Cover Design by Low & Joe Creative, Brea, CA 92821

This is a little sweet book, but it’s surprisingly full of golden nuggets. I mean, I’m not a total noob in the speaking world; I already had some paid gigs, and I was interviewed dozens of times on podcasts; yet, I learned quite a lot from Finding the Speaker’s Edge. Also, some tips were totally congruent with my own experience, and I can confirm that Michael’s advice is spot-on.

CONS

There is only one CON I can think of, probably because my expectations weren’t inflated. The book is superficial. It covers a lot of ground, well, ALL the ground. From preparing your mindset to building a professional career, Finding the Speaker’s Edge covers everything in just 112 pages. Thus, by default, it cannot be especially deep.

On the other hand, it’s deep enough to get you started. At least you will get to know what you don’t know. For beginners, it’s actually better than an ultra-deep textbook preparing you for every obstacle. Read Finding the Speaker’s Edge, and then find additional books or courses – when you actually know what you need to work on.

PROS

This book has plenty of benefits for its readers.

1. Short and to the Point.

The book may be superficial, but thanks to that you can read it really quickly and start implementing whatever you will learn ASAP.

2. Solid Info.

As I said, some of the info from Finding the Speaker’s Edge wasn’t new to me at all. Thus, I can confirm that the familiar pieces were rock solid. For example, dealing with the fear of public speaking:

Overcoming the fear of public speaking is not up to your audience; it’s up to you. It’s all about the conversations you’re having in your own head.”

Or the structure of the presentation:

Introduction: Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
Body: Tell them.
Conclusion: Tell them what you told them.”

3. Golden Nuggets.

Some advice took me completely by surprise:

In public speaking, you want to be known for one keynote speech, at the most two.

Why? How? Why again? I have had no clue it’s so important. I knew branding is important, and I knew the rule “you confuse, you lose,” but just a single keynote?!?

And this is an ideal example of utilizing the expert advice. Michael Butler gave over 3,000 paid speeches in his career, so I guess he knows what he says.

4. Business Details.

The author gives you also tips on how to cooperate with the speaker bureau, and how to comply with specific associations’ regulations among other things. It’s been all new to me.

5. Made Me Think.

I don’t recommend practicing your public speaking on your family. It can be downright disheartening and discouraging.

This sentence stopped me right in my tracks. Why? Because it’s the consistent advice across various industries: don’t try to coach your family, don’t show them your book draft, don’t hire family members, etc.

And this is so sad.

Shouldn’t your family be a safe place where you are supported and encouraged? If family is not such a place, then what?

6. And All the Rest.

A whole chapter about listening in a book about speaking. Mindset tips, including the idea that doing your keynotes for free is not such a noble thing as you could’ve imagined.

This book is full of such tidbits.

Summary

I recommend Finding the Speaker’s Edge to everybody who is not a pro speaker yet. This is a great book for beginners, an awesome starting point, and it can help those who already made the first steps, like me.

Short and concise form will give you the chance to quickly discover what you don’t know about the speaking business yet.

If nothing else, it will make an interesting read.

Book Review: Finding Speaker’s Edge

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *