” and all of it is useful and to the point. The comments about the essay that follow it are both worthwhile and entertaining.

Debra Hamilton, president of Creative Communications and Training, Inc., writes a basic essay entitled, “Giving a great speech: 7 secrets to dynamic, memorable public speaking,” which begins with advice such as “use an icebreaker,” and “focus your material.” Her essay is available at the ezinearticles.com website. Solid advice is given, and it is fundamental to giving great speeches. See article: Click here
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A Testament to the Power of Speech

It is a principle I have taught for over thirty years. It is basic to speech-communication courses, and it is essential to understanding what should be the foundation of public-speaking effectiveness. In judging the success of a public-speaking effort, you must look at the substance — support, evidence, and ideas — of the speech, not just the delivery. Delivery is merely a vehicle for conveying the substance. When I learned to put delivery in its proper perspective, it was within the context of Plato’s attack on rhetoric as “mere cookery.”

Plato was critical of the idea that rhetoric should be called an art, while Aristotle argued in On Rhetoric that it was indeed an art. Plato’s perspective on rhetoric has not been uncommon throughout the ages, namely, that rhetoric is no art at all but merely practiced flattery. The “fantastical banquet” of words is “mere cookery in words”; words that are plain and to the point are all that are needed. Through the character of Socrates he concludes it is no art. He goes on at length to explain that rhetoric is merely a form of flattery, and more comparable to cookery than to medicine.

Plato’s perspective was well supported in a column entitled, “Obama is the candidate of passion rather than substance,” (The (Toledo) Blade, Jan. 13, 2008) in which Kathleen Parker
argues that “it’s easy to be seduced by a charming idea with a dazzling smile....It’s all about hope, really.”

Of course, Obama isn’t the first to depend on “grandiose prose and inspiring rhetoric” to supply his political pitch. Speech that depends on rhythm and refrain is alluring. It can make anything, even a simple chair, seem magnificent.

It is important to understand here how easily and willingly the public is seduced by the power of speech. Remember that the Nazis put enormous effort into public speaking. A. E. Frauenfeld, a Nazi Gauleiter (leader), wrote in “Die Macht der Rede” in 1937, about the power of speech, “We connect the spoken word with thoughts of the person who spoke it, with his appearance, the sound of his voice, the persuasiveness and passion with which he spoke the words....Speaking is communal; many hundreds or thousands share the enthusiasm.”

Ronald Reagan, a former actor and baseball announcer, understood this. Not only did he speak “in warm, velvety tones that enveloped listeners and made them feel good,” but, too, writes David Gergen, a Reagan speechwriter, in Essence of Power (1984), in his speeches he evoked what America had been and could be again, using terms, stories, and images embracing liberty, heroism, honor, a love of country, and a love of God. These values went deep with Reagan who discovered them from years on the speaking circuit.

There is no doubt that there are times that call for seminal speeches when substance matters less than delivery. Lory Hough and Aine Cryts, in their online essay, “The Power of Speech,” cite Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” that commemorated the most devastating battle of the Civil War, or his “Emancipation Proclamation” that called for an end to slavery. They cite Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside chats that helped pull America out of the depression and Ronald Reagan’s speech in 1986 following the Challenger disaster that soothed a stunned nation. President George W. Bush provided one voice following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Hough and Cryts also mention Robert Kennedy’s 1968 impromptu Indianapolis announcement that Martin Luther King, Jr., had just been shot and Richard Nixon’s 1952 “Checkers” speech.

Nixon’s “Checkers” speech, according to Hough and Cryts, is “considered to be one of the most successful political speeches in history. Just chosen as Dwight D. Eisenhower’s running mate, Nixon had to clear his name from charges of having a secret campaign fund. With his wife sitting beside him, he apologized and called on people’s emotions, using these words to end his emotional appeal after explaining that a Texas supporter had sent a cocker spaniel to the family as a gift. “Our little girl Tricia, the six-year-old, named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids,” Nixon said affectionately, “loved the dog, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we are going to keep it.”

