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Thursday, February 13, 2014

Shaking behind the microphone: overcoming the fear of public speaking book review (Tomoson)

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links. 

I read Shaking Behind the Microphone Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking for honest review from Tomoson. The book was written by Jill Ammon Vanderwood and published by Brighton's Mountain Books.

I wanted to review because I hate public speaking. I tried taking public speaking, when I was in college at 18. During the first speech, I was nervous and shaking. I withdrew from the class the next day.

Later, I took public speaking during my bachelor's at University of Phoenix. The first day, we had to do an impromptu speech based on a topic drawn from a hat. The topic, I chose, had to do with cats and dogs. My speech: I can't stand cats and I hate dogs. The end.

Even as a poet, people confuse me with a spoken word artist. Not all poets speak, some just write, like me :-).

The book Review

The book discusses one of my least favorite things to do: Speak in Public. As an introvert, I prefer to work behind the scenes. The book presents stories from people discussing how they overcame the fear of public speaking.

One of my favorite stories was called On auto pilot by Becky Blanton. Blanton has given a TED speech before, but refuses to watch her own video of her speech. She discussed how she could be making $5k per speech because of her TED speech, but haven't overcame her fear of public speaking. Her father, when younger, caused her embarrassment when she spoke to a group of people at 6 years old. The fear has carried over into her adult life.

At the end of each story, each author provides tips for success. Some tips included:


  1. Prepare in advance for public speaking opportunities. Know your material. 
  2. Practice. 
  3. Read aloud to someone, who is non-threatening. 
  4. Drink water and eat at normal hours. You don't want to be dehydrated or pass out during the speech. '
Jill's book is available on Amazon in kindle format. 

Giveaway:

Leave a comment in the post. I will randomly choose a winner to win a copy of the book. 




I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

1 comment:

  1. I am happy of having contributed a chapter for this great book edited by Jill - My chapter, written from the optic of a pianist, is called "Overcoming stage fright - or rather using it". If you happen to read Spanish, you can read my original here: Vencer el miedo escénico
    warmly
    Juan Maria Solare, pianist

    ReplyDelete

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