Hit Me Again…I can still hear him!
The Secrets of Superb Public Speaking
Author John Miers
Book Review by Diana Jonas, PMP
Reviewer Diana Jonas, PMP is editor of the PMI GovCOP Magazine as well as Communications Leader.
Full article PDF available online!
Most meetings and presentations are easily forgotten. When was the last time you were in a meeting or presentation that was memorable beyond belief? If you have ever suffered through a boring presentation and said to yourself, “This is awful. Why am I wasting my time here?” Or, if you have stood up to speak in front of a group or chaired a meeting and witnessed an inordinate amount of Blackberry use, watch-glancing or other distracting signals from your audience, then you should read John Miers’ book “Hit Me Again…I can still hear him!” published by Blue Rock Ltd, Hong Kong, 2009.
Miers explains that we are not all born as natural public speakers. Many people suffer from Glossophobia (fear of public speaking). Anecdotal research indicates that as many as three out of four people fear public speaking. Do you remember the elementary school occasion when you had to get up in front of the class and give a short report? No? Of course you don’t—99 percent of the time these experiences are forgettable. For others, these speaking experiences can be traumatic and never forgotten. Public speaking is very much a performance, but most don’t treat it this way. As we grow up, our models of interaction don’t really change much and neither does our attitude towards public speaking.
