We have all been in situations where someone has just stood up to speak and by the third sentence in, your eyes are drooping and after five minutes their droning noise is only just louder than your snoring… And yet there are others who can stand up and speak for 30 or 40 minutes and whose every word is captivating and interesting, leaving you wanting to hear more.

So how do these people do it?

The man best placed to answer this is the linguist David Crystal. Using the electrifying “Yes we can” speech of 2008 by Barack Obama he analyses the essential elements of public speaking, from the pitch to the pace and rhythm, when to make a joke and when to interject a dramatic pause, the best technologies to use and that fine line between eloquence and verbosity.

Whilst most people who pick this up are not going to be speaking to millions, there is something in here for anyone who has to do any form of public speaking, for those that have to speak to colleagues, peer groups and at family gatherings. The little interludes between the chapters are amusing, offering a little light relief in between the detailed breakdown of the best way to enhance your public speaking. ( )

A new book by David Crystal with enthusiastic blurbs by Stephen Fry and Steven Pinker? Sign me up!

Crystal examines what makes great orators eloquent and how we can borrow from their toolboxes to make our own presentations, wedding speeches, or other public speaking engagements eloquent. The point he stresses is that people are naturally eloquent when telling stories to their friends or simply engaging in conversation: therefore, eloquence in a more formal setting can be learned, practised and prepared for. And in most cases, that is the key: being prepared by knowing what you will say, where you will be speaking, who you will be speaking to, and the context in which you will be speaking.

As one would expect from a Crystal book, it is peppered with amusing and self-deprecatory examples of incidents from his own career, as well as asides throughout the book. I particularly liked that he focused on everyday scenarios that most people will be speaking in and stressed the importance of preparation. What I found most useful was the idea of breaking down presentations into modules that can stand alone -- then, if you're short on time for whatever reason, you can adapt the presentation on the fly and still have time for your conclusions. That is a neat trick.

Given the excellent advice in this book, I will have to buy my own copy. Recommended for fans of David Crystal and anyone who needs to speak in public and wants advice that takes a different approach from the usual self-help books. ( )

After an initial reading of the online book description I got this book thinking it would help with my writing. Instead, the "focus in this book [is] eloquence as manifested in speech." But since I regularly have to speak in public (usually in church settings) I found much to appreciate in this book.

David Crystal has a great voice in his writing. He comes across as very conversational and easy to read. He addresses issues such as how long you have to speak, who your audience is and what the venue will be, and what to say. He covers different audiences (home or abroad) as well as how to sound natural. But he also goes into how you say things, such as the "rule of three," weighting your words, and the order you say things. Throughout he refers to famous speeches - most often Obama's "Yes we can" victory speech - to illustrate what he means. The entire speech, as well as Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, are included at the end of the book.

This is an excellent book that covers many different speaking opportunities, whether an informal wedding speech or a more formal address before a large gathering. It's an easy and clear read and gave me a lot to consider - even though I always thought I did a pretty good job before, I realized I can do better. ( )