16-02-2013, 02:11 PM
How To Develop Self-Confidence And Influence People Through Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie
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I recall reading this book, many years ago during my university days, although, I have to admit I sought this book out of desperation. I was delivering a presentation and in true style for me during my student days, I was against the clock and I was ill-prepared. I did not have the experience or basic understanding of where to begin, so I scrambled my way through a number of ‘presentation’ books hoping to find some inspiration when I accidentally came across this book by Dale Carnegie.
Despite the urgent panic, I managed to devour the book rather quickly because it was an easy and simple evaluation of those skills needed to present in public. Carnegie, refers to the concept of ‘preparation’ as a journey detailing your ideas and views, whilst logical in practice, this really helped me to streamline the content into a clear pattern and consider what my visual journey should look like and the importance of taking the passengers along with me.
Carnegie, successfully provides pragmatic and simple tools for public speaking delivery, for instance he highlights the importance of stating the facts and by educating the audience, how to work from them using the facts as your platform to reason your point. The audience is more inclined to listen if they feel the facts have merit and you communicate the advantages of your proposition.
The writer is very good at providing examples, from his personal experiences. He provides illustrations of how you can connect with your audience through emotional appeals, how to action the proposals put forward by ‘appealing to the motives that make men act’, Carnegie suggests, when your audience is engaged, that is how you win their confidence.
The book also contains ideas on how to open a presentation, such as starting by using a story, arouse curiosity or start with a quotation. The simple variations are workable and effective. Similarly Carnegie presents options when closing a presentation, in true Carnegie style he refers to simple tips, such as a brief sincere compliment, summarise the main points covered or a humorous close.
This has to be one of the first books in which I still continue to apply some of the basic principles outlined and in many ways it has been a pleasure to re-visit and take account of the content which will enable me to improve on my presentation skills accordingly. I would highly recommend this for anyone wanting to improve on their communication skills.