An Essential Guide to Public Speaking

Public speaking is one of our most feared responsibilities. Sooner or later we all are asked (or required) to speak—at weddings, work, civic meetings, faith communities, schools, and the like.

I’ve learned over the years some of the most effective skills for preparing and delivering presentations, lectures, reports, and other types of speeches. But my approach is not like others in one essential respect: I assume that the best speeches serve the audience.  They are audience-focused, not speaker-centered.  I call this approach “servant speaking.”

So I wrote An Essential Guide to Public Speaking: Serving Your Audience with Faith, Skill, and Virtue to help
anyone prepare audience-focused speeches quickly and effectively.  The skills outlined and illustrated in the short book can be applied to all speaking situations.

The idea for the book came from St. Augustine, who in the 4th century suggested that the purpose of public speaking is to love your audience as your neighbor.  When I teach public speaking from this perspective the students (young and old) rise to the occasions.  My students and workshop attendees  capture a vision of public speaking as an audience-serving activity.  Many colleges and universities and some high schools and businesses use the book to teach the basic principles of audience-serving public speaking.

Read reviews of the book.

Listen to a Think Christian interview of  me about the book.

Find out more about this inexpensive book at Amazon.