There are times that call for the rhetoric that unites or soothes or commemorates. There are times, as well, that call for impromptu comments that explain or clarify. The bulk of a politician’s rhetoric, however, is carefully planned.

Barack Obama is a powerful speaker. Biblical cadences come naturally to him, just as if he is a great preacher. He has extraordinary rapport with ordinary Americans, and he possesses, as well, a unique ability to articulate, in a generous way, their polite but burning anger at the state and their country. Obama certainly has the potential to “unite” the American public in ways that few, if any, politicians have since Bobby Kennedy.

Obama’s appeal, however, is to the soul (hope). He preaches the politics of “not-yet-here,” and it resonates deeply with his listeners. There is no doubt that his rhetoric soars and takes flight, but it alights nowhere. There is no doubt that he declares that together we can do anything, but he doesn’t mention any of the things we can do. What is missing from his repertoire is a clear articulation of his intentions. Avoiding detailed policy prescriptions, which bore many voters, leaves him open to attacks.

To depend on delivery and high-flown language alone, to the near exclusion of any substance, is an example of what Plato complained about. Obama’s speeches are a “fantastical banquet” of words or “mere cookery in words.” It may be what Americans want, but in no way is it what Americans need. Although some may say this is a time for seminal speeches when substance matters less than delivery, but I claim, as Kathleen Parker does, “Hope is not a policy.”

“Mr. Obama isn’t just the inevitable dream candidate,” writes Parker, “He is the self-object of Oprah Nation [referring to Oprah Winfrey’s campaigning on his behalf], love child of the therapeutic generation. What he brings to the table,” Parker continues, “no one quite knows. But what he delivers to the couch is human Prozac.”

To be seduced by delivery with little or no substance is to miss what is significant, meaningful, and important. It is to be seduced by the icing and overlook the cake, to judge a book by its cover and ignore its contents, and to be persuaded by facial expressions without noticing what the speaker is saying. It is, however, a testament to the power of speech!

> Website Top    > Speech Essays Top    > blog    

Public Speaking Rules!    > book intro  

Search Inside Public Speaking Rules! at Amazon.com Look Inside! Public Speaking Rules!
at Amazon.com

Visit our And Then Some Works Amazon aStore where you can find books about public speaking, print on demand publishing, And Then Some!!

visit And Then Some Amazon aStore for pubic speaking And Then Some!



Leadership is not a bag of tricks - It depends on values, vision, and communication

For thirty years in the college classroom, I have always believed that I was teaching the future leaders of our nation. For this reason, in the teaching of speech communication, an underlying foundation for all the concepts and principles I taught was the belief that they would contribute positively to effective leadership. In addition, I tried to motivate students to not just take seriously the knowledge and information they were gaining but to constantly apply it to their classes, experiences outside the classroom, and their lives. What good is theory to students if it has no practical application? (I am indebted to Hastings and Potter’s book Trust Me (WaterBrook, 2004), for many of the ideas in this essay.)

The best place to begin looking at leadership, of course, is exactly at the point where students are beginning their college careers—when they are becoming effective and committed learners. The best learners are those who regularly seek criticism and feedback, possess an attitude of optimism and persistence, learn from other people’s failures and successes, have a wide range of interests and move easily into new endeavors, enjoy many different kinds of people, make it a point to tune into and pick up on what’s going on around them, and take time to pause and reflect as they think about themselves, their life experiences, and how the two intersect. They should learn from the old proverb, “We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” The more flexibility, the more they will succeed.

Even with the qualities above for being effective and committed learners, some students have erected walls within themselves that prevent the receipt, acceptance, and use of the very information that can help them. The first is pride, which is pure selfishness. It closes the mind to new truths, causes inflexibility, resists change, and gets in the way of asking others for help. The second is a judgmental attitude which creates a negative, cynical attitude. A third wall is stubbornness that is revealed in an attachment to personal, immediate gratification.

