What I’m Reading Right Now – Stand and Deliver

Monday, October 3, 2011

As many of you know, I have a couple of speaking gigs coming up in the near future:

A presentation at the Financial Blogger’s Conference in Chicago in early October, andA presentation at Blog World Expo in Los Angeles in early November.

I’m very honored to be speaking at both of these wonderful events, and although I’ve spoken in front of large crowds before, never have I made a live presentation about what I do online.

Over the past 3 years, my experience online has taught me the best way to deliver a message to my audience via a blog, in a podcast and on video. I know there is always room for improvement but I think I have a good grasp on how to effectively teach and communicate to groups of people on these platforms.

A live presentation is a whole new ball game and I’ve always been extremely admirable of those who present themselves well in a live setting. Actors, politicians (some of them), stand up comedians, teachers, and several of my peers in this industry who have been doing the live speaking thing for a while.

They are all incredibly inspirational, and I want to master the craft just like they have.

Truly, this can only come with experience, but as with anything we want to learn how to do, we can give ourselves a head start by properly educating ourselves about what we want to achieve.

DJ Duty, a friend on the SPI Facebook Page, sent me this message the other day (thanks DJ!):

Stand and Deliver looked like a good read, so I purchased it on Amazon and within 16 hours the book was delivered to my front door.

I’m about half way through, and I must agree – it’s a fantastic read!

Dale Carnegie is one of the greatest public speakers and lecturers of all time, and after reading what I’ve read so far, not only do I understand what makes a presentation great, but I’ll be able to use a lot of the same principles to communicate better online and in life too.

I won’t go into much detail here, but what I really love about Stand and Deliver is that it sort of breaks down a good presentation into a science. As they say, becoming a good communicator isn’t a gift – it’s a skill that anyone can learn, and this book reveals the methods, strategies, tips and tricks to learn that skill.

I’ve had a lot of “oh yeah!” moments while reading this book – things that I’ve noticed in presentations before that have really made an impact on me.

I can’t wait to see what I pick up from the book and how it translates into my presentations.

One of the exercises in the book involves learning, emulating and getting inspiration from great speakers that seem to just connect with us, for whatever reasons that may be.

In an attempt to learn as much as possible and continue my research, I would love to hear who your favorite speakers are, and why. If you have links to any YouTube videos or TED videos or whatever – I would very much welcome them in the comment section below.

Please note that comments with 2 more more links must be approved manually, so please insert a link to just one of your favorites.

Thanks for your support, and look out for my August monthly income report going live on Monday!

Cheers, and don’t ever stop learning.

Tagged as: communication, public speaking

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