Introduction
Starting a speaking business is exhilarating and rewarding… and very stressful. Being a public speaker isn’t easy, and if you’re like most people you’ve probably looked for public speaking tips to help you become a better speaker.
These 16 public speaking books — now updated in 2024 with four new resources! — listed below can help you learn how to become a public speaker, how to improve your public speaking skills, and how to develop a talk for an audience. Books on public speaking are plentiful, but these ones have stood out, some over decades, as great guides and resources for your public speaking career.
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16 public speaking books you need to read
Want to learn how to become a better public speaker? Read on for 16 public speaking books that you need to read. (Book descriptions from Amazon)
1. The Successful Speaker by Grant Baldwin (2020)
We’d be remiss not to mention this one! Do you have a message you want to get out into the world? Have you ever dreamed of speaking for a living? Is there something you have to say, but you just aren’t sure what to do next? The Successful Speaker is a proven, easy-to-follow guide to helping you do just that.
Whether you want to speak at your next board meeting or community gathering, start making some extra money on the side, or become a full-time professional speaker, Grant Baldwin knows how to get you from here to there. Why? Because he’s done it himself and has coached over 2,000 speakers.
In The Successful Speaker, you will learn the five-step road map to start and scale a speaking business from the ground up, including
– how to hone your message and know exactly who it’s for
– the preparation process to help your next speech move an audience to action
– what it takes to establish yourself as an in-demand expert
– practical steps to finding and booking paid speaking gigs
– how to know when it’s time to grow your impact and income
In each chapter, you will get specific action steps and case studies from professional speakers to put you on the fast track to booking gigs, getting paid, and building your speaking platform.
2. How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie (1976)
Drawing on Dale Carnegie’s years of experience as a business trainer, this book will show you how to overcome the natural fear of public speaking, to become a successful speaker, and even learn to enjoy it.
His invaluable advice includes ways to:
-Develop poise
-Gain self-confidence
-Improve your memory
-Make your meaning clear
-Begin and end a presentation effectively
Interested in going deeper in the mechanics of how to give a talk? Here are 25 tips to help you become a better speaker.
3. Ted Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chris Anderson (2017)
Since taking over leadership of TED in 2001, Chris Anderson has worked with all the TED speakers who have inspired us the most. In this book, he shares insights from such favorites as Sir Ken Robinson, Salman Khan, Monica Lewinsky, and more— everything from how to craft your talk’s content to how you can be most effective on stage.
Want to learn more about TED Talks? Check out our blog post on how to get and give a TED Talk here!
4. How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling (2022)
Over the past twenty-five years, the directors of The Moth have worked with people from all walks of life—including astronauts, hairdressers, rock stars, a retired pickpocket, high school students, and Nobel Prize winners—to develop true personal stories that have moved and delighted live audiences and listeners of The Moth’s Peabody Award–winning radio hour and podcast. A leader in the modern storytelling movement, The Moth inspires thousands of people around the globe to share their stories each year.
Now, with How to Tell a Story, The Moth will help you learn how to uncover and craft your own unique stories, like Moth storytellers Mike Birbiglia, Rosanne Cash, Hasan Minhaj, Betty Reid Soskin, John Turturro, and more.
Whether your goal is to make it to the Moth stage, deliver the perfect wedding toast, wow clients at a business dinner, give a moving eulogy, ace a job interview, be a hit at parties, change the world, or simply connect more deeply to those around you, stories are essential.
Wondering how do you tell stories that stick long after you’ve finished speaking? Have a listen to our podcast on how to tell stories that stick with Kindra Hall.
5. How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion by James May (2016)
6. Speak With No Fear by Mike Acker (2019)
It can easily seem like everyone is a gifted speaker when you watch TED talks or compare yourself to skilled co-workers giving presentations. But you don’t have to get caught up in the costly comparison trap. Instead, you can take action to improve your ability and to overcome your fear.
Through this book you will learn 7 strategies you can begin today. These strategies will give you a new perspective, they will prepare you, and they will give you actions to practice. As you implement these strategies, your fear will begin to fade.
