Recently I had to speak publicly, and it had me feeling extremely anxious. This was mainly because I remembered some previous experiences speaking in front of a room full of people that ended up being quite painful. I think those previous experiences left me with severe public speaking anxiety. So in anticipation of this upcoming event, I decided to read a book from one of the authors I respect highly. This book was called Public Speaking For Authors, Creatives And Other Introverts by Joanna Penn.
The book is exactly what it says on the cover, a book that addresses public speaking for authors, creatives and introverts. There’s an entire subsection of the book centered on tackling anxiety, which was the chapter most relevant to my problems. This chapter touches on why we’re afraid and what anxiety feels like. It then lists some ways that you can offset your anxiety. And then, at the end of the chapter Joanna explains that we have to accept anxiety as part of the speaker’s experience. Because it’s something everyone feels.
That’s what I loved the most about this book. Joanna goes above and beyond to offer the most useful advice in a number of scenarios, but she also keeps it real. Letting the reader understand that there’s no eliminating your speaker’s anxiety, but you can work hard to overcome it. You’ll find many nuggets of pure truth like this throughout Joanna’s books. And it’s this honesty that we need in our self-improvement books. Another one of those truths to swallow is that if you really want to become a successful creative then people are going to ask you to speak at some point. So it pays to be prepared for that day.
As well as the truths, Joanna also drops in many stories from her own experiences. This helps to paint a visual and contextualize the information in a more potent way.
Because she’s someone who is booked for multiple speaking gigs each year, there’s a lot to be learned from Joanna’s experiences. And even beyond sharing pieces of her experience, Joanna offers readers tangible business advice on speaking, for those who actually want to consider a long-term career in speaking.
You’ll find segments on: pre-speaking booking sheets, speaking checklists, sale page examples, increasing revenue streams, email marketing; and much more. There’s even a chapter dedicated to speaking on panels with other speakers involved.
My guess is that most people who will purchase Public Speaking For Authors, Creatives And Other Introverts are looking for some quick tips to get them through an upcoming speaking arrangement. And by all means, you an skip to all of the relevant chapters for you. But what’s satisfying about this book is how much it over-delivers on information related to speaking. There’s information in here that can help improve your business practices overall, in addition to how you engage with speaking.
So if you’re looking for an all encompassing book on public speaking, I highly recommend starting at this one.
