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Say It Well

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Say It Well

Find Your Voice, Speak Your Mind, Inspire Any Audience

HarperBusiness,

15 mins. de lectura
8 ideas fundamentales
Audio y Texto

¿De qué se trata?

Overcome your fear of public speaking and deliver presentations that leave your audience on the edge of their seats.

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Editorial Rating

9

getAbstract Rating

  • Engaging
  • Insider's Take
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

If your body trembles and your heart pounds when you speak in public, fear not. That is a perfectly normal reaction, says recovering glossophobe Terry Szuplat — a former speechwriter for President Obama. Your public speaking skills can improve with practice, Szuplat explains. He ought to know, having worked closely with one of the world’s greatest orators. Szuplat shares valuable insights from his lived experience with public speaking and offers practical advice for writing speeches, captivating audiences, and crafting hopeful, energizing, and inspiring messages.

Summary

Public speaking phobias stem from deep-rooted fears of social rejection.

If you’ve ever felt nervous about giving a speech, you’re in good company: The fear of public speaking is one of the world’s most common phobias. According to Dr. Ellen Hendriksen, a clinical psychologist with Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, public speaking phobias originate from a fear of social rejection. For early humans, rejection from the tribe was tantamount to a threat to survival: Without safety in numbers, an outsider would be easy pickings for predators. She explains that hardwired instincts remain strong today; thus, “Social rejection can feel like a fast track to death.”

Even President Barack Obama, now a skilled orator, used to feel nervous about speaking in public: In 1981, at 19 years old, Obama spoke briefly at a protest against apartheid’s racial segregation policy at Los Angeles’s Occidental College. He was uncomfortable on stage, feeling that he had no business speaking on behalf of Black people, given that he was from a mixed-race family. Today, Obama stresses that having a firm sense of who you...

About the Author

Terry Szuplat is a former deputy director of the White House Speechwriting Office. He runs Global Voices Communications, a speechwriting company, and teaches speechwriting at the American University’s School of Public Affairs.

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