There are other walls that prevent the receipt, acceptance, and use of information, too. A fourth wall is stagnation. Those who have allowed themselves to stagnate become apathetic, purposeless, and their attention is scattered rather than focused. Insensitivity is a fifth wall, and results in lack of concern for others, no empathy, an uncaring attitude, and an inability to listen. A sixth wall is dishonesty. In addition to cheating, lying, or stealing, dishonesty happens when people seek to get ahead by deviousness—game playing, manipulation, and pretense. Finally, a seventh wall is those who are always seeking the easiest solution or decision. These folks avoid problems, responsibilities, and difficulties. Having lost the will to grow, they lack perseverance, endurance, and courage.

What are the qualities effective leaders need? There are three important qualities: values, vision, and communication. First, their personal values reflect what they consider to be important. Their values are motivators that give them reasons for why they do or don’t do things. They drive behavior. Right actions flow out of right values such as integrity, honesty, human dignity, service, excellence, growth, and evenhandedness. Second, they need vision—the ability to look farther than today, over potential obstacles, and beyond majority opinion. They are able to gaze across the horizon of time and imagine greater things ahead—the ability to see what is not yet reality.

Vision is difficult to cultivate. It comes, for example, from a strong belief that things don’t have to be this way. It comes from a vague desire to do something that will challenge yourself and others. It comes from a sense of determination. It forces you to clarify what it is that you really want to do. With a vision, you get a sense of what you want your target to look like, feel like, and be like when you and others have completed the journey. Having a vision affects your attitude, your optimism, and your beliefs. Your beliefs will sustain you through difficult times. Vision requires both commitment and endurance, and when you have a vision you don’t see difficulties in every opportunity but, rather, opportunities in every difficulty.

The third quality effective leaders need is communication. Rather than beginning with the obvious characteristics of verbal acuity, decision-making, and powerful delivery, the most important aspect of communication is a deep commitment to listening to others. How can an effective leader understand the needs of his or her listeners, let alone employees, customers, suppliers, or market without listening to them? They need to listen with an intent to understand—turning the focus from themselves to the other person.

Effective listening encompasses the all-important quality of empathy—identifying with and understanding ideas from another’s situation, feelings, and motives. When others know they are accepted, recognized, and understood for their special gifts and talents, they are more willing to listen and respond.

In addition to listening, communication involves persuasion—engaging others with the specific intent of changing their beliefs or actions. Effective leaders seek change through true compassion rather than by forcing compliance—to build consensus rather than to assert authoritarian power. To be an effective persuader requires the careful analysis of audience wants, needs, values, beliefs, and interests. It requires the prudent organization of ideas, amassing reliable and verifiable supporting material, and thoughtful and cautious examination of all related ethical issues and considerations.

If leaders want to persuade effectively, they must act with integrity. That is, they must act boldly—as one who has unshakable confidence. They must exhibit a great attitude—with a positive, encouraging, and uplifting mind-set. Finally, they must develop trust through a record that is dependable and consistent and a lifestyle that sets an example of integrity and competence.

Leadership is not a bag of tricks, a set of mechanical rules, or a rigid regimen of automatic methods. Leaders must see the goodness of people, appreciate their assets and abilities, and capitalize on their unique assets and abilities through energy, effective interaction, and empowerment. To do this, they need resourcefulness, initiative, imagination, and adaptation of their own best abilities and skills. With these assets, they will be able to diagnose situations, prescribe methods of leading from the reality of those situations, and understand that everyone’s reality is different.

> Website Top    > Speech Essays Top    > blog    

Public Speaking Rules!    > Book intro  

Search Inside Public Speaking Rules! at Amazon.com Look Inside! Public Speaking Rules!
at Amazon.com

Visit our And Then Some Works Amazon aStore where you can find books about public speaking, print on demand publishing, And Then Some!!

visit And Then Some Amazon aStore for pubic speaking And Then Some!



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