THE SEVEN STRATEGIES
1. Uncover & Clean the Wound
2. Imagine the Worst
3. You Be You
4. Speak to One
5. It’s Not About You
6. Channel The Power
7. Be in the Moment
Are you struggling to develop a stage presence? Check out this article on how to overcome fear of public speaking.
7.
Win Every Argument shows how anyone can communicate with confidence, rise above the tit for tats on social media, and triumph in a successful and productive debate in the real world.
Arguments are everywhere―and especially given the fierce debates we’re all embroiled in today, everyone wants to win. In this riveting guide to the art of argument and rhetoric, Hasan shows you how. As a journalist, anchor, and interviewer who has clashed with politicians, generals, spy chiefs, and celebrities from across the world, Hasan reveals his tricks of the trade for the first time.
Whether you are making a presentation at work or debating current political issues with a friend, Mehdi Hasan will teach you how to sharpen your speaking skills to make the winning case.
8. How Your Story Sets You Free by Heather Box and Julian Mocine-McQueen (2019)
Everyone has a story to tell. Sharing that story can change you, your community, or even the world. But how do you start?
Discover the tools to unlock your truth and share it with the world: Storytelling coaches Heather Box and Julian Mocine-McQueen reveal how to embrace the power of personal storytelling in a series of easy steps. You’ll learn how to share your experiences and invaluable knowledge with the people who need it most, whether it be in a blog post, a motivational speech, or just a conversation with a loved one. How Your Story Sets You Free is the path to finding the spark that ignites the fire and reminds you just how much your story matters.
Personal storytelling is insanely powerful when done well. For more tips here, check out this new podcast episode with Ravi Rajani on how to create and share powerful stories!
9. How to Speak, How to Listen by Mortimer J. Adler (1983)
With over half a million copies in print of his classic How to Read a Book in print, intellectual, philosopher, and academic Mortimer J. Adler set out to write an accompanying volume on speaking and listening, offering the impressive depth of knowledge and accessible panache that distinguished his first book.
In How to Speak, How to Listen, Adler explains the fundamental principles of communicating through speech, with sections on such specialized presentations as the sales talk, the lecture, and question-and-answer sessions and advice on effective listening and learning by discussion.
10. Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte (2010)
Presentations are meant to inform, inspire, and persuade audiences. So why then do so many audiences leave feeling like they’ve wasted their time? All too often, presentations don’t resonate with the audience and move them to transformative action.
Nancy Duarte created the slides in Al Gore’s Oscar winning An Inconvenient Truth. In this book, she unpacks how to apply visual media to your talk. Her book Resonate helps you make a strong connection with your audience and lead them to purposeful action. The author’s approach is simple: building a presentation today is a bit like writing a documentary. Using this approach, you’ll convey your content with passion, persuasion, and impact.
11.
The Public Speaking Bible; a Survival Guide for Standing on Stage is a depository of essential speaker’s knowledge designed to further your career whether you aim to be a full time speaker, undertake management roles or simply wish to improve your voice and stage presence. All the tips within come via the author and guest performers, adding up to a combined three hundred years of essential speakers’ know-how.
Within this bible:
Technical advice: how to effortlessly project your voice, audience manipulation, crowd control, body language, hand gestures and more.
Additionally: a frank approach for overcoming stage fright, a foolproof recipe for memorising a speech, how to overcome a sore throat and using the physics of sound to your advantage.
Business advice: how to price your speech, approaching agencies, talking overseas, understanding unique selling points, the most complete list of global public speakers’ agencies and more.
12. How To Talk To Anybody :14 Speaking Techniques To Instantly Connect With Anyone by Ryan Harrison (2022)
How many opportunities, relationships, and experiences have you missed out on because you didn’t know how to talk to people with confidence and skill?
Well, from now on, you will know exactly what to say and how to say it in a way that makes people open their eyes with surprise and delight as you talk. You’ll capture the attention of everyone you engage with. Your words will have impact and influence, and your opinion will make a difference.
The author – Ryan Harrison – has spent 30 years studying linguistics and communication and has distilled his knowledge into these 3 books.
13. Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun (2009)
Conclusion
Are 16 books not enough for you? Check out our podcast archive for more tips and lessons on public speaking. Still want more? Satiate your desire to learn more about public speaking by checking out The Speaker Lab blog here. Happy reading!
